Friday 20 April 2012

Perspective

I'm amazed at the amount of comments on that last post! Thank you for all of them, I love a good debate whether opinions are the same as my own or not!

But pissed mails from an ex-girlfriend have kind of been pushed from my mind after discovering that Ryota's brother has had a brain hemorrhage at the ripe old age of 25...

He's in Australia at the moment on a working holiday and had said he'd had a headache for the last 10 days (must have been a shocker of a headache!). I actually feel a bit guilty, Ryota's mum was going to go to Australia and I said it was ridiculous, he wasn't a little boy... Oops.
 But to be fair, he has a track record of sleeping a lot and being generally lazy so I thought it might be a bit of 'away-from-home-stress' and that it would man him up to get through it by himself. The details are sketchy but I'm guessing he'll have to have surgery to stop the bleeding. I may be going for an unexpected trip to the gold coast for translating duties tomorrow but being pregnant and all I'd prefer not to.

Ryota's brother can be a lazy shit but he doesn't have a bad bone in his body and I really hope he's ok, being in hospital in a foreign country is scary shit and I really feel for him. I'd been here for 7 years when I got my tonsils out and it still freaked me out a bit. I feel even more from him being in an Aussie hospital where people are not so understanding when someone doesn't speak English, I hope they go slow for him.

UPDATE: Little brother is in ICU. MIL is flying out tonight so keep your fingers crossed for him. I can't stop fucking googling the worst case scenarios. :(


19 comments:

  1. Oh dear. It sounds serious. Hope he's okay. For sure, perspective, it's why I retired young. Hope all goes well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ok, so I just tried leaving a comment on your last post only for my phone to freeze. I guess, this'll be my first ever comment.

    I hope his brother is ok and I'd assume they would need to do surgery. Hope it goes smoothly and without a hitch. I can only imagine what it must be like to be in a foreign country, in a hospital with a minor ailment, much less bleeding in your brain.

    Have been reading your blog for a bit. In regards to last post, I saw where you were coming from and such. Good to see a heated, civil debate.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Geez, I hope he's alright. Fingers crossed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You don't need to post this comment, but I'm thinking of you and your family, and really hope he's okay. This kind of thing is serious. So sorry this has happened.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yeah that'll provide you with some perspective pretty quick! I hope he recovers quickly. Surely there are plenty of translators available on the GC? Deb

    ReplyDelete
  6. Poor brother. Hope he is okay. On the plus side, Australia is probably more set up for dealing with people who don't speak the language than Japan so that's got to be a small help.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Very sad news, esp for Ryota's family. Makes me wonder if his behaviour was a precursor symptom. Lots of small haemorrhages making him sleepy? But I think like that.
    And I understand about the Aussie attitude to "Why don't you learn to speak the lingo?" And if WE YELL REALLY LOUDLY and s.l.o.w.l.y you might understand us. It can be really moronic sometimes. I fear he maybe at the mercy of the system for quite a while with surgery, rehab etc. This is no small matter.
    Have you thought about having your baby in Oz or is J your preference?
    Mrs. C.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey, hope he's ok. If it is serious enough, they will probably get him to come back to Japan once he's stable. Do you know if he's in a decent hospital or not?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Just read your update. Thinking of you all. Deb

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hope he is doing ok.Maybe having it at a young age of 25 will help him pull through easier. Thinking of you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
  11. http://www.webmd.com/brain/tc/brain-aneurysm-topic-overview

    Vascular abnormalities are sometimes hereditary. I know of 2 such cases in my life's circle. Ryota should have a check.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh no! Best of luck to him. Couldn't agree more with kathrynoh above - especially in Queensland I imagine, should be translators / J docs available. Hope all goes well. If you've still got your medicare card, definitely consider going back to have your bub. Just be vague about your residency status.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The Gold Coast is Japan-away-from-home so there's bound to be a few translators around to help. Hope it all has a positive outcome

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you for the perspective. Here's to hoping the family doesn't freak out too much, for your sake.

    ReplyDelete
  15. You can always request an interpreter, so make sure they do. I have a friend working as a nurse in GC ICU, I'll ask her to take special care of him. My thoughts are with you guys.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I have been following your blog for awhile now & am gobsmacked by this news. My thoughts & prayers are with you & the family. Please give us an update whenever you can! xo!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi. I live on the Gold Coast. My husband was treating a patient on the neuro ward yesterday at Gold Coast hospital and he noticed a Japanese man there and he thinks an interpreter had already visited. Maybe that was your brother in law? The neuro ward phone number is 07 55 198516 if you need it. Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  18. Have you heard any news from your brother in law???
    I hope the surgery went well :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a terrible thing to happen, and at only 25 years old... I sincerely hope he pulls through ok. Keep us updated.

    Man I should just sign up for an account so I don't have to post as Anon all the time

    ReplyDelete