Life in Nagoya

[cstaylor]

http://www07.u-page.so-net.ne.jp/tg7/kevin/lifeinnagoya.htm

Is this present day? Even my sorry gaijin ass knows how to say:

Iisha-san! iru! atama ga itai! gyaaaaa----n ::click::

Good luck with Nagoya... it's hotter than hell in the summer (went to the Sumo tournament in July).

[cstaylor]

...are your sickness indicator... kind of like a lightning rod for infection.

[cstaylor]

... education is complete crap. In the U.S., you're talking 8 years minimum education before they even let you close to a patient unaided... and then you have your internship for another couple of years after that.

Over here I think you can get a medical degree from the bottom of a Cracker Jack box... and because of the old boys club, if you screw up they'll just put some lame-ass thing on the death certificate that conviently covers up the fuck up.

A couple of years ago in Yokohama a girl died due to major brain injuries during a routine wiring for a broken jaw because the dumb shit doctor shoved the wire up through the roof of her mouth and up into the brain cavity. The parents had to go through a ton of red tape put in place by the self-serving hospital administration to finally find out the truth.

My advice: save enough cash for any serious medical ailments plus airfare back to the U.S.

[kamome]

One quick addition to the thread about sorry medical practices in Japan: most hospitals suck, but some are better than others. I have finally found a hospital that I like because: a) the doctors speak (some) English, b) it is new, very clean, and very modern, c) located in a relatively convenient place in Tokyo, and d) accepts Japanese health insurance (which apparently is rare among most English-speaking, foreign trained doctors). Anybody who is interested in the name, PM me.

[cstaylor]

Those are HMOs... regular doctors are great (there are more choices available in the U.S.)

[cstaylor]

Miyuki underwent surgery at the hospital in June 1996 to restore a troubled valve in her heart. Shortly afterwards, the physician in charge told her parents that she would completely recover and be able to attend school within a year or two

Flash forward a mere six months:

In February 1997, Miyuki's parents transferred her to another hospital where a doctor diagnosed her as suffering from a critical heart ailment, and concluded that the only way to cure her illness was a heart transplant

So the parents sent her to the U.S. for a transplant:

Miyuki consequently went to the United States to wait for a heart transplant, but died in April 1997 unable to find a donor.

Maybe Japanese insurance companies could offer a "travel plan" that costs a bit more, but Japanese could use their insurance to travel to the U.S. for safe treatment of serious cases such as a faulty heart valve.

[cstaylor]

Well, I couldn't live with a real bath tub or toilet... whenever I visit at home, I really start missing the clean feeling of being in Japan.