Toast to Life 5

I would like to introduce Daisuke Yamanoi (aka). Daisuke and I have been in ties together for more than 30 years, when we together went to a preparatory school for universities and living at the same dorm. It means that we met each other at the last ages of our teen-ages. He became a medical doctor after graduating his university, and is now a professor at a certain hospital in Tokyo. He, who connected me through his doctors' connection to the International University of Health and Welfare, strongly encouraged me to write this blogs.

In June, my wife Koko (or Tokko in Japanese pronounceation) first contacted Daisuke in early June, a little after my symptoms got worse. She had been knowing Daisuke through my conversation. With my family moving back to Japan permanently, Koko was the one who approached the Singapore Government about work visa issues, arranged my hospitalization, asking the mover and the landlord of the condominium (or mansion in Japanese) where I lived for more than six years. As if to fill a jigsaw puzzle, she was chasing all the matters while crying, and she filled it all up. I was (and still am) lucky enough to have her as my wife. 

Let me talk a bit more about Daisuke. He received a call from his wife (it seemed to me at least), and immediately recognized my health condition malfunctioning. He approached his friend doctor (brain surgery, ex-coworker with Daisuke). The doctor suspected my brain tumor from the beginning, then introduced me to the Narita Hospital, which just opened in March this year. 

It was quite a hard task even for us (or Koko), as a cancer specialized hospital in Tokyo, which had had originally our plan, stopped accepting new patients due to Covid-19. Thanks to that, however, upon arrival at Narita Airport on July 14, I did not have to go through through metropolitan area of Tokyo and possible wait for days before admitting. Instead, from the airport I went to the Narita hospital about 10 minutes by S family's vehicle. S family has been our long time friend since we lived together in Meguro. It was terribly lucky. By the way, after I was discharged out of the Narita hospital, I thought about visiting the brain surgeon, a friend of Daisuke and helped me out. But unfortunately I am refraining from doing so because I am a little weakened in immunity to go out. According to Koko my wife, who from Singapore spoke with him on the phone several times, the doctor seems to be a very rare communicator. I could feel it from his email comms.

Now return to Daisuke with an anecdote of us two. It was when we enjoyed Sushi at a small place in Tokyo in the early spring of last year (before my colorectal cancer was discovered), when I met him most recently. Understanding he was a medical doctor, I emphasized Singapore's quick processing and transparency with a reference of Koko my wife who suffered from her breast cancer in 2018. He, on the other hand, was replying by explaining the benefits of Japanese system of national insurance. At that time, I felt a little sad in mind like, "Daisuke was only on the defensive side," but later I would realized my misunderstanding, which I write at a later stage.

There are always something in him impossible to hate. In the same sushi place, I went to the bathroom and came back, when I found three toros (oily tuna) per each and additional sake at the same time he was already half drunk and grinning. Even in my hospitalization turmoil, I received a call from him via SNS after 10 pm on August 10. The caller was displayed as Daisuke. Until then, I had informed by e-mails about returning to Japan, hospitalization, and the start of treatment. So, therefore, I was a bit skeptical and went out to the corridor with my avoidance of voice noise to the people in the same room. He just said "yeah, yeah" to my talk, and knew it was typical of drunk Daisuke, which then made me happy and talk further. I would cry at his last word of the telephone call "hang on, Tsuyoki". Even in another video call after my discharge, he said on the iPhone screen, "I'm not a cancer specialist, and I have quite limited knowledge when it comes to molecular-targeted drugs (note, "Avastin" I use)." So, I just grin when I think of his face. He is the person like this. 

Before his entering an university, I, along with other friends, went to his home town in Japan. Even after graduating from our respective universities, both of us enjoyed drinks many times. In the dormitory of the prep school where we "ate the same rice", the three-story's dorm building stood on along the private railway line: the sight of the train headlights in the dark, straight coming to our direction, passed by when we sneaked up at midnight on the rooftop and enjoyed only ourselves still clings to my eyes. Now, I owe him tremendously, and so for the rest of my life. Thank you, Daisuke.

Numerous people both in Japan and Singapore have given us their big big supports. Among them, I would like to introduce another one from Singapore. Wangi Edward (also aka). Wangi was the head of the Singapore branch of a US intelligence company, when I was Director position in Tokyo of the same firm, of which I became the head in 2008. So, in a sense, she is my senior in Singapore. Now working as Government relations at a a major oil company, she and her European husband have been extending their kindness and guidance to our family for survival in Singapore. I still remember my son received great attention from her husband in animal & insect area. 

I would show one anecdote on Wangi. In 2018, when my family of four was enjoying summer vacation in Japan, I received a sudden call from a hospital in Tokyo, from which we the couple received health check, and was told that my wife had breast cancer. It was threes after our checks. My family got in grief. Wangi's face came to my mind, and I asked her via email for a doctor referral. She replied back saying, "please pick the person you want out of the following list. They all are of introduction by an acquaintance of my relatives. Don't hesitate", said the message along with the three candidates. She was normally so handful with many things to juggle: it sometimes took 24 hours for her to reply back, but the reply at this time was one hour later. I am really grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Edward.

(The photo is the sunset from my room at Narita Hospital on August 10, 2020. Continued)