This is the second installment of a series.
Bunyu Ogasawara, a 69-year-old doctor from the city of Gifu, began making house calls for Yoshiko Kikukawa, 78, in August last year. He visited again on March 19 this year, when he heard that she was at home in Ogaki, Gifu Prefecture.
"I'm such a busybody, if anything good happens, I have to let someone know, talk about it somehow," she told him.
Kikukawa was diagnosed with lung cancer eight years ago, but she showed that even a cancer patient can carry on living normally in her beloved house. For example, she recently visited her granddaughter, Maya, 26, in Tokyo, and was guided around Tokyo Tower and did some yoga, which she had been practicing for a while.
"I'm doing a good thing to help people, right?" she said with a smile.
Kikukawa's condition had gradually declined. During her examination on April 1, she could not focus her vision and it seemed like she was temporarily unable to see. But when Ogasawara asked if she was happy, she repositioned herself to face the direction his voice was coming from and said: "I'm grateful for each and every day. Because they're so wonderful. I want people to know that."
Supported by Maya, who rushed to her side all the way from Tokyo, she tried to make a peace sign with her left hand.
Kikukawa died before dawn on April 9. Her husband, who was lying next to her, noticed that she had stopped breathing. Her eldest son, who lived with them, said: "She had an indescribably happy face. I'll never forget it. I thought she had been right [to choose staying at home]."
Ogasawara went to Kikukawa's house that evening. He told the family, "She said, 'It would be so lovely if everyone could make the peace sign.'" The family surrounded Kikukawa, who was lying on a futon, and took photos. Everyone made the peace sign with a smile.
Later on, Ogasawara received a message from Maya: "The funeral went smoothly. There were tears, but it was a funeral of people laughing like they usually would. Maybe some people thought it was undignified, but I think my grandmother would've been laughing too."
'Magic medicine'
On March 19, Ogasawara visited three patients in a car driven by a nurse. The final patient he saw was Mitsuo Hibino, 80, in Gifu. His colon cancer had spread to organs including his liver and lungs.
Hibino has been living alone since his wife died 13 years ago. Meeting Ogasawara's eyes, he said: "This is some magic medicine. It's wizardry, it really is."
His voice had become very loud, but not just because he was hard of hearing. With a huge smile on his face, Hibino made a gesture of drinking the "morphine wine" that he had in his hand with a dropper.
"I've been trying not to take this stuff because I didn't want to get addicted to it. But last night I found it hard to breathe and I couldn't take it anymore. After I take a swig of this, my pain is gone within 30 minutes."
Morphine wine is a painkiller made by mixing morphine with red wine, syrup and other items. If taken when in great pain, a patient will not become addicted. However, it affects each person differently.
When Ogasawara visited on the morning of March 22, Hibino was on the bed, just like three days before. His eldest daughter, Keiko Baba, 51, had come over to see her father and was smiling.
"He's still wearing his pajamas because he's been waiting for you. When you don't come, he says, 'Let's get dressed and go somewhere.' He's far too energetic."
This did not mean the cancer had disappeared, only that Hibino did not have breathing trouble or pain at that time. Hibino, who is a part-time farmer, came out to go farming.
"Sometimes after two hours or so, I remember, 'That's right, I'm sick.'" His laughter echoes through his house without a care for what anyone else may think.
"I'm going to give a lecture now. Will you come and talk?" Ogasawara asks. The lecture was to be held in Hashima, Gifu Prefecture, which is also Hibino's hometown.
"This is sudden," said Hibino.
Ogasawara replied, "Yes, I just thought of it." Keiko said, "I'll get your clothes ready so you can go."
They begin to prepare for the lecture in a rushed way.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
