Hospitals and Houses

This year I’ve seen the insides of more hospitals and the outsides of more houses than I ever expected.

 Nobody—including me—is interested in hearing a long litany of my maladies and medical adventures, but I’ve been asked to provide a rundown, and shall do so, albeit briefly.

 Shortly after the new year, I spent a week in the Saitama Prefectural Cardiovascular and Respiratory Center for treatment of circulatory insufficiency in my lower legs. I went back a few times as an outpatient, then briefly switched to daycare at the old, familiar center affiliated with the Kumagaya Co-op Hospital, so that the nursing staff could deal with dressing changes and medication.

 A sonogram done among the other pre-admission tests caused some concern about the possibility of lymphoma, and I did some tests and had some minor exploratory surgery at Fukaya Red Cross Hospital, with only a short inpatient and relatively few outpatient visits for that and other minor concerns. The negative test results were welcome news.

 I caught pneumonia toward the end of June, but it was a relatively mild case, probably ameliorated by having had the vaccination.

 Just as I recovered from that, a brand-new dermatologist opened in the neighborhood, and the doctor and specialist nurse there are now treating my lower leg issues, doing maintenance and monitoring compression stockings and the like.

 More recently I had a couple of colonoscopies and a week-long stay at the nearby Kumagaya General Hospital. I’ll be returning there some time next year to have somewhat more invasive surgery done, but the good news (so far) is that samples taken so far have been benign.

 The worst part of that set of issues was the post-operative dietary restrictions. The bright and cheerful dietician who explained those to me on the day I was released became considerably less chipper when she heard about my typical diet: mostly I eat the things that I had to avoid, and the suggested substitutes were decidedly underwhelming. Avoiding fried foods, spicy foods, and things like nuts was not a huge problem, nor was eschewing alcohol for a while. No caffeine, however, was a serious downer. I’m very pleased to be free at last from all such dietary restrictions, at least for now.

 So much for hospitals and medical issues. This year also involved a lot of land and housing investigation. The city’s long-running and very expansive street renovation project has been progressing at its near-glacial pace, but it was about time to consider when and how we’ll deal with the need to demolish our current house and make arrangements for future living arrangements. Accordingly, we investigated and consulted and drove around considering various real estate possibilities last spring, including a rather dramatic open house visit in mid-May.

 Having seen an ad for an exhibition of a newly built house by a local builder in Gyoda (the next town from ours), we drove over to have a look. Just as I approached the house, my crutch slipped into the grating of a roadside culvert, and I went crashing down, attracting lots of attention from the builder’s staff (and very kind assistance in getting back upright, too). We liked the attitude and design philosophy of the small company’s owner, and started a relationship with him for consulting about land purchase, infrastructure issues, and housing options.

 After considering a few other possibilities, and knowing that I was interested in a place with more greenery and fewer cheek-by-jowl rows of houses regardless of how new, the builder, Kadokura-san, suggested a place rather different from the others. This is an existing house, built a couple of decades ago by his father to then state-of-the-art specifications and accoutrements, surrounded by a rather traditional Japanese garden—boulders, stone lanterns, streambed, bridge, etc.—and located right at the northern edge of the Sakitama Kofun Ancient Tomb Park.

 

There’s certainly plenty of greenery around the place, and much of the neighborhood is never going to be in danger of (sub)urban encroachment, since it’s a national special historic site. Some renovation of the building such as triple glazed windows and rooftop solar panels will be needed, there are some other changes and additions that we’ll want to make, and it will probably be necessary to find a retired gardener to come in occasionally and maintain the grounds, but it’s a very attractive and surprisingly affordable place.  There’s no rush for the administrative details, but we have officially decided to buy the place, and detailed plans and schedules will be made sometime early in the coming year, soon followed by the remodeling work.

It's good to have something to look forward to in the upcoming Year of the Snake.