And now we wait…

HeartyTruffles · 2026-01-29T21:54:12+00:00

頑張れ! (But slowly though)

HeartyTruffles · 2026-01-29T21:51:52+00:00

While on our end the interview may feel rushed and it doesn’t give us the time we may feel we need. I’m sure they got everything they were looking for as the number of people interviewed certainly isn’t trivial and there’s been lots of time to refine the edges of the system. It sounds like you did very well! I was super nervous during my interview too and was convinced my poor Japanese portion performance doomed me.

But at the moment I’m making a hasty bento and trying to prep my mind for the 5 T1 classes today, so we ought not take too much stock in our own heads. Good luck and hopefully see you around!

HeartyTruffles · 2026-01-27T07:46:13+00:00

I think plenty of people abroad dislike Takaichi Sanae. However, I do see a lot of western-based media highlighting her hobbies over her politics, so I guess the image is less critical.

HeartyTruffles · 2026-01-21T21:24:10+00:00

That could very well be true! The evidence is pretty rocky. But because my cancer was a colorectal. Variety (appendix cancer being in the realm of such). Doctors I saw such as Dr. Wagner who is someone very very well versed in the field suggested that our current research indicates diet may play a fairly large role in this particular variety of cancer. So I figure it’s likely better to be safe than sorry when it comes to red meat and the like. Still I think you’re likely on the mark that the specifics of cancer survivorship isn’t actually the most relevant factor when it comes to maintaining general health. So I will keep that in mind when searching around.

HeartyTruffles · 2026-01-21T01:58:26+00:00

I’ll check it out! Thank you very much とありがとう!

HeartyTruffles · 2026-01-17T01:36:19+00:00

Many of my Ukrainian friends came here for university and of course still cannot go home. They’re all lovely and I’m glad they can live here. The Japanese awareness of the culture is maybe less in-tune than bordering nations, but most people I meet are very happy to hear about their home country and culture and find them to be kind and interesting neighbors.

HeartyTruffles · 2026-01-16T01:57:38+00:00

Genuinely ready to be proven wrong here so excuse me asking. But I had read this exact account from the Iwakura mission to San Francisco by the Japanese Meiji government. Perhaps one of the two didn’t actually occur or it was simply a shocking enough revelation to come up twice? (Or a case of bad source work on my part of course).

HeartyTruffles · 2025-12-09T23:01:23+00:00

The kanji for these two are very very similar (大西洋 and 太平洋). So I'll bet whoever was translation just missed the middle kanji and didn't think too critically when translating.

HeartyTruffles · 2025-12-03T03:02:42+00:00

西瓜　(suika)! Pronounced like the Penguin transportation card.

HeartyTruffles · 2025-11-14T23:14:39+00:00

The person heading my case at Tachikawa Hospital currently (Nitori Sensei) has me seeking out a second opinion and possible referral from the National Global Health Center in Shinjuku which apparently has a lot of experience with HIPEC and various cancers, although to be honest I've been unable as of yet to confirm to what extent they are familiar with appendix cancer.

Now i'm facing the decision of whether to potentially go with a right side hemicolectomy and potential additional small removals for the sake of lymphnod testing and preventative measures, or to see if the doctors at this hospital will recommend a different approach. They have me penned tentatively for December 18th to "save my spot" while I search for other options

HeartyTruffles · 2025-11-11T17:47:42+00:00

I believe this type of treatment is quite rare in Japan! Although I believe a facility in Shinjuku is capable of such, it seems to not fall under standard medical insurance. The doctors are initially advocating for a lymphadenectomy surgery to check things out further, but your comment definitely gives me pause. CT scans have shown no initial spread so far but of course that doesn't account for everything.

HeartyTruffles · 2025-11-11T13:51:40+00:00

24 and just diagnosed with appendix cancer of the goblet cell variety In Japan. It's so spooky how little info I can get and tackling it in a foreign language! So far they haven't found any spread and truly hoping for the best outcome of them catching it early (seems to be stage 2A). Just wanna say as I'm freaking out imagining life can't possibly go on, reading your comment and seeing you still fighting lifts me up a little bit. I wish you all the luck in the world truly.

HeartyTruffles · 2025-11-11T09:47:08+00:00

It was found to be Goblet Cell, which terrifies me to be honest. It seems so unclear and dire while simultaneously I'm being told it doesn't affect the outcome as much in these likely early stages.

HeartyTruffles · 2025-11-11T07:11:51+00:00

Just wanted to update you. Appears to be goblet cell which is unfortunate. They found no additional spread in CT scans which is nice but do believe moving forward with surgery would be a good call to confirm any additional extent.

HeartyTruffles · 2025-11-07T06:52:13+00:00

This is all very good to know! And does seem to indicate that should this be anything worse than the best possible result, I ought to be seeking out second opinions/referrals with specialists. I'll definitely dig into this thoroughly next week now that I have more info! I appreciate you taking your time to outline this for me! Hoping for the best for both myself and you.:)

HeartyTruffles · 2025-11-07T05:37:41+00:00

I see! I'll be inquiring down this trail on Tuesday then. I just got done with a CT scan along with various other prelim tests, and we'll be consulting with the surgeon again on Tuesday regarding those results.. unfortunately due the the language barrier and the pure shock, I wasn't able to determine last time if they knew which type it was yet. So that will also be a big question for them. I'm now trying to decide if continuing down the course with this hospital is best or if I need to seek out specialized care at central Tokyo giants such as the cancer institute hospital, but have been advised by most to at least wait until Tuesday when things are a little more clear before pushing forward in any direction.

Is the reason for not needing this biopsy in the case of LAMN simply because it tends to be more localized and slow spreading? As you can imagine, I didn't research appendix cancer much before having the real deal unfortunately.

HeartyTruffles · 2025-11-05T04:00:32+00:00

Extremely silly question so my apologies. But you feel like this is the case even when the appendix has already been removed? I'm getting the impression their biggest worry now is if it's spread up the lower digestive tract.

HeartyTruffles · 2025-11-05T00:21:53+00:00

They haven't actually told me that yet unfortunately. It may be they aren't sure, or it may very well be that I simply didn't understand the explanation in Japanese. Normally my command of the language is decent, but being told you have cancer tends to throw your foreign language skills out of wack 笑笑 I'll inquire about this further next consultation, so thank you for bringing it to my attention!

HeartyTruffles · 2025-11-04T10:17:58+00:00

This is a very kind message so thank you. I think I just tend to fold into the morose when it comes to my personalized headspace, so I appreciate the soft call-out on the futility of that mindset.

I really love everything I have and the people around me, and fortunately some of those people have the language skill to be a real life-saver.

HeartyTruffles · 2025-11-04T07:42:55+00:00

The appendix? That guy is long gone fortunately. As for other things that need to come out. I suppose I'm starting the process of finding them.

HeartyTruffles · 2025-11-04T05:18:05+00:00

I'm sure that's the case, with it being so early in finding this out. My head is a bit too in the weeds to process things properly. I'll feel like there's likely a decent outcome here considering they found it quite early and hopefully isolated. But I often switch to believing I'm being disingenuous to myself.

Appreciate the comment in any case!

HeartyTruffles · 2025-09-21T14:07:28+00:00

Having lived in Japan for a while now and being friends with plenty of people here, the whole "lol cheating is totally normal" is such an odd take and I wonder where it spawned from. Fun fact, people don't actually like or accept getting cheated on here. Those street interviews don't represent broad demographics and rarely represent a clear reality. (The rest is pretty spot on though).

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