46,730 yen later, I'm just fine

For those of you who are not aware of the conversion rate, that's about $400. That is what it cost me to find out I am experiencing an acute case of acid reflux and indigestion. From the food? The stress of a life altering move? The fact that I am now an alien wife in a strange and mysterious land?

For the past few days, I've been having pains in my chest. They came and went and I attributed them to jet lag, new food, etc. Before leaving New York, I had a complete physical complete with EKG and was fine. Today I decided to be on the safe side, to go to the doctor. I called the clinic that is in the complex where we live. Arny had gone there to get his company physical and said the doctor spoke English,so I thought it would be a safe bet. Sadly, the receptionist didn't speak English and my few words of Japanese were not enough to communicate. So, I went down to the front desk and asked if they would call and make the appointment for me. The man at the desk asked me to describe what the problem was and then said I should go to the Tokyo Clinic, the same place Arny's boss had recommended, but not the clinic next door. He called and made the appointment and at 11:30 a.m. a cab was waiting downstairs for me.

I met with the doctor, who asked me lots of questions, filled out a lot of paperwork, did a short exam where I had to "breath in, breath out" and then sent me off to another room for an EKG. It was kind of funny, in a charming polite Japanese way. For those who have had an EKG, you know the little clips and pads they attach to various parts of your body? Every time the technician attached one, he said "excuse me, thank you" in English. I laughed to myself because while those are two phrases I would have actually understood in Japanese, he was saying them in English, depriving me of being able to respond. But wait, I don't know how to respond to that. How do you say "no problem" in Japanese?

After about seven rounds of "excuse me, thank you", everything was in place and all of a sudden the sound of my heartbeat filled the room. Something fell and my heartbeat got faster(a quick "excuse me, sorry" from the technician). After that, I got dressed and went into another room where they took blood.

Now finished, I went to the front to check out. Imagine my surprise when they said they didn't take the Japanese insurance card as this was a private clinic. I had to pay and then get reimbursed, either by them or by the expat insurance policy. 43,730 yen. They took the Expat insurance form and said they would send it to me in a couple of weeks. I pulled out the trusty American Express card and quickly signed my name on the receipt.

I then went to the pharmacy downstairs where another 2500 yen later, I had my seven little pills and my day was complete.

I would have much rather bought shoes...