Pepto

Well, well, well, Blogger Bill is out of commission this week. After our fun and festive trip to Osaka, he fell ill. Immediate reaction was - is it H1N1? I said, "no way, I ALWAYS catch a cold/ flu before you do... if it is, I'll have it very soon". It's been four days and I'm okay (knock on wood). Anyhoo, I suggested that Bill swing up and visit the health consultation room. Turns out to be the stomach flu. They were awfully nice - gave him meds and everything. Unfortunately, the meds didn't really work. The doctor did say that Japanese med are often not as 'potent' as American meds.


The next evening, the nurses wanted Bill to go to their hospital and get tested for H1N1. I went on the website - he doesn't have cough, sneezing, runny nose, sore throat, and his fever is gone. Hmmm - doesn't sound right. Always questioning things, I said "no". Well, this response did not sit well with them. I have always heard that in the Japanese culture, doctors are rarely challenged. My saying "no" lead to many things including - no cleaning services for room 810 anymore and Bill can't visit the health room. We are now outcasts. Recent update: they felt really bad for making us feel like lepers, housekeeping will resume tomorrow :)

Oh yes - back to the story which is related to the title. I went to the drugstore to pick up some Pepto for Bill. Well... they don't carry Pepto or Pepto-like drugs here mainly b/c of the odd color. Why would they make this stuff pink? Luckily, one of the expats in the office had a large, brand new bottle of CHERRY flavored Pepto. Tom saves the day!! Whoo hoo!! I'm really appreciating Walgreens/ Target/ CVS/ Duane Reade/ Albertsons right now.

Learning lesson - when packing up and getting ready to live out of your suitcase for the next few weeks, don't assume that if you didn't get sick in the last 11.5 months that you won't get sick in the last 5 days before heading back to the states.