Several people have asked me what it feels like being hospitalized. I can honestly say it’s one of the truest tests of patience you’re likely to encounter. Imagine being on a trans-atlantic flight that is in a holding pattern, circling the runway while waiting for permission to land. Now imagine that flight has 2 months worth of fuel in the tank and no hurry to make its final approach for landing. Passengers on the plane can alternate their time between their in-flight entertainment and a paperback novel. Alcoholic beverages have been stopped due to the proximity of the airport, but meals are still being served. You can get up, stretch your legs, and go to the restroom all you’d like, but there’s no way of disembarking until the wheels touch the ground and the pilot taxis into the gate. How long would it take you to snap?
This morning I got a surprise telephone call from my friend Andrew, who lives in Sydney, Australia. I’ve known him for years and he even helped me prepare for my wedding. We had tried to Skype but the timing just wasn’t working out, so he called my cell phone. At first he spoke in Japanese and I had the hardest time figuring out who it was until he broke into his familiar Aussie accent. We talked for about an hour and caught up about life. That definitely helped break up the monotony of the day.
In the afternoon, I received a cryptic note from Dr. Tamura informing that my release from the hospital will be “around” the end of next week. Since my doctor had the day off, the note was delivered by the head nurse. The note was mysteriously written in English, so I have no idea if Tamura wrote it himself or had one of his assistants translate it for him (he doesn’t speak very much English at all). I will ask for a bit of clarification tomorrow and try to figure out the reason why I have to stay an extra week and a half even though I’ve been cleared for release. I guess someone at the health department is getting a kick out of watching me suffer.
The only logical explanation I can think of is that they want to wait for the next results of the bacterial culture to come through, which I’m pretty sure will be negative (since the microscopic test was negative). The test result should come either tomorrow or Friday, so there’s no reason to hold me any longer. My guess is that since the health department is only open from Monday to Friday they realize they can’t finish the paperwork this week and won’t start on it until next Monday, which will leave me high and dry and it yet another holding pattern in my never-ending saga. I’m pretty sure it would take less time to fill out the paperwork for parole than it would be to finish this long-drawn process for hospital release.
The only positive thing about the rest of the day is that I finished another writing project that was sent off to the editor of a magazine. That makes the third article I’ve written since being in here. At least my ridiculous predicament is providing plenty of creative inspiration.
The note from Dr. Tamura
TB'd in Japan 