Plague Doctor

"Help, it's so itchy...there are so many bugs crawling in my face..."

In the isolation ward, Xie Yiman walked around in pain, hitting the pillow of the hospital bed with his head from time to time, or pinching his arms severely, but he still couldn't stop, and still wanted to scratch his face, even if that His face was scratched and covered with scars.

She suddenly slammed her head against a wall and was immediately stopped by a nurse who ran in. After all, she was only an 18-year-old girl. She sobbed helplessly.

There is a surveillance camera in the corner of the ward, and what is happening here is being broadcast in real time in a medical conference room.

Gu Jun, Uncle Dan, Zhang Haidong and other people in white coats looked at the conference screen and could see that Xie Yiman's mental state was getting worse.

"The patient's self-mutilation behavior has worsened, and protective measures must be taken." Zhang Haidong said with an old frown.

"Professor Zhang, if the patient's limbs are immobilized," Gu Jun asked, "will it further stimulate her mental state?"

What is the cause? They are not sure yet and can only make some exclusions.

If this is a skin disease, not viral, bacterial, fungal, parasitic, allergic, autoimmune, skin tumor, etc. - there will be no obvious abnormalities in the patient's physical indicators and X-ray results, and Not even local anesthesia can stop the itching.

Faced with this situation, doctors from all over the world are focusing on the type of "neuropsychiatric dermatoses".

Gu Jun had been worried that it would be this type before, because this is also the scope of psychiatry, and the treatment method has become uncertain.

If it is caused by microorganisms, then the skin disease will probably be cured by killing the microorganisms. Here is a treatment method: "How to kill microorganisms."

But neuropsychiatric dermatoses are different.

There is no need for an abnormal force to cause trouble. Human beings already have many such diseases. The patient had no primary skin damage, but suddenly felt paroxysmal itching somewhere on the body. Then he scratched, but the more he scratched, the more itchy he became, and symptoms such as rashes, edema, and scales appeared.

There is also a kind of "parasite paranoia". Although there are no parasites in the skin, the patient stubbornly believes that he is infected with parasites. Even if he faces clear examination results, he does not believe it. He just thinks that there are a lot of parasites in his skin. Climbing.

Abnormal behaviors such as hair pulling, nail biting, head banging, etc. are not uncommon in this type of disease.

So if the shape of the erythema is not like a mark, and the occupations of these patients are similar, this can be a common disease.

"It will definitely stimulate the patient's spirit." Zhang Haidong said solemnly, "Ajun, you still need to tell the patient that you have her trust more."

"If that doesn't work, let's do an artificial coma?" Uncle Dan came up with an idea, and everyone has thought about it.

Artificial coma is mainly used to treat patients with brain trauma, but sometimes this kind of deep anesthesia can also be performed to prevent some patients from moving.

"I'll try first to see if I can convince her to hold on." Gu Jun said thoughtfully.

"Neuropsychiatric disorder" refers to nervous system dysfunction or mental disorder. Nowadays, it is more inclined to the latter. It is useless without local anesthesia.

The key lies in how to correct the patient's mental state.

"To treat this kind of skin disease, you usually have to find a way to relieve itching." Zhang Haidong added. He is in his fifties. As an expert in dermatology, he has experience in treating common, abnormal, large and small skin diseases. rich experience. "The psychology of such patients is very strange. There seems to be a switch in their hearts. If they turn it on, they will get sick, and if they turn it off, nothing will happen. This requires them to truly believe that the itch is gone and cured, and then the switch will turn on. Locked up."

How to stop itching, that's the question now.

For general neuropsychiatric skin diseases, drugs can still have physiological effects, more or less.

For patients with mild illness, even applying dexamethasone ointment to the affected area can relieve itching.

If anti-inflammatory and anti-itching drugs don't work, you can also give sedatives, and if that doesn't work, give local anesthesia. For example, they have given Xie Yiman procaine block therapy, which uses local anesthesia to reduce itching, pain and other strange sensations, and cooperates with psychological treatment, so that he can recover.

Nowadays, probably due to the influence of abnormal power, these methods are useless.

Xie Yiman should not be able to feel her face anymore, but she still felt itchy and there were still a lot of bugs crawling around her.

Gu Jun even used the raw materials of golden aloe vera for external application, but it still didn't work. Maybe the live golden aloe vera will work, maybe the related drugs developed in the future will work, but now the laboratory is still analyzing the ingredients of the raw materials and extracting the substances. stage.

He had inquired in his dream, and Zugeljili's report was that there was nothing going on at the Worm House, and no relevant physical passage had been found yet.

"I'll go talk to her."

After the meeting, Gu Jun came to the isolation ward again.

The patients are still isolated in local hospitals, and Tianji Bureau will transfer and concentrate them as appropriate. All aspects of the work will take more time to determine and carry out, but if they can't find a way to relieve the itching, patients may not be able to survive this.

"Captain Gu, help!" As soon as Xie Yiman saw him, he immediately rushed forward like crazy and hugged his airtight protective suit, pleading: "Help me..."

Gu Jun took a deep breath in silence. Every time he faced a patient's request for help, his heart felt like it was being torn apart.

Among the patients, the one with the most severe condition at the moment was Xie Yiman. The red spots on her face did not spread, but she was itchy.

About to have a nervous breakdown.

"Yiman, in fact, the situation has been basically clarified now. It's just a procedure for me to wear protective clothing. Your disease is not contagious. It is not caused by bacteria, viruses, or bugs. There is some kind of supernatural force that affects your perception. "

Gu Jun patted Xie Yiman on the shoulder and gently and patiently explained to her what neuropsychiatric skin disease was, being very careful not to irritate her.

Professor Zhang had already mentioned this to him. This type of patient has great mental fluctuations and is easily agitated. They especially don't like to hear words like "You are not sick at all, you just have a mental problem." After working in clinical practice for a long time, you know that patients are very hesitant. Doctor-patient communication must first achieve respect and empathy for the patient.

So when Gu Jun spoke, he always used a way to express "I know you are a victim."

"That kind of power has a certain spiritual connection with you, so that it can keep passing this idea in your mind like this, making you feel itchy on your face, no matter what. But if we put this connection Cut it off and the disease may be cured."

Gu Jun's inference is not nonsense. Nightmare Disease has such a spiritual connection.

"Then...what should I do?" Xie Yiman asked confused and anxiously, trusting Gu Jun very much.

"We will increase the dose of sedatives for you and fix you on the hospital bed with your hands and feet tied up. You are responsible for using your will and endure it!" Gu Jun said encouragingly, "No matter how itchy it is, just leave it alone." It won’t scratch it even once, endure it, endure it today! Let’s see what happens.”

Let the patient face that connection. If he can endure it, he may be able to reversely destroy the abnormal power.

"No, no, no..." Xie Yiman immediately became anxious after hearing this, almost screaming and crying: "No, no, I will die! Captain Gu, it's not that I don't want to bear it, it's that I can't bear it. , do you understand, it’s too itchy, I can’t bear it..."

Seeing how excited she was, Gu Jun knew that this method would not be successful for her, because the focus was not on calming down, but on psychological treatment.

"Captain Gu, if you want me to die." Xie Yiman's tone became agitated, "Then I might as well die quickly!"

She was about to rush over and hit the wall, but Gu Jun quickly grabbed her and said, "Don't! We have other treatment plans. If this doesn't work, try another one. Don't worry."

"What plan?" Xie Yiman asked breathlessly, grabbing his face hard, hope rekindled in his eyes.

"Artificial coma." Gu Jun said. Now he can only give it a try. "We will give you general anesthesia. You will fall into a coma and you will not be able to feel anything."

"Okay!" Xie Yiman nodded happily, "This is good, I want to take a nap, this is good!"

"But there is a risk that you will never wake up." Gu Jun told her this clearly. Under normal circumstances, the patient can be awakened at any time as long as the dose of anesthetic is reduced and stopped. However, patients with metaphyseal disease cannot be comatose under general anesthesia, otherwise they will only wake up as unconscious bodies.

He does not strongly advocate artificial coma. Firstly, there are risks; secondly, when the patient loses self-consciousness, will there be new changes in the condition?

However, these are all uncertain. If you just endure it, it may make the patient crazy.

The treatment path for every new disease needs to be explored, and for every path, there must always be one patient who is the first to try it.

"I..." Xie Yiman was a little confused. Maybe he couldn't wake up? "Can I call my mom?"

"Okay." Gu Jun obeyed her request. It didn't matter. Her family was controlled by the Tianji Bureau.

Xie Yiman choked up and had a long phone call with his parents. No one would want to take such a risk. But less than an hour later, she decided to try this because the itching became more and more intense. She really couldn't hold on any longer. It would be good if she could rest for a while...

The treatment plan was decided and implemented quickly.

Various monitoring instruments and equipment were sent to the isolation ward, and the rescue room was also prepared. The anesthesia team prepared the medicine and gave Xie Yiman inhalation anesthesia. In pain and anticipation, the popular star actor slowly closed his eyes and fell into a coma.

It was two o'clock in the afternoon that day. Xie Yiman performed the world's first artificial coma treatment during this epidemic.

Her condition after coma continued to be monitored throughout the entire process. Gu Jun, Deng Ximei, Uncle Dan and others stayed beside the hospital bed together with the anesthesia team, watching her quietly and sensing the surroundings...

Gu Jun was not inclined to artificial coma from the beginning, but at this time, there was always an uneasy feeling in his heart, which became more and more serious.

When Xie Yiman was unconscious for just half an hour, she was still lying motionless on the hospital bed, but the indicators monitored by the equipment next to her suddenly changed. The EEG showed different signs when she was in a coma and when she was awake. At this time, the slow waves of the EEG increased, and her consciousness became active again.

"Wake up the patient quickly!" Gu Jun said hurriedly, inhaling to steady himself.

Several anesthesiologists have already taken action. Uncle Dan patted his head regretfully: "Oops, I shouldn't have said this idea. I really shouldn't have..."

"Uncle Egg, you have to try a way." Gu Jun knew that it was no one's fault and Uncle Egg was not to blame. He just hoped that the patient could be awakened smoothly.

At this time, Deng Ximei, who was next to him, said softly to him: "Maybe, we can give it a try... and see what Xie Yiman is going through now?"

Love the Plague Doctor.