As mentioned in my blog previously, I had caught a cold back in April, and in May I finally decided to go see a doctor since it was still persisting. I was sent to a first doctor, which I visited 3 times, bought a lot of medicine, with no apparent result. I asked at the university if they could find somewhere better, and they sent me to another clinic where I received more medicine, (all the while continuing the other), yet nothing seemed to work. Now at the beginning of this month, I decided to try out a clinic in Yokohama, recommended by my girlfriend, but I only ended up receiving more un-effective medicine, half of which I already had.

After a weekend out with my friends in Shibuka, Tokyo, it really started becoming a serious piece of concern, (as if it wasn't already after 3 months). At this point everything exploded. I was in contact with my mom and dad, and my dad contacted his aunt, who contacted a doctor she knew who worked at the University's Hospital. At the same time, I caught ringworm, which is a desease that many judo athletes get due to the moistness and body contact. Now with the family, doctors, judo club's secretary as well as others all involved, everything just reached another level. But we ended up getting me an appointment at the University's Hospital, located in Isehara (two stations away from Tokai.).

Now this hospital is nothing like the small little clinics I've been to. This thing is HUGE!! On July 23rd, I headed out by train at 7 a.m. to the Isehara station where I met my great-aunt Shizuko who had come all the way from Bunkyo-ku (close to two hours away) to help me. She apparently had woken up at 3 a.m. that day. So we waited inside the hospital until they opened for clients. We wrote my information on a paper, and waited till they made my card. (They make cards for all the hospitals in Japan. I now have like six...) Once that was done, we were sent to the nervous system's department to go meet doctor Haida, who had come to Tokai a week before to arrange this whole thing. Shizuko is a close friend to him, and this connection helped us have an appointment much faster. After explaining my condition to him, he sent us to the proper department, the oral and nose department haha, and there we filled more papers, and waited some more.

Finally, Shizuko and I entered another doctor's office, and after asking me a few questions, he inspected my vocal chords by entering a camera through my nose. What came next was... expected but unwelcomed.

I had polyps growing on my vocal chords, which explains why it hurts when I talk. One part is hard already, while another part is still soft, meaning it has a strong chance of fixing itself by taking pills. But if this gets worse, I will have to have a surgery, or so I was told.