episode_0080

Episode 80. Goldfish (3)

****

It was a few days ago. Mr. Joseph was hospitalized with tick-borne disease. The patient I saw again today looked very healthy.

That’s fortunate.

Instead of sitting or lying down, the patient was walking around the bed. As I approached, the patient’s eyes turned towards me.

“Are you feeling better?”

“Oh my, it’s gotten so much better.”

“Did you find the tick?”

“It really was a tick bite. I found a tick bite wound behind my knee.”

I nodded.

I’m glad it turned out as I thought.

“Be careful of ticks. If you are going outdoors, wear long pants. After going out, check to see if there are any bugs stuck somewhere.”

“I never thought about it, really.”

Compared to when I first came here and you were lying down with your eyes open in pain, you’ve really gotten a lot better. Back then, you really looked like you were on the verge of death. The medicine worked well.

If he had not come to the Academy Hospital and continued to receive blood transfusions at other hospitals, he might have died.

I understand that fever, redness, and enlarged lymph nodes may look like they are caused by too much blood. But what if they actually do it? You quack.

Anyway, this time, what’s important is that my patient comes back alive. I looked at Mr. Joseph again.

“Congratulations on your discharge, Mr. Joseph. If you are sick, you should come to the hospital immediately.”

“Ah. I thought I was going to die when I came to the hospital. I survived thanks to you, doctor. Really.”

Mr. Joseph breathed a sigh of relief.

****

Mr. Joseph’s discharge was smoothly prepared, and next in line was Ms. Amanda. She was a young patient who had been bitten by a dog on the same day as Mr. Joseph.

I don’t know if the wound is healed. It’s still a long way to go before the stitches are removed, but I need to make sure the wound is well-managed and free of infection.

I looked at Amanda from a distance.

Amanda was still lying in bed with sore legs. She seemed to have difficulty walking.

Separately, his expression isn’t dark or frowning, so I guess he’s not in pain right now.

“Hello, Amanda.”

“Yes.”

“Are you feeling better? Your leg still looks a bit uncomfortable.”

Miss Amanda nodded.

Looking at the patient’s shoes neatly placed, I wonder if he still has difficulty walking.

You may not have woken up at all today.

“It’s still a bit difficult to walk.”

“If you don’t move much, it might get stiff. It’s better to move a little bit.”

“Yes… … . I guess so.”

I disinfected my hands and opened the bandage again. It seemed to be healing properly, with no signs of redness or infection.

I removed the gauze and carefully reapplied a new bandage. The rule of thumb is to change it at least once a day.

That’s not the only thing that matters. In these kinds of messy wounds, what’s important is whether or not you have tetanus or rabies.

Tetanus, rabies.

I pondered the question: What are the main symptoms of tetanus and what are the main symptoms of rabies?

“Have you suddenly experienced numbness in your legs or any abnormalities in sensation or movement?”

“No.”

“Have you ever felt uncomfortable with bright lights or disliked drinking water since being bitten by a dog?”

“No. Could that be possible?”

That’s what happens when you get rabies. Fortunately, this patient didn’t seem to have rabies, but… … there was still plenty of reason to check.

We also need to think about discharge plans. There are special circumstances in this patient’s case.

“Patient. When you return home, can you manage the wound so that it does not become gangrene?”

“Uh… ….”

“I understand if it’s difficult.”

If he was an academy student or a noble, I would have just sent him away. I don’t know if this patient has anyone else at home who can help him, or if the environment is unsanitary.

In the worst case scenario, the wound may become contaminated and gangrene may set in immediately after discharge from the hospital.

If it were a modern hospital, the patient could have been discharged, but considering the patient’s situation, realistically, discharge is difficult. We have to wait.

“Let’s watch for a few more days. There are still some areas that I’m worried about.”

Miss Amanda nodded.

“Thank you. They say that if you inherit this and you have bad luck, you have to cut off your whole leg… … . If I hadn’t been a professor, I might have cut off my whole leg, right?”

Well, once the gangrene has really set in, there is no cure other than cutting it out. And if you cut it out too late, you often die.

“That’s a possibility too. Not now, though.”

“Thank you so much… … .”

“Get some rest.”

If you hadn’t come on time, this person would have been in big trouble. I left Miss Amanda behind, lost in thought. What else do I have to do today?

****

The ward work was completed successfully.

Now, the thing I have to worry about is this. Since I was rejected by Professor Wolfram, I have to find another chemistry lab somewhere.

Maybe I should find another alchemy professor?

Or maybe I should change my approach. First of all, the important thing is to talk to Luciana. I have a promise with her last time.

“So, Miss Luciana.”

“Yes.”

“Professor Wolfram said he won’t participate in the antibiotic production this time, so I’m thinking of changing the plan a bit. What do you think?”

“Okay, I’ll try it first.”

“Try hard. I promised you the tuition, so I’ll pay it in advance with my own money.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, that’s possible.”

There is no need to persuade people with strange personalities or people who don’t want to do things to do good things. You can just get research funding and get things done.

“In our lab, we succeeded in refining it. What did Miss Luciana research?”

“Well, first of all, we succeeded in separating the solid material and the separated solution into layers.”

“Convert to solid form?”

“I’m still thinking about it because you said I shouldn’t boil it. This is because the process is not easy. It’s hard to make even a fingernail-sized amount with hundreds of liters of culture medium, right?”

well.

I did some calculations a few days ago. The actual production of the blue mold strain could be close to 50 grams per liter of culture medium.

This means that 200 penicillin tablets can be made.

It is unknown whether the extraction rate can approach that, but the conclusion is yes.

The goal is to extract 50 grams per liter, which will allow us to distribute penicillin as needed, literally throughout the empire.

“Try hard, too, Miss Luciana. Of course, if you succeed, I can give you more money, but it’s also something that can save many people.”

Teacher Luciana nodded.

“I’ll do my best.”

****

And… … . the conclusion of all discussions.

Istina, Amy, and I gathered in the lab. There was only one conclusion left to be made about the production of penicillin.

“Prepare for war.”

“Yes?”

Amy kept her mouth shut, and only Istina looked bewildered once again.

I’m not talking about a real war, but I’m talking metaphorically. This is the current situation.

A method for making penicillin has been discovered, but it seems that the people of this world have not yet reached the level where they can utilize it, so my plan is to make it myself and sell it.

“I’m contacting the royal family through my connections and trying to get them to invest in the production of penicillin. If I succeed, I’ll build a production facility for the drug.”

Istina nodded slowly.

“Then what happens?”

“First, let’s announce it. In a few weeks, we’ll go back to the palace and explain why the antibiotic we discovered is significant.”

“Ah.”

“I will definitely make it a success. Because it can help people and is necessary, or if not, just for my personal film.”

My two graduate students nodded with solemn expressions. Either way, they were determined to make this a success.

“The plan is this. We will convince the imperial family and the bureaucracy that we need a semi-public enterprise that can mass-produce penicillin, a drug that can change the fate of the empire.”

“That’s right.”

It’s going to be a tough task.

You have to show professionalism, but at the same time, you have to be intuitive and emotionally moving. You have to prove that you’re not just motivated by money, but at the same time, you have to convince people that you’re not throwing money away.

For people who think they are smart but are not experts, you need to explain it in a way that is easy to understand without using difficult words, and at the same time, without making it seem like you are trying to make it easy for fools.

It sounds like you have to make a warm iced Americano. It’s not something you can do alone. They call it the curse of knowledge.

I have to explain to the officials… … .

Because of the knowledge gap, it is obvious that we will be frustrated with each other and not know what to say. It would be better to explain it together with graduate students.

What I know and what I have experienced is so different from these people. I can solve problems, but it has always been difficult to explain the principles in a way that they can understand.

“I hope it works out this time too?”

“I guess so.”

Istina nodded.