Chapter 161

Episode 161. Vision Loss (3)

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I flipped through Mr. Ethan’s medical record.

I need to find something that could cause blood clots.

I prescribed some aspirin as an anticoagulant, but that wasn’t a perfect solution. Still, I needed to figure out the root cause of the disease.

“Istina, is there anything unusual in the patient’s medical history? Like, did they have any sick family members or visit the hospital for something in the past?”

“I asked a few times, but nothing suspicious came up. Nothing like that.”

Reliance on patient memory isn’t ideal—they might forget important details or not know what’s relevant.

And yet, the medical record wasn’t exactly detailed either. The patient isn’t obese, and even if there’s a family history, it’s unlikely they’d remember. Should I just wrap this up?

“Wait a second. I didn’t confirm this part.”

“What part?”

I hadn’t asked if the patient was currently taking any medication.

In a world where medicine isn’t common, it’s not always standard practice to ask every patient, but at this point, almost all other possibilities have been ruled out.

“You didn’t ask if the patient is taking any medication, did you?”

“Oh, come on. They would’ve mentioned it, right?”

Nope. If the patient is lying in a hospital bed, nothing should be assumed. Suddenly losing vision without reason isn’t exactly “normal,” after all.

“Let me go check.”

I headed back to the hospital room on impulse. The patient was feeling around with their hands while holding an eye patch. Honestly, give your eyes a rest already!

“Sir, please wear your eye patch properly.”

“It seems like I can see a little now… so I took it off. Sorry about that!”

The patient scratched their head sheepishly and put the eye patch back on. I decided to wait a moment before speaking.

“Are you taking any medication?”

“Does that have anything to do with my vision?”

See? If there wasn’t, they would’ve said so already.

“Please explain.”

“A few days ago, I bought some medicine from a local shop. The seller said it was good for men, so I bought a few bottles and started taking them. Could it really be because of that?”

I sighed inwardly.

This is the ironic reality—many people think traditional herbal medicines don’t work, but that’s a misconception. They *do* work; the problem lies in dosage.

When you drink herbal concoctions, the active ingredients are often much stronger than conventional Western medicine. This makes traditional medicine more aggressive, but also riskier.

“It depends on what kind of medicine it is.”

“It’s a brown liquid.”

Great. Do you expect me to guess based on “brown liquid”? There are countless possibilities.

“Do you know what ingredients are in it?”

“No.”

I sighed again.

Well, it’s unfortunate, but at least we’ve identified a likely suspect for the thrombosis. Fortunately, I suspect it might be some sort of plant-derived steroid.

“Did it work?”

“A little…”

The patient glanced down at their pants, then looked up awkwardly at me. I waited patiently for them to continue.

“Alright, so it worked then.”

Steroids or hormonal drugs can increase the risk of clotting when misused. A classic example is oral contraceptives.

We don’t know exactly what this patient took—just that it was described as a “brown liquid.” Likely, it contained various substances boiled together, including active compounds.

Since it had some effect, it’s possible a steroid-based active ingredient was involved, though we can’t be sure how these components interact.

“Listen, don’t take random tonics anymore—it might not be good for you.”

“I only bought it because I thought it would help my eyesight.”

Unbelievable…

I shook my head. Because of this strange remedy, the patient ended up here. No reason to add more medications.

Taking multiple medications simultaneously could harm the liver or kidneys. Especially since we don’t even know what’s in that brown liquid.

“If it weren’t for this serious side effect, I wouldn’t interfere. But now you’ve experienced severe complications.”

“I never thought about that…”

There’s also the risk of drug interactions. Just swallowing random stuff isn’t safe.

“For now, don’t take anything except what I prescribe. We don’t know what dangers this unknown substance might pose.”

“Understood.”

The patient nodded.

“Just a reminder: that mysterious medicine might have caused your partial blindness. Be careful moving forward.”

Once a condition develops, it tends to recur. For patients like this, extra caution is necessary since they belong to a high-risk group.

“Can you see anything now?”

“It’s getting better. Will it fully recover?”

“I don’t know.”

Because the retina suffered ischemia for over a day, we can’t predict how many retinal cells will regain function.

Dead retinal cells won’t come back, but we don’t know how many are affected or how much functional difference the patient will notice. I shook my head.

“Complete recovery seems unlikely.”

“Figures…”

“Can you still see with the other eye?”

“Yes, the other one works fine.”

“With a bit of practice, you’ll be able to return to daily life soon. You’re not in a job requiring precise depth perception, right?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then, thank you for your cooperation.”

“Thank you, teacher.”

I left the patient alone in the hospital room.

If they’d arrived within three hours, full recovery might’ve been possible. Whether they had access to transportation within that timeframe is another question.

Unfortunately, some functionality has been lost. Even though treatment was administered, complete restoration wasn’t achievable in this case.

Best to conclude things here.

****

I let the patient rest and returned to the research lab to organize the medical records and reconsider the use of anticoagulants.

This seemed like a case worth documenting. Informing people about diabetes and its associated symptoms could be helpful.

I picked up a pen and paper and began brainstorming.

“Professor! We have a new patient!”

Amy burst into the lab. Another patient? Busy day today.

“Who is it?”

“A cat hanyou. They were carried in, badly injured. The patient says they’ll die without you, professor.”

A severely injured cat hanyou. This could take time… Amy looked at me anxiously, urging me to hurry.

I slipped on my black surgical gown and headed toward the ward. Are cat hanyous very different from humans? Or are they similar?

We’ll see once I examine them.

“I can’t guarantee anything. Cat hanyous must differ physiologically from humans, right? Their biological traits might vary significantly.”

“I checked briefly. The patient seems smaller than an average human.”

“Makes sense.”

Amy murmured quietly.

“They have a tail, cat ears peeking through their hair, sharp canines, and vertical pupils.”

“Any useful information?”

“Uh… their body temperature is slightly higher than a human’s, and their breathing is faster.”

“Is that due to pain?”

“It’s hard to tell, given the trauma.”

This complicates things.

We don’t even know the normal heart rate or body temperature for a cat hanyou, making it impossible to draw conclusions immediately.

Let’s examine the patient first.

****

The patient’s name is Daisy.

Not an academy student, but a female student from a nearby school—a cat hanyou. Her vital signs seem stable by cat hanyou standards.

Probably.

As mentioned earlier, we don’t know the baseline vitals for healthy cat hanyous. There’s no reference guide available.

I opened the door to the hospital room.

Today’s patient—a cat hanyou—was lying on the bed, bleeding profusely. I’ve said it before, but reckless actions like this can lead to disaster.

“Hey, wake up, patient!”

We almost lost someone due to delay.

Blood streamed from the patient’s left side. A arrow pierced their left flank, likely penetrating the lungs.

“Wake up! Sit up!”

I helped Amy sit the patient upright. Despite letting out a muffled scream, there was nothing we could do. Lying down now would kill them.

“Sit up. Don’t lie down—it could cause fluid buildup in the lungs. Can you breathe? Bring the oxygen mask and face shield quickly!”

I rushed to the patient’s side.

The patient grimaced in pain, their complexion poor. Pulling out the arrow now would worsen the bleeding.

“Don’t touch the arrow.”

I tilted Daisy slightly to allow blood to pool on her left side and held her steady. Amy rushed to assist.

“Hold her like this.”

Amy followed my instructions as blood stained the bed crimson.

Daisy didn’t seem capable of answering questions. Would it even be possible to conduct a proper examination?

Stay calm. Asking questions might worsen a tension pneumothorax.

I need to decide on a treatment plan.

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