I finally went to find out what's wrong with me, in the lungs that is, and it wasn't as scary of an experience as I though it would be. In fact, aside from the sucking blood part (which they do just about anywhere) it wasn't bad at all. Of corse they did fulfill the expectation that Japanese doctors really really like X-rays: they did two X-rays of my chest. The waiting part was what I didn't expect. In a clinic in the US, if you walk in at 4:30 in the afternoon expecting to see a doctor, you'd better expect to wait a long time. If you walk into a hospital at 4:30 in the afternoon, you'd better start thinking on what you want on your delivery pizza (you don't want cafeteria food do you?) and clearing out the seats on either side of you so you can take a nap before you see a doctor around 2 am.
I however, walked in at 4:30 pm to the local hospital, signed up at the receptionist's desk, and they handed me a sheet of paper to write down my symptoms. I didn't even have time to get past writing down my temperature before I was called in to see a doctor.
The doctor spoke a little english, and thankfully knew all the technical works to describe what was wrong with me (the lungs that is). Since this is the first time for me to go to a doctor in Japan, I don't have the vocabulary to deal with describing things like that. After a few minutes, she sent me out to get a blood test and and some X-rays. After all that was done, carried my X-rays back to the waiting room and waited for my blood results. By 5:15 I was called back into the doctors office where she showed my my X-rays and told me that I have bronchitis. She prescribed me 5 different medicines for cough, getting the gunk out of my lungs, antibiotics, and who-knows-what-else, and by 5:30, I had all of these and was on my way.
So it all really beats the last time I went to a doctor in Bellingham. I drove around for 2 hours trying to find a clinic that would take new patients and was on my insurance plan. Finally I was recommended to this walk-in clinic where it took about 2 and a half hours to get out. Then we had to go to a drugstore and wait another 45 minutes to get my prescription filled. With Japan's national health care system, premiums are based on your income, and I can go to any doctor in the country, so It's cheap and convenient.
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