Arrival in Japan, day 1

We have arrived.  Well, it took me 3 weeks to get back to posting because I was so ill so that should indicate exactly how interesting our lives have been recently.  Japan had a few surprises for us in store despite all the reading, research and questions posed beforehand.

First, at the airline counter for check-in, the counter front piece fell on my mother's foot and severely injured her foot.  She is now almost completely recovered, 3 weeks later, after a visit to the ER at home upon landing.  I have no idea what happened except to say that one minute she was next to me and the next she was crushing my arm and about to fall.  The counter front-piece is that portion of the counter that when standing at the counter, it hides everything behind the counter.  For some reason, it was not secure.  The airline did get her a wheelchair and arranged seating for us that would prevent her from having to limp too far down the aisle.  They also arranged a wheelchair at her next flight, and the paramedics checked her over before we left.  Usually, at check-in, I would have asked about our meals which would have prevented the next problem.

On the plane trip over, the airline did not have out gluten-free meals.  Normally, under other dietary restrictions, (maybe other then diabetes) not having your special meal is not too big of a deal.  But being celiac means that if I get gluten, I pay for it dearly.  Milk is also an issue and although cheese is usually ok, if I am in a celiac flare it is also a no-no.  Normally lasts for at least 2 weeks, this time it seems to be for a bit longer (more on why in the next post).  First I get the stomach cramps and the intestinal cramps than the terrible painful result of that (no details!).  I think you can use your imagination on that part.  Then the other, not so bad effects: red skin, fuzzy brain, small bumps on my skin which usually itch, headaches, tiredness (borders on exhaustion some days but varies widely), swollen joints, inflammation all over, red eyes...I think that's all the symptoms but I'm not sure.  My rheumatoid arthritis (RA) usually flares up at some point for 4-5 days and I increase pain medication and hope that the day of my Humira shot gets here fast and that this exposure won't trigger a full-blown RA flare for several weeks.

I fail to understand why, when I explain to the flight attendent that I cannot eat gluten because it will hurt more then it's worth, why do I feel guilty?  I didn't forget my meal.  I called the airline and requested the meal.  The flight attendants did their absolute best.  And usually we carry gluten-free meals and snacks with us on the plane but this time we didn't because we had too much other stuff to deal with (mostly 8 injections of Humira at a retail cost of $8000) including the immigration issues.  Well, we did get some food, mostly from first class: rice, cheese and some fruit.  And the flight attendants make their own group lunches in flight and they had salad which I was completely happy with if a bit hungry.  Elizabeth on the other hand, poor girl, did not want what they had offered.  We had to bend the rules a bit and I know she paid for it (although not with tummy cramps thankfully).  But 12 hours with no reasonable amount of food and knowing we had no food waiting for us was severely depressing.

After a 3 hour flight, followed by a 12 hour flight, a 2 hour bus ride and 15 minutes of taxi, we were all zombies but present in Wakoshi, Saitama, Japan.  Just trying to keep my head up and my feet moving, my daughter from complaining too much and my husband on the focused track of getting us to our new home.  It was a lot to ask.  Then poor husband had to go out again to find us something to eat.  I don't even remember what it was we ate.

Next, I'll post about the interesting search for hot water, gluten-free food, evil-evil MSG and the first days of first grade in Japanese.