Gastroscopy in Japan (Probably the Same Procedure as Your Home Country's)

A while back I had to go to the hospital to get my stomach checked out. I was having some stomach pains that caused some concern for my girlfriend and her family.

I'm not fond of hospitals, mostly because I absolutely hate waiting. If you've been to a Canadian hospital, a visit can take quite a bit of time. This was still true with my visit to the hospital in Japan, but at least it was relatively comfortable. Hospital staff were very accommodating to foreign people and the seating is ordered. In the waiting areas, there are numbers assigned to the people waiting, and a monitor at the front of the screen notifies patients of which doctor they will go to, in which room. Of course, being accompanied by a native Japanese speaker provided some peace of mind too, and it definitely smoothed out the process.

The staff had varying degrees of English ability but they all tried very hard to communicate directly to me. I remember the doctor I was seeing would make sure he directed all of his questions directly to me, and then direct his attention to my girlfriend when she translated for me. This doctor got me set up for a gastroscopy, for which I had to come back on another day. I was given the choice of going under or taking the camera conscious. Since I was curious to see the procedure, I chose to take it while conscious, to the surprise of both the doctor and my girlfriend.

On the day of the gastroscopy, I was led to a clinic chair by a nurse who, in the general Japanese fashion, downplayed her strong level of English ability. She gave me a numbing gel to hold in my throat for about two minutes before I was told to move to a waiting room, where I sat until I was called into the testing room.

In the testing room, I was greeted by the camera operator in fluent English. Accompanying him were two female nurses and one guy who I assumed to be a trainee. One of the nurses laid me down on the bed and set up some paper towels under my head. The other took my shoes and got the camera ready. While all of this was happening, the operator told me what was going to happen and advised me to try not to swallow.

The camera operator gave me a countdown, then gently inserted the camera into my mouth. I'll save you the detailed description, but it felt as if I was trying to hold in a massive burp the entire time. It wasn't exactly painful, but I suppose the foreign feeling had me in tears. Throughout the whole process, one of the nurses was massaging my back. I still can't decide as of writing this if that was comforting or awkward.

When the camera finished its investigation, the operator had me cleaned up and he gave me a rundown of what he saw: nothing! He was great in explaining what the camera images meant, all in English and with hardly any trouble at all.

Afterwards, I was sent off to the doctor that set up the gastroscopy. My girlfriend explained the findings and I left feeling relieved. When we finished wrapping up with the doctor, we headed to the payment area.

The payment was interesting to me. I had always paid a person when I had visited a hospital in the past, but this hospital had it automated. The payment machine seemed like an ATM; I had to insert a slip into the machine to start the process, and then place money into a receptacle to pay. It was a very smooth, intuitive process and I went home feeling like I had a good experience.

To end this post, my experience of a Japanese hospital was a very good one, and they are very accommodating of foreign people. As an additional piece of information, don't try to take a gastroscopy without anesthesia if you have the choice. Interesting experience, but definitely not fun.

Thanks for reading!