No, I am NOT meals-on-wheels!
But my roosters thought I was!
July 2024
I finished filling one peg hanger with the wet laundry. Carrying it upstairs (literally, four steps!) I walked through the kitchen and opened the glass sliding door. As I stepped into my thongs there was a flurry and ruckus at the chook pen and the sound of flapping wings could be heard as the juvenile roosters themselves flew over the fence and rushed towards me.
Not again!
They had done the same earlier that morning when I’d gone out to feed the fish!
I walked them back to the chook pen, and “locked” them back inside.
I went inside the house and carried on with my morning chores. Soon enough the rubbish bin was full and needed emptying. I lifted out the bulging bag and tied the top. Replacing the bin liner, I then picked up my bag of rubbish and almost opened the kitchen door but wisdom stopped me.
Instead, I walked to the front door, hoping to sneak outside to dispose of the rubbish without the roosters knowing,
No sooner had I opened the door that I heard the flap of wings and saw them as they sprinted, wings flapping and head forward, straight to my feet.
Not again!
The roosters had reached the teenage stage and were so obsessed about eating. They had ample food in their pen of course, but to them, I was “meals-on-wheels”. It was starting to get quite ridiculous, so much so that if they saw me at all, they would fly over the fence and rush to me.
I would take the laundry outside, they would fly over the fence.
I would take the rubbish out, they would fly over the fence.
I would feed the fish in the fish pond, they would fly over the fence.
I would go to the car, they would fly over the fence (most annoying when you are trying to drive away but want your animals locked up! I’d give them feed to keep them in!)
I would go outside for anything and they would fly over the fence.
I honestly started to get anxious about leaving the house! It wasn’t the terribly hot and humid summer that was keeping me inside, it was the roosters!! It got so ridiculous, that one day they saw me walk into my bedroom, (which has double-glass doors looking outwards the chook pen) and yes, you guess it, they flew over the damn fence to come to the glass doors!
Unbelievable!!
Why God??!! I’d prayed not to let any more eggs hatch if they weren’t going to be hens, and not only did you let one more hatch that was a rooster, but the other two chicks that survived are also roosters!!
But God didn’t answer the way I wanted Him to. Month prior we had incubated nine eggs. Out of the five eggs that had hatched, we’d lost three chicks in the first few days. With four eggs still sitting in the incubator I had prayed that they wouldn’t hatch if they weren’t hens. I had had enough of death and sadness.
One last egg hatched. I knew it would be a hen, just liked I’d prayed.
And now, here I was, seven months later with near-fully grown chickens and all three of them were roosters!
Why did you let him hatch, God?
Alas, there was a reason, but for now, it would remain unknown to me, and that’s just how life is sometimes.
You’d think the obsession that the roosters had towards me would have been enough for me to get rid of them, but the last straw was when they started crowing. I don’t know why we kept them for so long (actually I do, I was living in denial, hoping that they would be hens!!). It was time to re-home them.
After saying goodbye to the roosters the kids had the great idea to incubate eggs again. Ummmm.... NO!
I’m meant to be in respite, having a much needed break from caring for Okasan. I didn’t need to add more chickens into my life to wear me out! I still hadn’t recovered from the trauma of incubating and hatching the eggs AND the raising part—the memory and experience were far too fresh in my mind!
As mentioned in my previous post, with Okasan in hospital (due to her broken ankle) I was getting the carer respite that I needed. But after many weeks I still didn’t feel 100%, maybe the roosters had something to do with it…!! Haha!!!
I was a bit dizzy and tired, possibly anemic? My energy levels hadn’t returned. The stress that I’d gone through that first week after Okasan had broken her ankle had really knocked my body about and I thought it would be wise to see a doctor myself.
I mentioned this to my husband, Shujin, and he asked which type of doctor I wanted to see. In Japan there are no GP’s (General Practitioner) like in Australia, instead you go straight to the “specialist”. It sounds great, until you realise you don’t know what sort of doctor you need to see!!
Thankfully there are some generalised options, so we went to an Internal Doctor (as opposed to an External one. Since I was having issues inside my body, not on the outside). Anyway, so the system was such that you just turned up and put your name on the list. The clinic was rather full when we arrived, which in some ways was a good sign that it was a popular clinic! I equated that to being “good”.
We took the New Patient forms and Shujin started filling them out for me. He asked me what tests I want done. Huh? Doesn’t the doctor decide what tests I need?? I wanted my iron checked, but urine and faeces tests? I had no idea!
Shujin must have decided on the blood test and urine test because after we handed back the forms, I was called over and given a paper cup with markings on the inside. The lady showed me by holding her finger and thumb apart just a little, that I didn’t need much. Filing the cup up to the first line would be enough. She pointed me down the hallway to the toilet. I wondered what they were testing for, I hadn’t even seen the doctor yet!!
Even though there were lots of people in the waiting room, we didn’t have to wait that long before we were called to the second waiting area, just outside the doctor’s door. We would be next. Before we went in the nurse called me over to have my weight, height and BMI checked. She motioned for me to stand on the apparatus that checks all three at once.
I slipped out of my shoes and stepped on the scales, standing straight and tall. The height measuring thingy swiftly found the top of my head and bounced back up again. The machine spat out a receipt with my details. The nurse retrieved the paper and, handing it to me, asked if any figures had changed. I looked.
I couldn’t remember a previous BMI figure to match it against, so I disregarded that one.
I checked my weight reading. It was mid-morning. Usually if I’m checking my weight I do it first thing in the morning. So, expecting to see a weight that was a little more than usual, I checked the figures on the paper and it told me I was lighter than usual!
What’s more, my height was taller.
I’ve grown 1.5cm??!!
I always thought I’d stopped growing at 16 years old, now I started to wonder if there had been human error in previous height checks…? Or more likely, perhaps the machine was inaccurate. Yes, that must be it. Surely I hadn’t grown??!!
Slightly confused, but highly amused, I told the nurse (via Shujin my translator!)
“Yes, I've grown,” I chuckled.
How could I be taller, but lighter??
The machine was certainly inaccurate!!
I didn’t mention the weight “loss”, the figure was negligible.
We were called into the doctor’s office and with Shujin as was my interpreter, the doctor talked with me for a bit before he took my blood pressure. He was an older doctor with grey hair and a kind face.
I felt he might be a little old-school as he didn’t have a fancy new blood pressure checking machine which I’d seen just outside his door in the second waiting area. Instead he just had the strap which he put around my arm, manually pumped it up and put his stethoscope on my arm to listen. Satisfied, he then helped himself down my shirt with his stethoscope to listen to my heart.
Well thanks for the warning!!
With blood pressure and heart rate checked he then did a gentle squeeze on each of my calf muscles. More talking and he tells me my heart is good, my blood pressure was a little low (no surprises, it usually is) and that I needed to exercise (also no surprises!).
He went on to talk about good lifestyle habits, including exercise and stretching (with a good diet) and said I needed to do this daily and then come back and if it hasn’t helped he could give me meds. Shujin said I don’t like meds and would prefer to try other options first. He didn’t push at all or dismiss us as some weirdos. We were highly impressed! Not just for his response about me not wanting meds (I didn’t feel my condition was needing of them) but also that he was rather holistic in his approach!
Once the consult was over the nurse took my blood. Right then and there. No driving across town to find a pathology clinic! Genius!
So I set to exercising every day, and doing stretches. I hoped to see some results before I went back. No follow-up consult was scheduled as that’s not how they operate, you just turned up when you wanted. So different to Australia!
At some stage I would go back and get the blood results.
And be prepared for the stethoscope!
What crazy doctor clinic experiences have you had?