That day, I had to attend a ceremony in the afternoon, so I wore a suit and took my usual One Coin English lesson in the morning. I planned to go straight to the venue afterward without lunch. Maybe I was a bit rushed because of all this.
When I was putting on my socks at home, I tried to sit down on a chair, but the chair slipped backward and I fell hard on my buttocks. To make matters worse, the chair tipped over as I fell, and I landed with my left buttock hitting one of the chair’s legs.
Based on my experience with four previous bone fractures, a thought crossed my mind that I might have cracked my tailbone.
However, once the initial pain settled somewhat, I could walk normally. Since time was pressing, I decided to just go to my English lesson as planned.
The trip to Shibuya wasn’t too painful, and during the lesson I mostly forgot about the pain.
But after class, hurrying toward Shibuya Station, I noticed the seat area of my suit pants was unusually swollen. Normally, I carry a coin purse in my right pocket, but this felt like there was a thick wallet in the left pocket as well. It turned out the injured area was swelling progressively! The pain increased, and I couldn’t even sit down on the empty seats in the Ginza line train.
Dragging myself along, I finally arrived at the venue in Kanda. I was able to attend the ceremony starting at 1 pm, but since I couldn’t sit, I stood the whole time. The swelling and muscle tightness around the injury had worsened drastically compared to the morning, and I became increasingly worried that the injury might involve a bone fracture after all.
Since the next day was Sunday, I wanted to see an orthopedic doctor that day if possible. But most orthopedic clinics are only open Saturday mornings, so by the time I got home many would be closed.
I decided to look up nearby orthopedic clinics on my phone.
The first one I found was “Tokyo Kanda Orthopedic Clinic,” about a 5-minute walk from the venue, open until 2 pm. (In hindsight, I should have called them.)
I tried to leave the ceremony early and limped over there at around 1:15 pm. However, when I showed my insurance card at reception as a new patient, I was told bluntly, “Reception closed at 1 pm.” I was stunned. I pleaded if there was any way they could still see me, but the blonde receptionist was quite cold. Since I was almost 20 minutes late, I had no choice but to leave quietly.
Not discouraged, I next went to “T-Matsuoka Emergency Clinic Kanda,” a clinic in the business district near the station specializing in emergency care. It turned out to be a good choice.
Their afternoon reception started at 2 pm, and I was seen immediately.
There were many foreign patients, and several foreign nurses and receptionists, so the atmosphere and staff uniforms felt like a hospital abroad.
They had CT and MRI on site, and the medical questionnaire asked whether I wanted those scans. I left that blank, unsure if it was necessary, but the doctor said since the buttocks are thick with flesh and hard to see clearly, I should get a CT scan. I agreed.
The result: “The bones seem okay, but there is severe internal bleeding and a huge hematoma.” They couldn’t tell if the bleeding had stopped or was still ongoing, so they said if the swelling worsened after I got home, I should go to a major hospital.
So the diagnosis was a relief, but during the exam—changing into a gown and lying on the glass plate for the CT—the pain worsened. While waiting for the bill, I started sweating and felt faint, almost passing out.
I lay down for about 15 minutes in a side room next to reception until my blood pressure normalized, then went home. I accidentally boarded the Ginza line going the wrong way and ended up in Ueno as a bonus.
The medical bill was over 6,000 yen, partly because of the CT scan, but I was satisfied with the thorough care.
They prescribed Loxonin, stomach medicine, Tranexamic acid (to stop bleeding), and Loxonin pain relief patches. The pain eased considerably after taking Loxonin, and I managed to sleep somewhat that night.
Since Sunday was rainy and I had no plans, I mostly rested at home. The pain was much better than the day before, and I was optimistic I could return to daily life within a week.