I Could Barely Breathe, But Am Back!

My cat Fox warned me that my heart was failing…

First, thank you for your concern about my health after I wrote An Unwelcome Interruption about getting Covid. When I posted it on Wednesday August 21, I thought it was the deep point. 

That day I was weaving through different levels of consciousness. Whenever I could think straight I wrote a few sentences. At the end of the day I assembled them and posted the article.

In response to the many well wishers that responded to the article I wrote that I expected to be fine by Sunday.

Things turned out a bit differently…

That Sunday I was again rushed to hospital by ambulance. I could barely breathe. 

After many tests it was found that I had a pneumonia and an irregular heart rhythm. The following day, a heart surgeon told me that Covid had caused the pneumonia which in turn caused atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm. More tests were done to find out if surgery was needed.

Yesterday, exactly three weeks after I first became ill, I met the heart surgeon for the third and final time (for now).

He has advised to wait with surgery and see how I recover.

Concierge & Friends

One of my building’s concierges later told me that he thought he would not see me again when he saw me being carried away on the stretcher. Things looked that bad.

I live alone, but have been blessed with wonderful friends who stepped up to help me. Because of another health condition I was unable to stay at the hospital. They took care of me at my home and ferried me to the hospital when needed. Thanks to them and my cat Fox I have been able to get through this challenging period.

My cat Fox in February

My Hero Fox

My cat Fox especially played an exceptional role. She has become my hero. 

Fox warned me about my condition before I realized myself how serious it was by rushing to me while loudly meowing. 

After a while, I came close to passing out each time I raised my head over a certain height, so I crept to the door on all fours to unlock it in case I needed an ambulance. Fox ran around me screaming loudly, seemingly telling me to cut the nonsense.

When I got back to bed, she positioned herself as a sphinx, as close to my face as possible. She watched over me with alert round eyes, filled with worry and an intimidating determination to scare away whatever evil was coming over me. Frozen in place, she stared at me uninterruptedly with her alert and furious eyes.

When the emergency workers arrived, she welcomed them loudly at the door and lead them to me.

I have never seen her behave like this before, and will forever remember her valiant efforts to protect me. She is tiny, but filled with love and a feisty spirit.

Back to Work

The past few days I have carefully started to work again. I still need a lot of sleep and it is difficult to concentrate. But I am moving forward on the fifth and final installment of the essay about Nishi-Shinjuku and Jūnisō Pond.

I even made a new discovery thanks to an extremely rare photo of Jūnisō from 1905 that I found at a French dealer of vintage photos. It might be the earliest of twentieth century photos of the pond. Taken by a French tourist and small, it is amazingly clear and features a surprising detail that tells a new story. I can’t wait to share it with you!

My sincerest apologies for the long absence and silence and thank you so much for your understanding and support!

Support

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Old Photos of Japan is much more than a newsletter. Who am I and what am I trying to accomplish? I wrote about this in July. If you missed the article, here is the link:

New Discovery to be Announced Soon!

Incidentally, because of a lack of funds I have not yet been able to announce the discovery mentioned in the above article. The expenses for writing this article are a bit more than I can currently afford…

This discovery drastically changes the photographic history of Jūnisō Pond. Please help me fund it!