episode_0136

Episode 136. Pickles and Sore Throat (1)

****

The Imperial Palace. The Prince’s office.

One of the Imperial Prince’s staff stood beside the Prince, holding a bundle of today’s newspapers.

“Hello.”

“Yeah. What’s going on this time?”

“I brought you today’s newspaper because I thought you might be interested. Professor Asterix invented a new painkiller and cured a saint’s illness, and it’s the talk of the town.”

“Really?”

“Not only in academia, but also in the streets.”

The prince thought for a moment, then chuckled. As if he was mocking the news.

“The state of the newspaper company is really bad these days. This is news from several months ago. It’s not a painkiller, it’s a disinfectant, and the one who treated it wasn’t a saint, it was a princess.”

The prince’s aide, Conrad, shook his head.

“No, my lord.”

“What is it?”

The prince frowned.

What are you trying to say? The prince is not the type of person who would disobey his subjects, but he did not hide his displeasure mixed with curiosity.

Asterix created a disinfectant and cured the princess. Of course, the newspaper’s claim that he created a painkiller and cured the saint was wrong.

At least that’s what the prince thought.

“Oh, the newspaper didn’t confuse people, but this time Asterix really cured the saint and made a new potion.”

The prince slowly blinked his eyes, like an owl with a migraine. Conrad watched the prince’s expression with anxiety and discomfort.

“Why are you like that?”

“Just. I thought I heard the sound of some arrogant genius’s nose going up.”

Professor Asterix again? Doesn’t that make sense?

Of course it didn’t make sense. But Asterix always managed to do something close to a miracle, so it seemed likely that it would be real this time too.

Unfortunately, that’s true.

Conrad opened his mouth again.

“Oh, there is a rumor going around among the subjects of the Empire that Professor Asterix made a cripple walk. For political reasons, it is politically–” to maintain friendly relations with Professor Asterix and have him praised by the Imperial Court for his achievements.

The prince pressed his temples.

“It’s definitely a good thing. I don’t know why I feel uneasy. It’s like watching someone eat cake all year long right in front of my eyes.”

Conrad pondered what he could say to get his lord to react positively.

It wasn’t really a matter that needed advice.

“Aren’t there quite a few geniuses like that? Arrogant, not good at communicating. Sometimes, that’s what scholars need.”

There was nothing else to say.

“Conrad.”

“Yes.”

“What is that? Write a letter and send it to the professor. Say something like, congratulate him on curing the saint and creating a new medicine.”

The prince’s aide nodded.

“Unlucky guy.”

“Think positively, my lord. Doesn’t that mean there are so many talented people in the empire?”

In fact, there was nothing he could do. The staff knew very well why the prince was reacting this way.

It was because of the princess problem, right? It would have been difficult for Professor Asterix to look good. But it wasn’t something Conrad had to worry about.

****

A strange letter arrived.

-To Professor Asterix

-I have heard that you have cured the saintess of the empire. I and the imperial family praise your achievement.

-I will try to inform the people of the empire about the miracle the professor has performed. And.

-In return for this task, if Professor Asterix tells me what he wants, the royal family and the church will do their best to help the professor.

-The prince of the empire

Hmm. The prince has cerebral palsy.

Even if I close my eyes and look at it, it’s a letter that was hastily sent by the subordinates. The prince would never speak to me or write to me like that.

If someone had threatened me with a knife, I might have written it like that. Anyway, that’s not the point.

I folded the letter the prince sent and put it in my pocket. I’ll think about it later.

It’s outpatient clinic time again today. I wonder what kind of unusual patient will come this time.

****

First patient of the day.

It was a young man who came in, supported by Amy. As soon as the patient came in, there was a peculiar smell, and his gait was abnormal.

Well, I guess she had to be supported because she couldn’t walk properly. Amy sat the patient down in front of me.

I was wondering if it wouldn’t have been better to just leave this patient lying in bed.

He still seemed to be able to walk. I briefly examined the patient’s expression. His muscles seemed slightly contracted, his expression looked painful.

“How did the patient come here?”

“Eric, here it is. I couldn’t help it, my head suddenly started hurting like it was going to split open, and I couldn’t walk, so I had to hurry-”

The patient was very slurred in his speech.

I’ve been wondering what that strange smell is coming from the patient. If I knew that, I might be able to figure it out…

It smells salty and sour. It doesn’t smell like something a human body would smell like, but I don’t know what it is.

There were dozens of tests I could think of to do, but there wasn’t much I could do right away. I first took the patient’s pulse,

Pulse is palpable in the neck, but not in the wrist. Abnormally low pulse. Pupillary reflex is normal when light is shined into the eyes.

It’s urgent.

I hit the patient’s elbow with a pen –

“Evil!”

There is still a response to pain, but deep tendon reflexes seem to have disappeared. Consciousness is impaired, reflexes are lost. I don’t know what it is, but it’s not very good.

The conclusion was reached quickly.

I caught the patient.

“Bed! Let’s go to the bed.”

“in… …?”

I wonder if my brain is broken or if there is a problem with the muscles in my tongue or mouth.

Loss of deep tendon reflexes was the same problem, because you couldn’t tell if it was muscle damage or nerve damage.

I grabbed Amy and the patient and laid them down on the bed right away. We need to start treatment quickly, and we need to know what the disease is before we can treat it.

“Amy.”

“Yes.”

“What’s that smell?”

Amy thought about it for a moment.

“Uh… ….”

“Answer quickly, I’m out of breath.”

“I don’t know.”

Because I’m like a useless graduate student.

But while Amy was mumbling, it occurred to me what that smell was.

I made eye contact with the patient.

There is only one disease that causes sudden, loss of deep tendon reflexes and decreased consciousness in young patients, along with muscle contractions and muscle pain.

“This patient. Probably ate too many pickles. Maybe he drank a whole can of pickle juice.”

The strange smell coming from the patient was that of pickles. Amy looked at me.

Like looking at a crazy person.

“The patient is currently losing consciousness and the muscles in his entire body are contracting, so what he ate doesn’t matter, right?”

It’s a great attitude. Since ancient times, anyone who sees a patient should be able to say what they think is wrong.

Aside from that.

Amy’s intention was good, but her content was wrong. I shook my head.

“Amy. Have you ever eaten a jar of pickles?”

“No.”

“Ms. Amy. How do you know what happens when you eat a whole jar of pickles?”

It becomes like this.

“Yes?”

“Go and get me a bucket of drinking water as fast as you can. Fill a bucket and come back.”

Amy scratched her head and ran to get a drink. What happens when you eat a whole jar of pickles? … . This is what happens.

“Patient. Did you eat a whole jar of pickles?”

“Yes.”

He clearly nodded and said ‘yes’.

Pickle water is several times thicker than blood or cell fluid. Seawater is about three times thicker than blood, so let’s say roughly three times thicker. If you eat a can of this.

Because of the extreme osmotic pressure, water is forced out of the body and into the gastrointestinal tract.

As water rapidly leaves the body, muscles shrink, blood sodium levels begin to rise, and nerves begin to malfunction as the body’s electrolyte levels change.

The result is this.

– I wanted to explain it like that, but if I did, the patient would have suffocated. I’ll explain it to you more slowly later when I have time.

Ironically, the treatment for hypernatremia is simply 0.9% salt water.

You may wonder why we would put salt in a patient who already has a lot of salt in their blood.

If you put plain water into a patient’s blood because they have hypernatremia… … it’s not good.

There are cases where you can just create a corpse. The best thing to do is to restore blood pressure with saline solution.

I hooked up an IV to the patient’s arm.

Amy came back with a bucket.

“The patient will be fine soon, but drink plain water whenever you think of it. From now on, eat only a reasonable amount of pickles… … .”

Well, I guess I’ll have to live in the bathroom for the next day or so. But there’s nothing I can do about it.

“Professor! We have another emergency patient!”

****

Phew. The first patient passed by like lightning. That kind of thing is hard.

Common sense would not expect a person to eat a whole can of pickles, but there are a lot of people in this world who don’t understand common sense.

Second patient of the day.

The patient who came in this time looked sick from the outside. I squinted. It was obvious that the patient was very anxious.

Unfortunately, this patient was also an emergency, so I had to come in without even a moment’s rest.

“How did you come to the hospital?”

“Just. I woke up today with a sore throat, fever, and a bit of a headache. But I don’t think I’m in much pain.”

For your information, before we examined him, the nurses had measured his temperature at 40 degrees.

It’s not that I don’t really feel pain, but my judgment seems to have become clouded. On top of that, I suddenly felt a sore throat and dizziness.

The first diagnosis to consider is… … .