Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF): When I was 21 years old, one day I dived into a shallow water pool for fun with my friends, and severely hit my head to squeeze & crack my cervical spine. My hands were both paralyzed and lost the grips. There was no MRI at that time, so my doctor did not do surgery and I was lying on an inclined bed to hang up my jaw to restrict my neck movement for 3 months. I just kept watching a spot on the hospital ceiling from morning till night for 7 days a week, which was ultimately painful. I deeply regretted my "shallow" diving and worried about my future since no one knows whether I can recover or not. I started rehabilitations. Like I tried to grip a tennis ball with my paralyzed hands. Then surprisingly I could recover, and spent 4 additional months to leave the hospital. The doctor said "Your neck bones are hardened now" on the leaving day, which encouradged me very much and then I struggled for graduation to be a researcher of biochemistry. The hospital and the doctor that fixed me are not existing any more.

When I became 48-49, I was suffered from severe pains on my neck and shoulder. The people in such generation experience the same thing, so I did not care initially. Maybe my mind (Psyche) refused to remind my neck trouble because it was extremely horrible experience. But one day I noticed that a portion around my left clavicle was paralyzed. I went to a hospital to see Dr. Yoshimoto who tried to clarify the reason why it was paralyzed by employing MRI. It appeared that my cervical spine has severely damaged by aging, and interspinal disks were squeezed to poke the spinal nerve very hardly. I was so disappointed, but I should have decided what I have to do next asap because my hands and soles already started paralyzing. Dr. Yoshimoto kindly explained effectiveness and safety of the ACDF surgery, and I did ask him to do that right away. The surgery was performed when I was 50 years old (on 15-MAY-2012), and surprisingly I could walk in the next day and left the hospital after 3 weeks. I have ever spent 7 months on a hospital bed to recover. What a difference!

Approximately 10 years have passed since I got the surgery, and now I feel no pain/trouble on my neck and shoulder at all. I want to tell/describe the details of my recovering process if I have a chance. I very much appreciate two great doctors who are indispensable for my life (7-APR-2023).

Apartment house: This is the kitchen room of my apartment house. This would be an ordinary/typical design adopted for Japanese houses. I attended the IBP2022 meeting (7/29-8/1) from this room for my presentations (7-SEP-2022).

My lab space: Three months have passed since I moved to UTokyo from AIST. Here I am having a great time with new topics and new facilities examining the "operando" of AFP. I very much appreciate Prof. Sasaki, Prof. Mio, and all the lab members (4-JUL-2022).