Arrived in Tokyo on Saturday. Had to go to hospital on wednesday. Not quite the start in Japan I had hoped for.

It started on wednesday noon when I felt a slight stomach discomfort, which grew with the hours. In the evening it got really bad. At around 2 o’clock at night I couldn’t stand the pain anymore and decided to go to the emergency room of the closest hospital (Keio University hospital). The diagnose was appendicitis. Since the inflammation was quite widespread it was decided not to operate as the risk was very high to damage other parts of the bowel. They tried conventional therapy, meaning I got an IV which supplied me with water, minerals, antibiotics and painkillers. The therapy worked and my blood values improved. After just one day they moved me from the ICU to a normal room. After 5 days my stomach slowly got introduced to normal food again. On friday the next week (9 days after admission) I could leave the hospital.
Staying at this hospital was a very positive experience (besides having the appendicitis of course). Since my japanese is still beginner level and not everyone speaks english, communication wasn’t always easy. Thanks to sign language and google translate however I managed. One doctor even spoke some german. Everyone (nurses, doctors and staff) went out of their way to help me and make my stay as comfortable as possible. Also the food was very good. Staff members from my school supplied me with things I needed from the outside world (cloth, toothpaste, homework) as I was not allowed to leave the bed for the first couple of days.
Although I’m not hoping something like this happens again, I grow comfort in knowing I have such a good hospital in my neighborhood.