I was told to pay for the medical expenses from my personal allowance on the day I was rushed to the hospital with pneumonia.
I wonder if this is normal or not.
I won't reach a conclusion today; instead, I want to pose this question to you, the reader.
—
My fever, which was over 40 degrees Celsius, wouldn't go down for days,
and I called an ambulance while my consciousness was fading.
The diagnosis was:
a complication of influenza and pneumonia.
The doctor told me,
“It’s a good thing you came in. It would have been dangerous if you had left it alone.”
A few days of hospitalization.
IV drips.
Nights where my chest hurt just from breathing.
Honestly,
there were moments when I thought, “I wonder if I’ll make it out alive.”
—
This happened after I was discharged and things had settled down.
The medical expenses this time were
about 15,000 yen.
What I was told then was,
“You should pay for that out of your personal allowance.”
—
I want you to pause here for a moment.
Is this
✔ A logical argument
✔ Cold-hearted
✔ Or is it just a common occurrence?
How do you feel about it?
—
My household is a dual-income family.
We also use a personal allowance system.
So,
I can understand the idea that “personal expenses should be paid by the individual.”
But this time,
• I didn't get sick because I wanted to
• It was a life-threatening situation
• It was not something I could control
That was the situation.
Even so,
a line was drawn, saying, “This is a personal expense, right?”
—
It’s not about the money.
Whether 15,000 yen is expensive or cheap,
that’s not the point.
What bothered me was,
“What was the message directed at me in that state?”
—
If the roles were reversed,
if my family member
was suffering from a high fever,
was rushed to the hospital with pneumonia,
and was told they “might have died,”
could I naturally say,
“Well then, pay for the medical expenses from your own allowance”?
—
Of course,
rules differ from family to family.
Some families manage medical expenses individually.
Some have tight household budgets.
So,
I don’t want to condemn it as “wrong.”
However,
whether or not one can accept that as “normal”
is, I think, the point that quietly wears down the heart.
—
When people are sick, they temporarily become the “weaker party.”
Judgment, physical strength, and mental energy all decline.
The words and attitudes directed at them during such times
are remembered over and over again later.
For better or for worse.
—
That is why I want to ask today:
• If you were in the same position, how would you feel?
• Do you think this is “normal”?
• Or do you blame yourself for feeling “hurt”?
—
There isn't just one answer.
But,
you don’t have to force yourself to silence the part of you
that thought, “This is wrong.”
That is what I believe.