Staying Alive

Why I was unable to post last week and this week — a very personal story

This is a very personal story and has nothing to do with daily life in old Japan. I had two articles almost ready to go live last week and yesterday, but something interfered. This is what happened. I shared this story with my friends — people I have known for many years. I would like to share it with you as well. I have anonymized my friends.

Sunday, the sixth of July, I was meeting my cat friend H-san while walking my cat Fox in the nearby park. After a long chat I stood up and felt dizzy. I waited a few seconds and was able to steady myself.

This happens often, so I didn't make a big deal of it, but did mention it to H-san. We then slowly walked back towards my apartment building, Fox as aways laying on my left shoulder. H-san lives down the street, so much of our route was the same.

Just as we rounded the first corner from the park, Fox made a very specific meow, the one she uses to warn me that I have a medical emergency coming up. Neither H-san nor I realized there was something seriously wrong with me, but we both immediately noticed. Fox rarely ever meows when she is on my shoulder and this was a very specific meow. H-san commented that Fox knew I was not feeling well, and then we continued on talking about other things.

We said goodbye at the door, and I went up the two flights of stairs to my floor. It was then that I started to realize that something was amiss. Going up the stairs was hard and my breathing became belabored. By the time I was home, I was huffing and puffing like an overused steam locomotive, and started to feel unwell. Fox was in full alarm mode now. First hiding, then coming out, looking at me worriedly, meowing, and walking around me.

I sat down on the sofa and realized that I was going to have another episode of an irregular heart rhythm, a disease I was diagnosed with last year after I got Covid. Last year was dramatic, with me barely being able to breathe and totally unable to stand up without fainting.

So, I immediately called H-san and she rushed back to my home. She observed me for a while. Until now, the episodes have always gone away after a few hours, so I was wondering if I should just sit it out. H-san didn't think so. She called a friend who works as a nurse. Her friend advised her to immediately call an ambulance.

Soon after, ER doctors and nurses at a nearby hospital were stabilizing me and doing tests. The story got a lot more dramatic in the ER, but to make a long story short, everything worked out in the end. Because no irregular heart rhythm was registered anymore by the time I arrived at the hospital, the cause went down as 'unknown.' Buoyed by the IV I had received I walked back home, accompanied by H-san.

I rested on Monday, but for the rest of the week I went back to normal as much as I could. I was tired and slow, but nothing warned me of what was to come next.

Last Saturday morning at 1:00 am, I started to become violently unwell. I had pain in my belly, stress on my heart and also started to feel terribly cold. My body shivered so violently I was unable to stand up, or even use the phone. This went on for hours. Other symptoms followed all day. Fox watched over me all day long, staying as close as possible, and staring at me with intensely worried eyes. This time she mostly kept quiet. It seemed clear that no warning was needed.

By the evening I started to feel a little better and contacted my neighbor C-san to ask her to keep me company for a while.

We talked for a little, but C-san grew increasingly worried about my condition. I still thought that it would not be nessecary to call an ambulance again. Just a week before, the episode — though frightening — had ended with me walking home.

C-san saw it differently, and she worked hard to persuade me. She contacted H-san and also called the emergency number. She explained my symptoms to a nurse on the other side. Eventually the phone was given to me. In an extremely stern voice the nurse told me I should step in an ambulance as quickly as possible. Hers was the kind of authoritative voice and tone you do not ignore. An ambulance was arranged and soon after we were taken to a hospital farther away from my home. It was still in the evening.

After we arrived, an amazing number of tests were done, including two CT scans. By the time all was done, it was around 5:30 in the morning the next day. I was allowed to leave but got antibiotics. The doctors suspected a bacterial infection. A completely different disease. It would take several days to analyze all the results. At the earliest, a specialist would call me on Monday.

When C-san and I walked out of the hospital to find a taxi, we were shocked to find how bright it was already. We had lost a whole night.

Sunday I slept most of the day and felt broken. Monday morning I still felt very sick, but I was able to get up.

A little after ten I received the phone call from the hospital and was told that they now suspected that I had prostatitis — and worse — that they had found bacteria in my blood. The doctor urged me to go to my regular hospital as quickly as possible. He said that I would almost certainly be admitted. He also said he would contact the hospital as well. Things started to sound very serious in a hurry.

I once again contacted C-san. My poor neighbor hadn't had much sleep and was just waking up. Nonetheless, she sprang into action immediately and called the hospital. She was told to take me to the hospital by 11:00. It was now about 10:35. I had mere minutes to prepare for a hospital stay of unknown length, while having trouble breathing and thinking.

The hospital did indeed admit me immediately and started me on a strong antibiotics course. During admission I asked the doctor several questions about my condition, the most important being, how far away from sepsis was I? "One step away," he answered.

According to information on reputable medical sites, once you get sepsis you could die within 24 to 48 hours. I won't copy the stats and fatality rates here, but they are sobering.

So, I think I may owe my life to these three women. Without them I probably would have waited longer to go to hospital, or may not have gone at all.

Today, the doctor told me that the last tests looked good. There will be one more test on Friday and if that one is good too I can go home.

I feel intensely grateful to my friends C-san and H-san. And I feel deeply humbled by the whole experience. As always, Fox has been my guardian angel.

I hope to return to regular programming soon.

Stay alive!

My guardian angel Fox. Photo by H-san.