Health Check Up
In Japan, the majority of people are diligent about
getting their annual health check-ups, and if you are a government employee
like myself your employer will provide yours for you. So today I had that done.
It started with the pre-physical evaluation form. This form featured the normal
questions like "do you smoke?" "Do you have family
illnesses?" etc. but some of the more interesting questions included:
How often do you poop?
How often do you pee?
Do you ever have to pee in the middle of the night?
Do you ever skip breakfast?
Do you ever go to sleep within two hours of eating dinner?
Do you exercise for 30 minutes every day?
Do you eat every day?
If you eat and exercise regularly, did you learn this behavior
from a class?
And more.
After some confusion about why I was being asked seemingly bizarre
questions, the two page, 11 pt form was finally complete.
Next was the actual hospital portion. We checked with the reception desk, they gave us a folder with our charts to carry and ushered us over to the first station. There we had our height, weight, blood pressure, and waist measurements taken. Apparently they measure your waist in order to calculate your BMI. After finishing this preliminary step, we went to the next station in another area of the hospital where we were given open paper cups for our urine samples. After obtaining your sample you leave it in a tray in the bathroom, from where they pick it up after you leave. Next we went to another station where we gave blood samples. Also, the nurses from the first station (in another area of the hospital!) popped up here as well to guide us along. After that we went to the radiology department to get our chest x-rays. All during the visit we carried our own chart with us to each station and handed it to the nurses there who added paperwork/results or filled in the proper areas and handed it back to us to carry to the next station. After the chest x-rays, we walked upstairs for our hearing test. This is not something I have ever had to do in the US!
You walk into a soundproof room with the doctor and he places a set of headphones on your head and then plays a series of beeps, and as soon as they are audible you press a button. Now when we started this I was slightly confused on when they wanted me to press the button and waited too long the first time, but I quickly figured out the routine to finish the test. Bear in mind, this is a rural hospital- no English! After that we went to have our eyes checked. This test was very similar to American eye exams, however just different enough to cause complete confusion for me. You sit in a chair and they put a strange glasses-lense contraption on you and you are supposed to read the characters on a chart on a wall in front of you. Sounds simple, we are all used to this right? No. In America, you choose the smallest line you can read or so and read all the way across. In Japan, there is a chart of characters that look like circles with cuts in either the top, bottom, left, or right. During the test they light up random characters and expect you to tell them which direction the cut is in. However when we started I kept saying down, because I could read the next and smaller lines below. But the doctor kept going to random larger, characters for me to read. We all quickly realized there was some mis-communication, so they explained to me how it works, and after much laughter from everyone, I started over. I was able to read all the way until the second to smallest character, so my eyes are good.
After all this, we came to the last station. There you meet with a doctor who goes over your results from all the tests, listens to your heart and lung sounds, and feels your thyroid. The doctor informed me that my thyroid is a bit swollen, however I have not been nor am I getting sick. So maybe he is just used to feeling smaller Japanese thyroids? Also he showed me the x-ray of my chest which was cool cause you can see the shadow of your lungs and heart. The doctor also told me my cardio thorastic ratio was good/normal.
So, I'm officially declared healthy until next year....
Next was the actual hospital portion. We checked with the reception desk, they gave us a folder with our charts to carry and ushered us over to the first station. There we had our height, weight, blood pressure, and waist measurements taken. Apparently they measure your waist in order to calculate your BMI. After finishing this preliminary step, we went to the next station in another area of the hospital where we were given open paper cups for our urine samples. After obtaining your sample you leave it in a tray in the bathroom, from where they pick it up after you leave. Next we went to another station where we gave blood samples. Also, the nurses from the first station (in another area of the hospital!) popped up here as well to guide us along. After that we went to the radiology department to get our chest x-rays. All during the visit we carried our own chart with us to each station and handed it to the nurses there who added paperwork/results or filled in the proper areas and handed it back to us to carry to the next station. After the chest x-rays, we walked upstairs for our hearing test. This is not something I have ever had to do in the US!
You walk into a soundproof room with the doctor and he places a set of headphones on your head and then plays a series of beeps, and as soon as they are audible you press a button. Now when we started this I was slightly confused on when they wanted me to press the button and waited too long the first time, but I quickly figured out the routine to finish the test. Bear in mind, this is a rural hospital- no English! After that we went to have our eyes checked. This test was very similar to American eye exams, however just different enough to cause complete confusion for me. You sit in a chair and they put a strange glasses-lense contraption on you and you are supposed to read the characters on a chart on a wall in front of you. Sounds simple, we are all used to this right? No. In America, you choose the smallest line you can read or so and read all the way across. In Japan, there is a chart of characters that look like circles with cuts in either the top, bottom, left, or right. During the test they light up random characters and expect you to tell them which direction the cut is in. However when we started I kept saying down, because I could read the next and smaller lines below. But the doctor kept going to random larger, characters for me to read. We all quickly realized there was some mis-communication, so they explained to me how it works, and after much laughter from everyone, I started over. I was able to read all the way until the second to smallest character, so my eyes are good.
After all this, we came to the last station. There you meet with a doctor who goes over your results from all the tests, listens to your heart and lung sounds, and feels your thyroid. The doctor informed me that my thyroid is a bit swollen, however I have not been nor am I getting sick. So maybe he is just used to feeling smaller Japanese thyroids? Also he showed me the x-ray of my chest which was cool cause you can see the shadow of your lungs and heart. The doctor also told me my cardio thorastic ratio was good/normal.
So, I'm officially declared healthy until next year....
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