Patrick- Hospital Visit

So unfortunately, I had a repeat of two bumps growing on my eye, and so I made a visit to the hospital.

Here, the hospitals generally don't take appointments, and the prefectural hospital (the biggest, and the only one guaranteed to have nearly every kind of treatment one might need) only takes patients between only 8:30 and 11:00, so I had to get up early. I got there at 8:45 and there were countless people already there. I had been told that it would probably take all day.

Well, filling out the initial paperwork took about forty-five minutes. Then I was sent to the eye treatment area.

There, I waited about another hour, and then taking the different tests took an additional hour. So, I was out before lunch, which made me happy. Apparently it is another infection, so I was prescribed some eye drops.

Thankfully, most doctors have fairly comprehensive English knowledge of the names of various conditions and problems. But for the paperwork, I was saved by my Nintendo DS, which I thought was hilarious. I would have had trouble getting medical treatment if it were not for my Game Boy, which now sports a comprehensive Japanese dictionary.

The hospital visit only cost $25, half of which was the "first time at this hospital fee." Getting the medication had a me a little scared though, because I was told that medicine is where the doctors make their money. However, I got two bottles of medication for $5, which is probably the cheapest I've ever gotten a prescription.