The next morning I found myself in a hospital lobby once again. The initial paperwork was in Japanese but was able to fill it out quite swiftly. . . In my three short years in Japan, I had gone to the hospital at least five times. Was I getting too used to this? After a short wait, the receptionist pointed me towards the dermatology counter. Only for the receptionist at the other counter to hand me a paper with a bunch of Kanji I couldn’t make out. Moments like these made me feel like a five-year-old in the body of a fully grown adult. I blinked a couple of times blankly staring at the paper before looking up at the nurse, only to look at the paper again. The cycle repeated before I sheepishly reported.
I Can’t Read This
“あの. . . 実は漢字を読めない。(Umm. . . actually I can’t read Kanji)” I scratched the back of my head while making a soft self-deprecating laugh. The small group of nurses kindly smiled and gave warm giggles to each other before saying.
“手伝って行く I’ll come and help” I better learn Japanese quickly. . . the clock on my youthful cuteness due to cluelessness will wear off sometime in the near future. I thought as I made my way towards a row of chairs to wait for her help as instructed. Once she wrapped up what she was working on, she walked over and kneeled beside me. With someone to tell me what the kanji’s meanings were, we were able to go through the dermatology-related questions in a quick efficient manner, only stopping to look up words with google translate once or twice. She had made things easier by using simple language as if talking to a small kid, dealing with TSW did make me feel like a lost child.
The questions ranged from when did my eczema start to how many times I exercise per week, the last question she prompted was “Do you want to use steroids?”. It was the first time I had ever been asked that in my life, everywhere else I had gone steroids were the default, not a question. After I politely declined she asked for my reasoning so she could write it down.
“I’ve used them all my life.”
The Legend
“ハリスさんこちらへどうぞ(Mr. Harris this way. . . if that sounds familiar it’s because you’ve seen lost in translation)” The nurse pointed towards a door leading into the examination room. Following her through the doorway, I inadvertently stopped when I made my way into the room. Keys tapped as Dr. Kenji Sato typed information into his computer, silence filled the small corner of the hospital. To see someone with so much clout and respect online in person left me star-struck. My mouth moved, but it failed to produce any noise.
He looked over in my direction and said a couple of things to himself in Japanese, it didn’t take long for him to realize that my skin had been severely damaged by steroids.
“どうぞ” He motioned towards a wheeled stool in front of him. After sitting down he closely inspected my face, it was hard to keep eye contact because I was embarrassed by the state I was in.
In my broken Japanese I explained my situation.
Almost Lost In Translation
“子供からアトピーあって二十年かんぐらいステロイドを使ってけど. . . it stopped workingそしてデユピクセントを使ってけど副作用あってから止まちゃった後で皮膚科悪くになった”
He nodded as he listened before asking me to take of my shirt and pants.
“Wow your body is pretty clear” luckily or unluckily of my TSW was mostly confined to my face, neck, and the folds of my arms/legs.
After taking some time to build up courage I finally managed to look Dr. Sato in the face. What looked back at me was a kind warm gaze.
“入院したいの？(Nyuin Shitai No?)” my face defaulted to the same blank expression I had made the nurses earlier when I couldn’t read the kanji.
“入院. . .？(Nyuin??)” I said while upwardly inflecting my tone. Dr. Sato stopped for a second to think of English.
“Do you want to stay here?” he asked while peering over the top of his glasses and raising an eyebrow. A weird sense of relief and joy washed over me as I bowed my head.
My New Life Begins
“お願いします” I heard a small chuckle as Sato Sensei looked at me with a soft smile.
“じゃあwe have to do some tests” he said somethings to the nurse and she pointed me towards the waiting room. And so after a visit to a small hospital, mylaidbacklife in Osaka would begin.
