A debut on television

The other day I got a call from a TV station in Tokyo. The staff said that they had e-mailed me but had not received a response from me.

In short, it seems that the TV station wants to use heart sounds in a show for a national TV program. They found my educational website, 心音塾, while searching the Internet.

I was very honored. I created files of three types of heart sounds with phonocardiogram and electrocardiogram (you can see here) and sent them to the TV station.

I was looking forward to the broadcast on the day of the event, but unfortunately the files I created were hardly used, although they gave me a credit on an unrelated page, as shown in the red circle of the right figure. Of course, there was no gratuity.

137th Kinki Meeting of the JCS

I attended this local meeting where three wonderful things unexpectedly happened.

First, at the registration site, I met Prof. Hosono, a director of the Department of Cardiac Surgery at Nara Medical University. We had a small talk, including my son, Yuto, who has been working with Dr. Hosono as a CE since last spring. The next day, my son talked to Dr. Hosono at a barbecue party and told me that the surgeon said, "Dr. Kawasaki, me, is a very famous and excellent cardiologist. I know it was a kind of compliment, but it made me and my son feel happy.

Second, a resident of our hospital gave a presentation on a case of 2:1 PAT in which the jugular findings were useful in the diagnosis. After his nice presentation, the chairman, Prof. Nakagawa, a director of the Department of Cardiology at Shig Medical Collage, asked the presenter who noticed this rare but informative physical finding, Dr. Hayashi (the presenter) or Dr. Kawasaki, me, although the chairman did not know if I was in the room. I was so surprised and honored by his comment. Dr. Hayashi won the award for the best presentation.

Finally, Mr. Sugimoto, an employee of a pharmaceutical company, informed me that the keynote lecture would be given by Honorary Prof. Sato, who will be the President of the Annual Meeting of the Japanese Heart Failure Society in 2024. I did not know him until a month ago, when he invited me to give a web lecture on heart failure. After he finished his wonderful lecture, I approached him without any confidence that he would recognize me. However, he came down from the stage himself and came over to shake my hand with a big smile, saying "Hi, Dr. Kawasaki. Thank you for listening to my talk." I was so happy that he remembered me. His hands were big, thick, and warm.

What a day. I will never forget this day.

Wish simple JVP on guidelines

It was my horner to give a web lecture on the physical examination in the management of heart failure. Jugular venous pressure was an important part of the course. 

The chairperson is Dr. Sato, a heart failure expert and opinion leader in Japan. He will be president of the Japanese Heart Failure Society this fall. After my presentation, he asked me to have another lecture at the conference.

I developed a web application called "Simple JVP" and showed it during my spearch. I believe that this web application can pave the way for the nationwide use of jugular venous findings in the management of heart failure patients.

I would like to continue to play my role until this simple method of jugular venous assessment is described in guidelines and used in daily practice around the world.

Koreas

Aya and I had a short trip to Seoul in South Korea from March 4 to 6, 2024.

According to her advice, we enjoyed Korean food, such as boiled chicken and カルグクス. Basically, the places we visited were decided by Aya, who got information from Japanese YouTuber, カオルちゃん.

I only had one request to visit the border between South Korea (Republic of Korea) and North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), which was accepted by her.

We were really impressed to see the reality of North Korea through binoculars from the observation point on the hill in South Korea. Some villagers were walking between the fields. Everything there was monotonous.

Seoul was a well-developed city, but was not as clean as I expected. To us, the capital looked a little bit dusty. I would say that I am not a big fan of Korean food, unchanged from my impression from my first trip to South Korea almost 30 years ago. It is true, however, that visiting foreign countries is the best way to realize the wonderfulness of our home country, Japan.

A new member: Chouchou

A month ago, we fell in love at first sight with a cute dog and decided to adopt him the same day. On our way home, my wife suggested that we call him Chouchou because he was so fluffy, like a hair ornament. I later found out that the word "Chouchou" means "your favorite" in French. No wonder everyone agreed with her suggestion.

We thought he would come to our house soon, but he could not because the next day he was found to have a cold. He recovered a few days later, but then it was discovered that he had skin lesions due to fungus.

It has been more than four weeks since we paid money for him. We had no choice but to wait for the vet's approval. It was a relief for us that he was doing well, and we went to the pet store many times to hug him, even though we had to wear disposable gloves.

Finally, he is coming here the next day. Aya and I are leaving for Seoul, South Korea early tomorrow morning to do some sightseeing, but it would be okay because we are used to waiting for him. We are looking forward to hanging out in Seoul and meeting him afterwards.

Happy New Year 2024

We left home early in the morning on January 1, 2024 and went to my parents' home in Hikone, Shiga Prefecture. It had been almost a year since we had visited them together, and the first time since Mom's stroke.

We did nothing special for a new year's day. We just chatted and ate, which was a really fun time. Later, Dad and Mon told me on the phone that they really appreciated our short visit.

This kind of short stay used to be our routine, at least once a month, but it is becoming less common as they (not only my parents, but also my children) get older. I know that life is like that, but I hope that we can have a moment like this as often as possible.

PS. On the way to Hikone, I got a Gyarados, a doragon-type monster in Pokemon Go on the first day of the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac.

Best Teacher Series

I am very proud to announce that my lecture on physical examination in patients with heart failure has been released as an e-learning content of the Best Teacher Series by the Japanese Circulation Society.

I hope that more and more physicians and medical staff involved in the treatment of heart failure will become interested in the physical assessment of jugular venous pulsation and heart sounds.

P.S. I have been suffering from nasal discharge due to cold since the beginning of December, so my tone seems to be nasal.

Double wins

The Hanshin Tigers won the Japanese Baseball Championship. In addition, Sota Fujii, a professional shogi player, achieved the complete victory in the eight titles.

The last time the Hanshin Tigers won the championship was in 1985, when I was a senior in high school. Yoshiharu Habu, a shogi legend and the current CEO of the Shogi Association, won all seven titles in 1996, when I was about to finish my first internship as a doctor. It was a long time ago, but I still remember both of them.

I can't say that I am an avid Hanshin fan (although I do like shogi), but these two events are an incredibly great moments for me. I won't forget them.

I look forward to experiencing more of these great events in the future.

Mom discharged home

It was the 1st of July when my mother had an attack of sabarachnoid hemorrhage. The grade on admision was V on a scale of I to V, with V being the most severe. Statistically, the survival rate was extremely low (4 out of 36 patients with this condition).

I could not decide whether she should undergo emergency surgery, but my father decided that she should. It was enough for her to have a successful result, although it took three months to complete rehabilitation.

She seems to have mild dementia, but it couldn't be better because she has no difficulty walking and eating.

Mom, your new stage has just begun. Have fun with Dad. I would love to support you both.

Pokemon Go

To tell the truth, I have been into Pokemon Go.

It was two years ago, in September 2021, that my young son, Kosuke, advised me to join the free game. I started playing Pokemon Go on my smartphone without thinking too much about it. The funny thing is that he got tired of the game more than a year ago.

I am an early riser, waking up at around 5 a.m. and leaving home at 5:20 a.m. to catch the first train at the station in my residential area. It would take me 10 minutes to change my clothes, wash my face, brush my teeth, and shave my face. After that, I spend the remaining 10 minutes of the precious 20 early minutes playing Pokemon Go without drinking coffee or eating breakfast. Can you believe that?

My ultimate goal is to get to level 50. I am not sure how long it would take to reach to the final stage, but I'd like to achieve my dream of becoming the master of Pokemon Go, no matter how hard it would be.