My husband had (I think) a seizure this morning. We have been calling everywhere we can find with 脳神専門家 or 内科, but everyone is either closed or says they don’t have the right equipment.
7119 said we didn’t need an ambulance, and none of the hospitals they gave were able to see him.
What am I supposed to do? Is there something obvious I’m not thinking of in my anxiety? I don’t want to wait until things open tomorrow when something could really be wrong.
Extra info — In Tokyo. It’s never happened before but he’s recently started taking new medications. He says he feels fine and is starting to get frustrated with my worrying.
16 comments
I understand your are worried and anxious, but they said he doesn’t need an ambulance and your husband says he is fine. I think your answer is staring you right in the face.
If it was me, I would call an ambulance as soon as I knew he was having a seizure. Still would try it now if you want him to get checked asap.
Going on advice from my husband (he has epilepsy), you should probably call an ambulance and get him an MRI. If it’s because of the medicine, he needs to stop taking that medicine. Also, it depends on what kind of seizure. Did he lose consciousness or shake? Does he feel numb anywhere or is he suddenly snoring more? These could all be symptoms of a larger and more significant issue. I would advise you to get it checked out as soon as possible (even if your husband is against it).
You have three choices:
1. Call an ambulance.
2. Go to an Emergency Hospital (救急病院) on your own. This is like going to an emergency room “back home”.
3. Wait until tomorrow.
I’m not sure what an ambulance will do in this particular case since the seizure has passed and your husband says he is fine. You can try an emergency hospital but if your husband insists he is fine they probably won’t do much to help. Unfortunately when someone is insistent that they do not need help, it can be difficult to get them help.
I understand your concern and suggest you get him to a neurologist tomorrow. We had an incident where it looked very much like my wife had had a stroke and was non responsive but standing. Ambulance came, called the hospital and went back and forth while doing rudimentary tests in the vehicle. The hospital refused us and we were let out on foot once my wife could say her name. It was ridiculous.
I sent her to a neurologist the next day and he was somewhat alarmed and did a CT and sent her for an MRI. If it had been a stroke or if it had led to a stroke my wife could have been disabled. I looked up standard of care for the NHS just for a point of reference and the guideline is MRI. It really made me think about how you need to advocate here.
First of all, don’t panic. He had a possible seizure in the morning and he is doing okay right? I’m guessing if he had a tonic clonic seizure (the shaking kind), his head hurts and body aches a lot? He probably didn’t regain consciousness for a few minutes? I assume after he slept for a long time too?
Also, how long did it last? If the seizure lasted for more than 3-5 minutes it’s a definite emergency and needs to be seen immediately. Also, if your husband had multiple seizures one after the other, that also needs immediate attention.
However, if it was mild and lasted for about a minute as a one off seizure, and assuming your husband seems to be fine, then going to a hospital to check on his symptoms can be held off until tomorrow unless they begin to persist again. It’s possible that many places won’t take him on a Sunday unless it was an emergency that required an ambulance.
Does he have a history of epilepsy? Or is this the first time he’s ever experienced it? You mentioned he’s on medication – if it’s unrelated to epilepsy then it’s possible as someone else posted that the medication could be the cause of the seizure.
You should definitely get checked out at a specialist hospital when you can, but depending on the severity of your husband’s seizure, decide whether or not the situation is urgent. If he’s currently in a bad state, call an ambulance for peace of mind as they’re free in Japan and they’ll take him to a hospital somewhere.
I have epilepsy myself, and finding a good doctor in Japan was difficult at first (especially with the language barrier). I can recommend the hospital that I go to. There is an epilepsy doctor who speaks decent English but of course it’s better if you have someone who understands Japanese (or if you or your husband do that’s perfect). I’m not sure if they’re open on Sundays but you’ll definitely need to make an appointment to see them. It’s located in West Tokyo – Shin Kodaira – it’s a neurology specialised hospital:
https://www.ncnp.go.jp/hospital/index.html
I’ve had good experiences with them, but of course others may have different experiences.
Just call 119, say potential stroke and you need an ambulance immediately. They won’t enter into a medical discussion with you.
Call an ambulance—they are free. The ER will run a CT. Don’t fuck around, please.
I don’t know where in Tokyo , I guess that will determine a lot ….
For us we go to Todai hospital … any major hospital should at least have a proper ER department and if they can’t solve it they will redirect you to a hospital that can.
Get off Reddit and go the emergency room / hospital. Shouldn’t even be a question to be asked here.
Get an ambulance. It’s free and the staff will know where to bring him without you needing to call around or drive to different places.
Himawari is a website operated by the municipal govt that can show medical institutions which are open on a particular day. You can narrow down by area or condition etc. I’ve used their phone service to find pharmacies or clinics open on Sundays before, but I don’t know if they still offer that.
https://himawari-metro-tokyo.j-server.com/LUCTKIRYO/ns/tl.cgi/https://www.himawari.metro.tokyo.jp/qq13/qqport/tomintop/?SLANG=ja&TLANG=en&XMODE=0&XCHARSET=utf-8&XJSID=0
Go to the Emergency hospital.
Head rush and a fall upon standing is likely to be due to the new meds.
But loss of consciousness and shaking could be medicine related, or from hitting his head when he fell, or even from having a micro-stroke.
Get him checked.
Have him hold the first 2 fingers of your hands in each of his, and then he should squeeze. Is the pressure equal between the left and right? Also look at his eyes; are the pupils the same size? If the pressure or pupils are significantly different, he needs medical care for sure.
Call an ambulance, it is dirt cheap. A lot of old people abuse them.
I had epilepsy and have seizures 2 or 3 times a year. A city or prefectural hospital should accept you as a patient, but if you can walk and it can be difficult to convince the A&E doctor that there’s something wrong.
Hospitals close on Sundays? WTH kind of shit medical care is that do they think people don’t get hurt/sick on the weekend?