From Pennies To Yennies

Alternate Working Title- No More Hashbrowns Again. Ever. No.
Alternate Working Title #2- Fun With Knives!

So… we had an incident Saturday night…

But first let me set the scene. I was having a great Saturday. Caught up on some to-do list things. Dan was out at Samurai hash and I was home alone most the day. He got home around 5ish, and then we got ready to go to our friend Erica’s birthday.

Erica’s definitely the coolest person I’ve met while living in Japan. She’s from the bay area in CA, so I’m hoping we’ll keep in touch after I move. This is us after running the Warrior Dash!

It was 5:30pm and I’d just taken a shower. I was hungry, but I knew we’d eat a ton at 8:30. The last time we were at Costco, we bought a bulk pack of frozen mini hash brown patties, and hadn’t really put a dent in them yet. I asked Dan if he wanted a hash brown to snack on til dinner, and he said sure.

This is my true idiot moment.

Clad in only a towel still from my shower, I pull them out of the freezer. They’re good and frozen together, so without thinking I grabbed a knife on the counter and pried the top patty off. I honestly don’t know what happened. I either lost my grip, or they weren’t as frozen together as I thought, but the knife sliced through the potato, and my right index finger. Within 2 seconds, it looked like someone threw a paper cup full of blood on my counter and floor.

I called to Dan and he came over immediately. He grabbed paper towels and tried to help, but we are both completely clueless in the injury department. I felt like I needed to sit down so we made our way to the bathroom. We were still for about 30 seconds, him just putting pressure on my finger, and me not feeling so hot. I felt really hot and really cold. Dan suggested we go to the hospital. I knew it was bad, but I hate hospitals! They’re terrifying to me.

I then asked Dan to leave the bathroom, and proceeded to throw up. I felt a lot better after and could think! I raised my hand over my head, and Dan called 1-1-9. Here’s the crazy thing about Japan- hospitals aren’t 24/7. So all our local hospitals and emergency rooms were closed for the weekend. So frustrating! We had to make a trek. Dan helped me get dressed, wrapped my finger, and we were out the door.

I was pretty scared. I had no idea what was going to happen. I really didn’t want stitches. I had stitches once before, but it was from surgery, so I had no memory of getting them. My finger really hurt. We got on one train for 4 stops, then another for 8 or so, then cabbed to the hospital.

Oh, the joys of speaking a second language in crisis…
Cabbie- “Here’s the hospital, where do you want to be dropped off?”
Dan- “at the front?”
Cabbie-“Yes, this is the front of the hospital” (we’re on a busy street, w the hospital set back maybe a block or so by long driveways)
Dan-“… entrance to the hospital?”
Cabbie- “…ok, this is the ENTRANCE to the hospital”
Dan- “can you just turn in toward the building?”
Cab driver looks at us like we’re crazy and turns up the driveway
10 seconds later!
Cabbie- “oh! You’re having an emergency!” (come on. both our hands are covered in dry blood!)
Dan-“yes!”
Cabbie- “oh wow, you ok?”
Sigh.

We finally pull up to the ER entrance and check in. There are about 10 people sitting around waiting for something, and I’m dreading it will take forever (call me crazy but I still wanted to go wish Erica a happy birthday…), but Dan assures me in Japan, they do things quick. He was right! We sat for MAYBE 10 minutes, and a doctor came out to meet us.

The ER was a bunch of cubicles sectioned off by curtains. I was really scared. I don’t think you all realize how much I hate hospitals! I was brought to a little cot-style bed, and I sat. The doctor peeled off Dan’s wrapping job on my finger. Oh dear lord, I forgot how bad it was. It’s really awful looking. It starts bleeding again. Get me out of here!

He asks if I can bend my finger and I try to tell him I can, but don’t want to make the bleeding worse. I think he thought I meant I don’t have mobility, because we were sent to X Rays. Waited 2 minutes, brought in, 2 x rays taken. Back out front.

Dan really did try his best to be sweet and caring. He suggested maybe I won’t need stitches. Maybe in Japan they’re less common and they have super awesome butterfly bandages they utilize. I wasn’t buying it. I figured we’d go back in and discuss what would happen next.

We got called back in, and when we got to our little cubicle again I just froze. It was surrounded by bright lights and a giant rolling cart full of torture tools. I literally couldn’t walk any further. “Dozo!!!” (please, go ahead!) the doctor cheerfully guided me, but I couldn’t. I knew it was useless, but I turned to Dan and pathetically asked, “is there any way this doesn’t have to happen?” He looked like he felt so bad! He said he wasn’t going anywhere, and he didn’t. Yay Dan!

I got to the bed, and they made me take my shoes off and lay down. I couldn’t breathe right. I couldn’t believe this was happening. I made it worse by gawking at all the tools. This was when I really looked at my finger again, and saw it was gaping open, and accepted this needed to happen. And then I stared the doctor down as he loaded a syringe with local anesthetic, gave it a flick, and uncapped the needle. I may not like needles, but I can handle them. This was no ordinary needle though. This sucker was HUGE. Good lord. He spoke really quickly to me in Japanese, and even he looked sorry. Then he made a little fist pump and said, “ganbatte!” (good luck!). Help. Me. Now.

He rather forcefully jammed the needle into my pointer finger knuckle. It hurt so bad! I decided then and there my eyes were shut until all of this was over. The pain faded a bit, then another violent jab! 3 shots later I was exhausted. I peeked over at Dan who was sitting on the side of the room. Even he looked horrified. He later told me that with every needle jab a ton of blood and bodily fluid shot out. My decision to keep my eyes shut was a good’un.

My hand was then placed in a metal basin and I got the sensation of water washing over it. It was probably alcohol or Betadyne, something like that. I tried to relax, but just couldn’t. Eventually my hand was lifted away and patted dry, then a giant paper sheet covered my arm and hand, I imagine with a hole cut out for my cut finger. There was a 3-4 minute pause while he chatted with the nurse and I heard supplies being prepared. The wait was torture!

And off to work he went with sewing. I felt my hand get held this way and that, and every once in a while I heard the snips of scissors trimming a finished stitch. It took a while to me, but I’m sure it wasn’t that long. I tried to sing songs in my head, or think about my upcoming marathon, but no dice. My brain just wanted to focus on my hand getting stitched together.

At last, he said he was done and told me to look. I said no! I think he wanted me to admire his work. I opened my eyes and peeked over. I just saw black stitches. I looked over at Dan who said it was all disgusting to watch. The doctor bandaged me up and said no alcohol, no running for a few days, change bandages in a couple days, and some other instructions. I thanked him and we went back to reception.

At reception, we got paperwork for my 3 prescriptions and paid. Yes, it was time to settle up the bill. Consult. 2 x-rays. Sterilization. Labor. Materials. 6 stitches. 3 prescriptions. It was a whopping $30. THIRTY DOLLARS. It was crazy! In that moment I loved Japan so much. We paid, got my 3 prescriptions, and caught a cab to the party. Oh, they also told me to be careful, because the hospital was closed for the next week due to New Years. GREAT.

Erica’s party was at a cool trendy Japanese restaurant on the 14th floor in Shibuya. Everyone looked awesome, and there I was in my sweats. Of course no one cared, they were just happy to see me! Dan and I took seats at the big table and caught up on food and chatting. I started feeling better right away.
My friend Yukie even gave me a get well present! Little soy sauce dishes!

Photo by Yukie Momose

We were there a while, and eventually it was time to go. A bunch of people who lived outside of Tokyo had to catch their last train of the night (it was after 11pm at this point), and the locals were going to a pub to grab a final drink before heading home. I wasn’t super up for it, but Dan was such a trooper tonight, I wanted to buy him a beer! We hung out only for about 40 minutes or so, and then even locals had to catch their last train.

Dan and I were going to take the bus home, but it wasn’t running because of the upcoming holiday (everyone gets New Years week off). So we cabbed home. We laughed about how our cab fare from Shibuya to our apartment was the same as my hospital bill.

Erica told us about a funny Dan Aykroyd Saturday Night Live skit where he portrays Julia Child cutting her hand open, so we got in bed and watched it. It was hilarious and can be viewed here. Pretty much sums up our night!

Most of my Sunday was spent reading in bed with Penny. I really couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day.

And now, some pictures! None of them are terribly gory, I didn’t take any photos of my open wound, but if you don’t like dried blood or stitches I’d call it a night 😉

Dan’s snapchat to some Japan friends. Snapchat is an app where you take a picture and can caption it, and your friends list can view it for 10 seconds, then it’s gone forever.

2 days later, aka today, cleaning and changing bandages

This is what I came home to Saturday night. I almost forgot that we didn’t have time to clean the kitchen. Dan gave the floor a quick wipe with that sponge so Penny wouldn’t lick anything bad, and that was one of the many wads of paper towels we first grabbed to try to stop the bleeding. Also, a lonely hash brown in the oven…