(English Below)
少し前に私の父が脳梗塞で救急車で病院に運ばれました。現在は回復して仕事に復帰しています。
意識がなくなって倒れたわけではありません。左の頬に違和感がありました。普段から活舌のいい話し方ではないのですが、神経質な父は「なんか左が変な感じがする」と言って鏡でずっと自分の顔を確かめるように、さわったり、見つめていました。高血圧でコレステロール値が高いので毎日薬を飲んでいます。行きつけの病院に行くか、救急車を呼ぶか迷ったときに救急安心センターに相談しようと妹が連絡してくれました。「脳梗塞かもしれないのですぐに救急車を呼んでください」と言われました。
救急隊員、病院の先生、看護師、理学療法士の方々のおかげで10日間ほどの検査入院とリハビリのあと、退院しました。検査中、なかなか異常が見つからなかったそうです。しかし、本当に小さな脳梗塞の跡が発見されました。そのあとは、リハビリで順番に指を動かしたり、目を動かしたりして仕事に戻る準備を始めました。
救急車で運ばれたあと、家族みんなで病院に行きました。小学生の姪も一緒に行きましたが、残念ながら小学生以下の子供はお見舞いに入れませんと言われてしまいました。とてもかわいそうでした。でも仕方ありません。彼女はママと一緒に待合室でテレビを見て待ちました。
退院した父は、医療関係の方々にとても感謝をしていました。お礼のはがきも出すと張り切っています。川柳や俳句、短歌を作るのが趣味の父は、入院中に看護師や理学療法士の方に感謝の俳句などを何度もあげたそうです。とても喜んでくれたそうです。（本当かな。ご迷惑じゃなかったかな。。。）父はこのように関わった全ての方々に救われました。
A little while ago, my father was taken to the hospital in an ambulance due to a cerebral infarction. Fortunately, he has now recovered and is back at work.
It wasn’t that he lost consciousness and collapsed. Instead, he felt something strange in his left cheek. My father isn’t usually the sharpest speaker, but being a worrier, he kept touching his face and staring into the mirror, saying, “Something feels off on the left side.” Since he has high blood pressure and high cholesterol, he takes medication daily. When we were hesitating between driving him to his regular hospital or calling an ambulance, my sister reached out to the emergency consultation center. They told her, “It could be a stroke, please call an ambulance immediately.”
Thanks to the paramedics, doctors, nurses, and physical therapists, he was discharged after about ten days of tests and rehabilitation. I heard that it was actually quite difficult to spot the abnormality during the examinations. However, they eventually discovered a truly tiny trace of a cerebral infarction. After that, he began preparing to return to work through rehab, moving his fingers and eyes one by one.
After he was taken by the ambulance, the whole family went to the hospital. My elementary school-aged niece came along too, but unfortunately, we were told that children of elementary school age and younger were not allowed in the patient rooms. I felt so bad for her, but there was nothing we could do. She ended up waiting with her mom in the waiting room, watching TV.
After being discharged, my father has been filled with gratitude for the medical staff. He is even excited about sending them thank-you postcards. Making senryu, haiku, and tanka has always been his hobby, and he apparently gave the nurses and physical therapists poems of appreciation multiple times during his stay. They were very happy to receive them, he said. (Though I secretly wonder if it’s true. I hope it wasn’t too much of a bother for them…).
My father was truly saved by the kindness of every single person involved.
*senryu, haiku, and tanka: traditional forms of short Japanese poetry
(Translated by Thanh Van)
Read with Furigana & Key Vocabulary
