episode_0053

Episode 53. Threshold of Pain (1)

****

Morning commute.

I was quite tired today. I had the aftereffects of returning from Imentia, and I had a dinner appointment with the princess. I guess I should prepare a present too.

I don’t know. Please be generous as a monarch.

“But, Mr. Hedwig. What kind of conference is this? It must be a pretty big event for you to be staying at the Academy.”

“I think I’ll change the middle to black too.”

Why are you talking nonsense?

“Surprisingly, it gets dirty a lot. The dust is gray and the dirt is brown. More importantly, what kind of conference are you attending this time?”

“I don’t know exactly. I heard that some of the academy professors are discussing things like germs, hand hygiene, blood circulation, etc.”

“I see.”

“It seemed like this wasn’t just an academic discussion, but a concrete, clinically applicable discussion. That’s why I called several people.”

If they’re the subject, isn’t this basically my thesis critique? Why didn’t you invite me? – No.

It would be easier to hold the tasting event if there were no parties involved. I thought about it for a while. Should I go or not?

Wouldn’t it be better not to go?

“Uh… …. Please tell me what it was like when you got back. If there is an academic journal, please give me a copy.”

Hedwig nodded.

This conference, there was no need to prepare anything in particular. Should I just send Istina to observe later? She might learn something.

“Yes, Professor. ”

“Yes.”

“Can I observe your ward rounds or outpatient clinic visits for the next few days?”

“Uh… ….”

Well, that was a bit of a thorny issue.

It’s not a big deal to bring it along, but I don’t know how much help it would be since it’s not like he’s going to be a graduate student.

“Then… … . Do what you want to do, and if you have any questions, ask Miss Istina. We can discuss it when we see the patient later.”

“Can you please just take a few questions?”

I nodded.

****

Hedwig sat down on the study sofa, holding a small booklet in her hand.

Are those my papers?

“Then. Bacteria first.”

“Yes.”

“What do you think bacteria are?”

“Particulate matter. We believe that this is what causes problems when it reproduces inside people.”

Hedwig nodded.

“Have you ever thought about the specific mechanism by which bacteria cause disease?”

“Well, if you’re just talking about possibilities.”

“Yes.”

“Did you know that in a blood microscopy, the blood cells that come out are not just red blood cells?”

“Only mentioned in blood papers.”

“Yes. Well, in my personal opinion, I think that fever and redness occur as white blood cells in the blood resist bacteria.”

Hedwig tilted her head slightly.

“Is that so? That’s the first time I’ve heard of it.”

“This is just an opinion.”

If you’re really lucky, you might be able to see the white blood cells eating the bacteria in real time, but I’m not sure if your microscope is capable of that. The white blood cells themselves are blurry.

“There is a paper on infectious dysentery, right?”

“Yes.”

“What are you saying? Is there a reason why bacteria die from alcohol? I see, the professor uses alcohol for sterilization in the ward.”

The cell membrane of all living things is made up of a phospholipid bilayer, and since this component is fat-soluble, when mixed with high-concentration alcohol, the cell membrane dissolves in the alcohol and the bacteria die.

To put it simply,

“Even bacteria die when pickled in alcohol. They are living things.”

“That could be possible… … .”

Hedwig nodded roughly.

“Regarding blood circulation. You said that blood moves mechanically in the human body. Is there another way to experimentally verify this?”

“There are many.”

The paper mentions cardiac output and microscopic observation of capillaries, but there are many ways to verify the existence of blood circulation.

“Cut open a vein in a living animal. You will see that venous blood only moves toward the heart.”

“But, according to the professor’s theory, the organ that makes blood is not the liver. So the organ that makes blood disappears.”

Hedwig wrote something down with a serious expression. I shook my head. No.

Femur. I took out the femur that Istina had previously retrieved from the execution ground. The femur had already been cut open with a saw.

“Look. It’s red.”

“It’s brown.”

“Red when fresh.”

Hedwig looked at me with a strange look. No, what can I do when it’s real?

“If you look at the bone marrow of a living person under a microscope, you will be able to see cells that make red blood cells and white blood cells. Probably.”

****

“Professor! We’re in trouble!”

This is a hospital. It’s a place where people with serious problems come. I don’t know if it’s necessary to yell that something serious is happening.

Anyway, let’s see what’s big today.

Istina burst into the lab.

“What is it?”

“A patient just came in!”

“Report.”

“A male healer in his 20s brought in by carriage from the city temple. The temple healers thought he was possessed by a demon.”

If you really thought you were possessed, you would never have let them out of the temple. You just said you had no idea.

“What kind of demon is the demon in the temple?”

“That’s right, that’s why you brought me here.”

“What kind of disease is it?”

“There was no one around me who complained of similar symptoms, and they said they didn’t know the cause. They said there was nothing that seemed to be the problem… … .”

“How is the patient’s condition?”

“What is the patient’s condition? He is currently unconscious, breathing normally, but drooling and foaming at the mouth.”

“Where do you see that it’s breathing normally… … .”

Oh, so annoying.

I started running to the ward. I hope it’s nothing serious, but unfortunately, it looks like another patient will be in critical condition.

“Are there any restraints or straitjackets in the ward?”

“Are you really the devil?”

That’s what I meant when I said no.

There may be demons in this world, but if they were demons, they would have taken care of it in the temple. Since they are not demons, they came all the way here.

“Go get a rope. I’ll go to the hospital.”

“Where is the rope?”

I don’t know. I’m the one who takes care of the rope.

I left Istina behind and ran to the ward. I figured I could bring it myself.

The reason I asked you to bring a rope is because I have a suspicious diagnosis.

He is a priest and healer of the temple, so he is in the medical profession. It would have taken several hours to ride a carriage from the temple to here.

What kind of disease comes to mind?

If it is a disease that can cause sudden collapse, then of course you should suspect a stroke or myocardial infarction. However, considering the patient’s age, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Epileptic seizure?

But that’s not a disease, it’s a symptom. Then, should we start by administering anticonvulsants?

There is no guarantee that this patient’s symptoms are convulsions. There are more than one or two reasons why a person might suddenly collapse. However… … .

There are too many cases. You have to report the patient properly. What is the patient’s pupil, what is the oxygen saturation, what is the blood pressure.

Okay. There is no other way.

****

Arrived at the ward.

I think about this sometimes… … .

It’s hard here because I have no one to discuss treatment with. No one understands the medications I’m taking, and there are few people who can offer me meaningful advice.

It wouldn’t be to that extent in a modern hospital.

You can ask your colleagues, or if you put aside your pride, you can ask experienced nurses what their predecessors used in these situations.

You can also request a referral. It may be bitter, but you can also send the patient to another hospital.

But not here. If there’s a problem that I don’t know about or can’t solve, that’s the end of it.

Just die.

In front of the hospital bed stood a nurse, Dr. Hedwig, and a priest. Lying on the bed was a man in priest’s attire.

He was unconscious and would occasionally twitch his limbs, but he was still breathing.

“Since when has this person been like this?”

“Three hours.”

“Do you have any idea why this is?”

“I have no idea.”

I checked the patient’s pulse. The pulse was more stable than I thought. The blood pressure also seemed normal. I thought that in a few years, I would be able to feel the pulse like a doctor of Oriental medicine, since I’ve been doing this all my life.

The diagnosis has been made, but I think there are still a few minutes left to ponder the diagnosis. Of course, it seems like it, but we still need to look at it carefully.

I examined the patient.

“Gag.”

“Yes?”

“No gag?”

The patient is still breathing and has a stable pulse. All we need to do now is administer treatment. The nurse ran over and handed me a gag.

I put a gag in the patient’s mouth. As a side note, the gags they use in hospitals have holes in them so you can still breathe if you bite them.

But since he was still, it wasn’t difficult to put a gag in the patient’s mouth.

“What are you doing?”

The patient was a healthy man in his 20s. It could be dangerous to administer medication like this.

“If we wake up the patient, there could be chaos. We will tie him up with a rope and treat him.”

“What do you mean-”

Istina ran into the ward.

“Professor! I brought the rope!”

Everyone in the ward was focused on me. I scratched my head awkwardly. No, maybe I needed a rope for treatment.

Is that something to think about?