So, hopefully this will be my last blogpost about hospitals in a looong time..

I broke the collar bone in my right shoulder while surfing in Bali this spring break, and since the part of the bone that broke was close to the joint the doctor told me that a surgery was necessary in order to stabilize the shoulder. To make a long story short, I ended up with a metal plate screwed to my shoulder, which has been bothering me for almost four months now. As I previously wrote, I had the chance to get another surgery here in Japan in order to get the plate removed, and last weekend I checked into the clinic where I've been going to rehabilitation since I came back to Japan.

I have to say that beside the long hours of waiting everything went really well (to be honest, the long hours were mostly spent studying so it didn't really vary that much from my normal days..).
I also had a dvd of the drama called "1 litre of tears" (1リトルの涙) with me, which I bought last year in Taiwan. Yeah, I've been busy..
I have to say that although it was a great drama I'm not sure if I would recommend it for those of you who needs entertainment while in hospital.. x)

Last but not least, I had some great friends who came visiting me, which of course made the stay a lot better.

I guess the whole point with this blogpost just was to let everybody know that the surgery went fine, and that I'm ready for some hardcore rehabilitation from now on. I miss doing sports x)...
And for those who wonders; Japanese hospitals are great x) especially the food. さすが

..My landlord even came by with a grapefruit!

Lastly, some pictures from my weekend in hospital:

Some of my friends brought me cookies and other snack^^

And this is.. My one and only souvenir from Bali ><

Japanese hospital food.. Yummy:)

Some of my readers out there might already know the story about how I broke my shoulder when I was surfing in Bali during spring break. Since the collar bone broke close to the joint I had to go through surgery, and now I have a pretty big metal plate in my shoulder..

I have been going to rehabilitation twice a week ever since, but I still cannot lift my arm more than 70 degrees, even though it has been almost four months. The latest x-rays showed that the bone in my shoulder finally has healed, and the doctor recommended me having a new surgery as soon as possible in order to get rid of the metal plate.

Apparently they don't use this method in Japan anymore, and my physiotherapist didn't really understand why I wasn't able to lift my arm. However, my doctor suggested that the size and form of the plate is hindering my range of movement, and that I probably won't be able to lift my arm again if I don't have another surgery. Even though the bone in the shoulder has healed, it seems that the pain gets stronger every day I wake up in the morning, so I'm actually really looking forward to getting this over with!

I'm going to stay in hospital at least for four days, and I fear that it'll be rather boring..The thing is, when it comes to a Japanese hospital (or perhaps its just mine?), they do have quite a lot of strict rules one has to be aware of. Some of the rules are;
・携帯電話（メールも含む）は医院ではしようしないで下さい。
・外部からの電話は緊急時以外は取り次ぎいたしません。
・外出・外泊は院長の許可を受けて下さい。

This will be my new home for the next four days..

It has been a month since I broke my shoulder while surfing in Bali, and although my arm is much better it is still a long way to go until I can fully recover from the accident.
After returning to Japan I spent almost two weeks living with Yuma's family in Kobe, and that really helped me a lot. I know it would have been very tough to live by myself during the first weeks after the accident, and I'm very glad and thankful for all the help I received from Yuma and his parents.
We went a couple of times to a local clinic in Kobe where the doctor did some check-ups to make sure that everything was like it should.

なか整形外科医院

After returning to Kyoto I have been going twice a week to a clinic called Naka Orthopaedic Clinic (なか整形外科医院) not too far from my school. Here I'm basically doing easy exercise with my arm, and they have trained staff who helps me increase my mobility. I'm improving a little bit at a time, although I still can't lift my arm 90 degrees it is still getting better day by day. Naturally there are some things that one usually takes for granted, such as styling one's hair or put on nice clothes, that really has turned out to be a challenge for me in these past weeks. I can't even do a ponytail, since I can't reach the back of my head, and I need zippers or buttons to be able to put on a sweater. It's almost a bit comical..
I do also feel that the plate in my shoulder somewhat blocks my movements, although this might be a mental block rather than a physical one.. As soon as the bone in my shoulder has completely healed (which will take between 3-4 months) I hope that I can have another surgery to get the metal plate inside my shoulder removed.
For now all I can do is to let the time do it's job, and keep on doing easy exercises every day. 頑張らないと！

The exercise room in the clinic I go to for rehabilitation. Both pictures in this post are taken from their website

Yesterday I was going to try out surfing for my second time. Kuta beach is world famous for its great surfing conditions, and Yuma and me wanted to spend a fun day at the beach. We got up early and went down to the beach, rented a couple of boards and got into the water. We had rented the boards for two hours, and since Yuma already has some surfing experience he helped me out teaching me the basis.

We had a lot of fun, until there were only ten minutes left of the session. A big wave was coming, and I was concentrating on the wave trying to surf on it. As the wave lift me up I realized that the direction of my board was heading straight towards a man standing in the water facing the beach; he didn't notice me coming at all. I tried to scream at him, but at sea I supposed it is hard to hear. Everything happened so fast, because the wave was so strong. My only thought was that if I continued straight I would hit the man in the back with my board, so I tried to push the board out of his way to the left. I succeeded, but instead of the board it was I who slammed into his back with my shoulder first.. I got up and asked him if he was ok, and he said he was. Me, on the other hand, had a strong pain in my shoulder so I decided to get out of the water. Some lifeguards tried to help me, but it did not seem like they knew what to do. Might have been a language problem or something, because even though I told them I had had an accident they suggested that my arm hurt because I had been in the water for too long.
Luckily an Australian woman came up to me; she had apparently worked with physiotherapy for many years and after a short examination she asked the lifeguards to call for an ambulance.
And so my day ended with many long hours at the hospital: first with x-rays where they concluded that I needed an operation: the bone in my shoulder had broken close to the joint and the doctor recommended operating in a wire that could hold the bone together.
As an exchange student I do have insurance through ANSA - Association of Norwegian Students Abroad - and although this insurance main purpose is to cover for any problems that might happen while I'm studying in Japan it does also provide me with a travel insurance for travels abroad up to 45 days. This truly saved me - just the examinations in itself would have cost over 350 US dollars, and the operation more than 3000 dollars.. Getting operated abroad sure is expensive, and this experience really shows how important it is to have a good insurance.
Yesterday evening I got the operation, and now all I can do is to wait for the doctor's decision regarding when I can leave. There was a lot I wanted to do here in Bali - diving, salsa, yoga etc.. I also had plans to go back to Ishinomaki-shi to volunteer once I got back to Japan, but now it seems that all these things probably are impossible.
Still, I feel very lucky after all. The damage could have been much bigger.. Also I am really fortunate to have Yuma here supporting me, as well as my family back home on skype. It has been about 24 hour since the operation now, and hopefully I'll be able to leave the hospital tomorrow.

Edit: Two days after the surgery, ready to leave. The nurse fixed my hair, but I was too weak from the medication to tell her I didn't like my new hair style. The other nurses laughed when they saw me. I kinda understand why. Haha..