I am sick – very sick. Headache, razor throat, fever, cough, shortness of breath, extreme feebleness. etc.
I make it to the clinic. As I approach the sliding glass doors, the nurses spring up, wave and dance around like happy puppies! “Ohayugozaimasu Neil san!” they chortle.
The doors slide open and I croak”Ohayugozaimasu mina san.”
All change!
“Go away Neil san! Do not come in! Go back to your car!
Nagasaki sensei examines me in the car and tells me I have Covid or Corona virus in Japanese. I get lots of medication.
I spend 10 days unconscious in bed. I eat nothing at all but drink litres of Aquarius, which kind Arisa san drops off in front of my door.
It is not that bad as I have hundreds of audiobooks. I start to listen and imagine that it is my Mummy reading me a story. I suck my thumb. Within minutes, I am unconscious again.
I am really weak. Getting off my bed and hobbling to the toilet is a major effort.
I have to organise a trip to Europe, find accommodation, book ferries, rent a car etc. etc. Deadlines loom. I cannot do it. When I try, I get very anxious and notice that I am trembling. Early onset something .
After 10 days I go back to the clinic. Nagasaki sensei looks at me of 2 minutes.” Neil san, you are very yellow. You must go to hospital immediately!”
30 minutes later I am in a hospital bed!
I still am. 2weeks with remission for good behaviour.
The Quiet Ripple Defines The Pond 
Bloody hell darling. Wh
Get back to looking pinkish with red cheeks soon!Huge hug from Holland!
Hi Mieke! Thanks for kind thoughts. My face has gone from yellow to the usual alcoholic red! I must be getting better.
Hey Neil, sorry to read all that and there was I thinking COVID was over and I’m sure you’d been vaccinated so wtf ? Anyway take good care of yourself, you seem to be in good hands.
Thanks for kind thoughts Mike. I am OK. Hospital is like a vacation! I have had Covid twice. First a bad cold, this time very very bad news.
Great to see that you can find the energy to type blog entries from your hospital bed – amusing and informative ones at that. Keep taking whatever they’re giving you and hopefully you’ll be back to being able to organise trips pretty soon. Some idea of what you get to eat as you recover would be good – or is Arisa still dropping by with bottles of Aquarius? We’re thinking of you on this side of the world.
Oh no! Thinking of you. We all await a good news update. 🙂
Yay Tara!
thanks for kind thoughts,
Much love
Neil