episode_0138

Episode 138. Pickles and Sore Throat (3)

****

I was sitting in the hospital examination room with Istina. There were two patients in my ward.

We are preparing for rounds now, and soon we will have to go see the inpatients. This is why Istina is studying the medical records.

Because I haven’t seen the patient in person.

Istina was looking at yesterday’s medical records with a somewhat questioning expression.

“If you eat a lot of pickles, will you die?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“I wrote it down in my medical records.”

This is what I explained to Amy yesterday.

It’s also a hassle to explain.

Istina looked up curiously from the medical records of the patient who had overdosed on pickles, I think his name was Eric.

“That’s amazing. If you eat this much, the intestines will be pickled like pickles and the water will drain?”

That’s right. You shouldn’t overeat anything.

Even seemingly healthy foods, like pickles.

“If you eat a whole jar of anything in one sitting, not just pickles, you’ll die. You’ll die from drinking water like that, too, right?”

Istina scratched her head.

“But, the patients who came yesterday. The medical records are incomplete. Is there a reason?”

As expected. They say that even a dog in a private school can recite poetry after three years. It seems that Istina has developed an eye for reading military records because she has worked with me for a long time.

“As you can see, both patients have impaired judgment. We’ll have to see them again when they feel better.”

“Aha.”

“If you drink a lot of salt water, not only your muscles but also your brain can shrink. Electrolyte imbalances can also cause impaired judgment. That’s why you have to watch this patient especially closely.”

“But. Why did you eat the pickle?”

“Go and ask later.”

How would I know that?

****

Anyway, we went back into the ward to see Eric. He looked much better than when I saw him yesterday.

Istina was holding the hospital patient’s medical records in her arms, arms folded.

The student healers all stood in that pose as if someone had taught them to do so. Even the student doctors I had seen in my past life did the same.

“Are you Eric?”

“Yes.”

Yesterday, he stuttered a bit and his gait was strange, but today, when I checked, he was completely fine. He was like someone who had never been sick.

But he still had a somewhat haggard look on his face.

I was worried, but it seems okay.

There is a disease called osmotic demyelination syndrome.

Nerve damage can occur if a patient’s hypernatremia is corrected too quickly or if electrolyte concentrations in the nerve change suddenly.

The patient appeared to be fine.

“I had a hard time yesterday because I threw up and had diarrhea for a long time. But I got it all out and drank a lot of water, so I’m fine. I was also dizzy.”

“Thank goodness.”

“When can I be discharged?”

I was worried about neurological problems, but fortunately, there were none. I think I’ll be able to be discharged as soon as I feel better. There is one important issue though.

“Why did you eat a whole jar of pickles?”

If the intention was suicide, or the judgment is impaired to the point where the patient cannot live safely on their own, or if there are such problems, discharge is not possible.

I wasn’t going to discharge him until I found out why. Why did he eat pickles?

Mr. Eric sighed.

“I feel like I came to the hospital for nothing.”

“If the patient had not come to the hospital on time yesterday, he would have died. Otherwise, he would not have died, but would have become a disabled person with brain damage.”

“Is that it?”

“Because the brain was soaked in salt water and the judgment was clouded. That’s possible.”

He was a bit of a frustrating patient. Maybe it was because his judgment was clouded yesterday, but he didn’t seem to realize the seriousness of the situation at all.

“Ah… … .”

“Please speak first.”

The patient looked at the distant mountains.

“Actually. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to find a job. This time, I got a new job, so I bought a whole jar of the cheapest pickles that would last a long time, and I just ate them to my heart’s content-”

“Yes.”

“If I knew I was going to die halfway, I wouldn’t have done it.”

But there was a reason, wasn’t there? I was worried that it was some kind of self-harm or that he was someone who had no sense of reason. That doesn’t seem to be the case.

“This isn’t a new suicide method, is it?”

“Yes.”

Anyway, that’s a good thing. All you have to do is explain to them not to do that.

“I don’t think I need to say this, but from now on, patient, you shouldn’t eat pickles? Eat everything in moderation. You could die.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Did you go to the bathroom? If you have electrolyte imbalances, you may have kidney problems.”

“Are there that many problems?”

“So. Patients, don’t eat too much at once. No, don’t do things that other people don’t do… … Why are you doing this?”

“I’m sorry.”

You don’t have to feel sorry for me though.

I did think that this person was a bit pathetic. Why did they do this and make it so hard for each other? If they did this wrong, they could have died.

“Can the patient move all of his/her limbs well? Are there any difficulties in moving them?”

“Yes.”

I’m glad it was fixed without any problems. I turned my head to Istina.

“Istina. Write it down in the medical record.”

Istina flipped through the charts.

“Then. If there is anything that hurts, please tell me right away. I will do my best to help you.”

The treatment seems to be successful. She may be discharged as early as tomorrow. We left the patient behind and moved on to the next patient.

****

Second patient.

“Istina. What do you think we should consider in patient Sebastian’s case?”

“It’s bacteria, so infection control?”

“That’s right. But what are you going to check?”

“Uh… ….”

I wonder where the patient got meningitis. If we can find the cause through questioning, that’s great, but if not, there’s nothing we can do.

“The question is where the patient got the meningitis bacteria. Shouldn’t we check whether the patient’s family, the patient’s dog, and the patient’s cat also got a similar disease?”

Istina nodded vigorously.

“That’s right!”

In fact, it’s more likely that we won’t be able to find a specific source of infection. We don’t have the equipment to identify the bacteria, and we don’t have the means to conduct an epidemiological investigation, right?

Anyway, let’s ask.

We disinfected our hands, put on our masks, and moved to the front of patient Sebastian’s ward.

I opened it slowly.

Mr. Sebastian was not a student at the Academy, but unlike the previous patient who looked poor, he had the impression of having been raised well.

“Patient Sebastian. Are you feeling better?”

The patient nodded.

Now that I can nod, doesn’t that mean my neck stiffness has improved?

I looked at the patient closely.

It looked fine.

The patient did not sweat or appear to be in pain, and seemed conscious.

“Just. Now I don’t have any headaches or dizziness anymore. Thank you so much.”

“Okay.”

I didn’t know things would get this good as soon as the antibiotics were started, but it turned out well.

It’s not that I haven’t seen meningitis in my past life, but it was often seen in immunocompromised or elderly people.

This is the first time I’ve seen it in a young patient.

“But. Why are you wearing a mask? Is the disease I have a dangerous disease? The professor said that the Black Death can be cured-”

I shook my head.

“Don’t worry.”

“Ah. Yes.”

“The patient’s treatment is progressing well, but there are some things to check. Meningococcus is not highly contagious, but it can be transmitted from person to person and has a high mortality rate.”

“Can you buy it?”

First of all, I need to reassure you. I can’t get any information until you confirm that you will survive.

“The treatment went well, but we need to find out why the patient got this disease. Did the patient touch an animal recently?”

“No.”

Where on earth did this person get meningitis? I questioned the patient for several minutes, but I got no useful information.

“Ah. Right.”

“What is it?”

“I had a really bad cold a few weeks ago. Could that be the cause?”

It is possible, but that would mean that from pneumonia to sepsis, and from sepsis to meningitis.

It was a very unlucky case.

“If you have pneumonia, you should go to the hospital. You waited for nothing and made the disease worse.”

So, it means that he didn’t come to the hospital when he was in the stage of pneumonia or sepsis, but came to the hospital when he reached the stage where he couldn’t think because of meningitis.

Bacterial meningitis is caused by pneumococcus, etc. These bacteria are relatively common in the environment, but they do not always cause meningitis.

I think that is the most reasonable interpretation.

I received the medical records from Istina and wrote down the suspected circumstances. It said that the pneumococcal infection had progressed to pneumonia, sepsis, and finally meningitis, and that he had been hospitalized and treated.

“Then. Thank you for your hard work.”

It’s finally over.

Both patients’ treatment was successful and they will be discharged once their condition stabilizes.

****

Sebastian stared blankly at the hospital ceiling. Was this something that could be resolved so easily…?

The healer I saw last time said that Sebastian had tuberculosis and that he needed to get rid of it by inserting a balloon into his chest cavity. I thought he was crazy and ran away.

This time, I got better in one day.

I need to find a way to express my gratitude. More importantly, it seems that the rumors of him being a miracle worker were true…