Rieko Zanma (75), an event and publishing producer, appeared on Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's long-running talk show "Tetsuko's Room" (TV Asahi) on August 19th. Zanma, who has been to many hospitals, spoke about the "miracle cure" for living well with illness.
Zanma has often missed school since elementary school, and was once hospitalized for around 100 days when he was in the second year of junior high school. He currently visits 11 hospitals, including orthopedics, neurology, respiratory medicine, and ENT. "I like it as a kind of checkup. I think it would be much more painful if I were to get really sick, so I thought I might as well get checked out. If I feel even the slightest bit of discomfort, I immediately rush to the hospital," he said.
When she appeared on the show in February 2023, she had been to 12 hospitals, which means she has now gone down by one in about two and a half years, but this year she has been suffering from dizziness. Her original condition, benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, has gradually improved, but she revealed, "Recently, I've been feeling lightheaded and dizzy, like I'm walking on clouds, for the past month or two. It got so bad that I went to the hospital, and they diagnosed me with orthostatic hypotension. It seems I have a problem with my autonomic nervous system."
Zanma said that he was also worried mentally. "The doctor (at the hospital) said that the best cure was to not worry about things. He said to tell myself every day that it was okay, that everything was fine. I guess age is a big factor too. I wonder what will happen from now on," he recalled.
When asked by Tetsuko about his future, Zanma said, "I was feeling a little depressed, but I couldn't stay like that. People with low blood pressure are very susceptible to low atmospheric pressure. I will keep looking forward and keep moving forward, without succumbing to atmospheric pressure and blood pressure."
