Renowned Japanese neurosurgeon

I watch Japanese TV shows that are available on youtube here and there.

I took a week off work this week. It is nice to have a break and I was browsing different Japanese TV shows on youtube as usual and one documentary series about the renowned Japanese neurosurgeon caught my attention. I watched one episode and Dr. Takanori Fukushima lives in the U.S. but flies to Japan to operate approximately 25 patients within 2 weeks of his stay! He was mostly dealing with very difficult cases many Japanese neurosurgeons aren’t willing to take the risk. These patients desperately wanted Dr. Fukushima to help them after their local Japanese doctors rejected them.

What makes him so successful in the U.S. is his exceptional skills. In the U.S., it is all about the results. It is good that you work long hours but American society focuses more on the result. Dr. Fukushima has a track record of successful neurosurgeries. Moreover, his commitment to his patients and outstanding skills make him the most sought after neurosurgeon around the world today.

Neurosurgery used to be far from my life but everything changed in 2011. Because of some concerns, my neurologist recommended that I get an MRI just to be safe. And the result showed some abnormality and they wanted to do various hormone tests and visual field test to rule out any other issues. Then I was refereed to a neurosurgeon. Within five minutes, my neurosurgeon told me that the only effective option that I had was to have surgery to remove this cyst in the brain.

Neurosurgery? So..this is brain surgery basically.

“Yes.”, says Dr. Uchiyama. I was fortunate that my neurosurgeon here in California was also Japanese American. So I know how terrifying it is to hear the word “brain surgery” and for me, I literally had to repeatedly follow up with neurologist before he finally referred me out to the endocrinologist and recommended a visual field test. I was crushed by that time. I was thinking that I had to shave my head and become a ball person for this surgery.

As I watch this old documentary of Dr. Fukushima operating various challenging patients, I do remember mine. It was definitely very hard for me as I just wasn’t fully aware of what I was putting myself into. I was sleep deprived for 3-4 days while being heavily sedated. So it was a torture that nurse comes by every two others to check my vital signs. I couldn’t breathe through my nose either and had to lay there without moving for 3-4 days so that was really challenging.

I am constantly writing, reading on line and doing something. It was a death sentence for me to just sit still while waiting for the time to goes by so the doctor can remove the huge packings in my nose.

But if you ever need help and it is related to brain, I recommend you contact his office.