One morning, intense pain arrived (crying)
It arrived suddenly.
On the morning of April 1st, I was leaving a little later than usual,
and on top of that, the usual long bridge was terribly congested, so I was feeling a bit anxious,
I finally parked my car in the workplace parking lot.
It's okay, I still have 10 minutes... (sweat)
And, the moment I stepped out of the car,
Zing!
a pain that I felt like I had experienced before,
or maybe not,
suddenly struck me 😭
Staggering, I entered the workplace, determined not to be late,
and hurriedly processed my attendance on the computer.
This is such a tedious task...
The mental capacity to think things like that,
gradually began to disappear.
I have probably been a child with a weak stomach since I was born, so,
I am many times more resistant to pain than others ✨💪
I had taken pride in that.
This is the one thing I won't lose to anyone at.
(That's nothing to brag about!)
And yet,
my stomach started to ache with an increasingly intense, sharp pain,
and the intestinal medicine I took for peace of mind,
ended up being just that—barely any help at all,
and though I stared at my computer screen in a daze for about 40 minutes,
this stubborn woman finally told her boss,
"I'm not feeling well, please let me go home."
and it was decided that I would go home.
A Showa-era woman who thinks she can get better if she just tries hard enough.
To the general affairs person,
"I'm feeling unwell, so please let me take the day off today."
if I had said that,
"Well, cancel your shift..."
I was told, but
"I'm sorry. My stomach hurts and I can't right now... ahh"
was all I could manage to say.
On my way out, a colleague said to me,
"Can you make it home across that bridge?"
and I replied,
"I'm fine." (Seriously!)
I answered, but I don't remember
how I got home.
I probably had a terrible look on my face...
(Later, my daughter told me, 'I'm amazed you made it home.')
I have a personality where I can't rely on others.
Because no one ever let me rely on them.
I finally arrived home,
and while in bed, I called my usual internal medicine clinic about my symptoms,
they told me I should go to a specialized gastroenterology clinic,
and I groaned in bed for a while 😭
Would I really
What kind of illness is it?
Is it acute gastritis or something?
Am I going to die? (Am I dying?)
That's what I thought.
Or did the lunch I had with a friend on Saturday not agree with me?
The cheese-heavy doria I don't usually eat, and,
the chocolate cake,
did it shock my stomach?
No... it's not that kind of stomach pain.
(It's true that I felt sick from Saturday evening and threw up once. Was that the precursor...?)
The only one I can rely on right now is,
my eldest son, the home security guard (crying).
My husband, who is never there when it counts,
(is that a special skill of his?) and is unreliable, is coming home from a business trip today.
Should I call an ambulance...?
If I do, I don't know which hospital I'll end up at.
When I called the clinic across the river that my father goes to,
they told me to come around 11 o'clock.
I explained the situation to my eldest son, who woke up around 10:20.
Crossing to the other side of the river again... crossing the long bridge.
While I was feeling unwell during that time,
I had to deal with my eldest son's abuse...💢
Why?
I don't deserve to be told such things by you!😤
Do you have any idea how many times I've taken you to the hospital?
If I were feeling well, I would have talked back,
but I didn't even have the energy for that...😭
At the gastroenterology clinic,
"For now, we'll do an X-ray and blood test."
they said,
and I threw up all over the doctor's trash can in the exam room.
After that, the specialist said,
"I suspect an intestinal obstruction, so..."
and then,
"I'll refer you to a large hospital, which one would you prefer?"
they asked.
Did my strategy of enduring the pain work?!
A large hospital that usually refuses referrals.
However,
since that was my regular doctor's office,
they somehow managed to take me in.
(I suppose it's because I dislike having to write down my medical history from scratch at an unfamiliar hospital, and also, there's a sense of security.)
While waiting to be admitted, I was given an IV drip for pain relief, but
in the end, I didn't get into the emergency room of the large hospital until after 6:00 PM.
Even there, after taking X-rays and a CT scan,
a doctor with a large belly said,
"As I thought, it is an intestinal obstruction,
so today we will administer an IV drip for pain and nausea."
he said.
With an intestinal obstruction, when can I go home?
Will I need surgery?
What will happen to my work?
While enduring the same intense pain as before, various thoughts raced through my mind.
I was transported in a wheelchair for the first time in a while, but
I don't remember what time it was
when I finally went to the room where I would be hospitalized.
Naturally, after that, I endured the pain and nausea.
A long night was waiting for me.
To be continued
#IntestinalObstruction #AbdominalPain #SuddenIllness #NotAnAprilFoolsJoke #ShowaEraWoman #EnduredTooMuch #HomeSecurityGuard