Episode 68: Mirror Therapy [2]
“This is amazing.”
Dr. Liston looked genuinely satisfied. Given that we had just cut off someone’s leg, the sight was a little unsettling, but I didn’t let it show. Besides, it was an amazing scene, so I stayed quiet and just watched.
“Really… It doesn’t hurt. Yes. This hand is fine now!”
This was what people called rubber hand therapy. It had been ten days since we started this seemingly simple treatment, and now, finally, our first recovered patient had emerged.
Of course, given the era, it could have just been a lie. But judging by the patient’s expression, that didn’t seem to be the case. Compared to the poor soul we once saw who had his arm amputated four times, this man looked like he had just returned from heaven.
“So this really works…?”
If a patient smiled like that, you’d think everyone would be happy. That was the expected response, right?
But our so-called experts didn’t seem satisfied.
“Isn’t it just a coincidence…?”
“I heard this can get better on its own if you leave it alone?”
Seriously? You maniacs. If this could heal naturally, why were you cutting people’s arms off without anesthesia?
“Electricity needs to flow.”
And of course, our resident electrotherapy doctor was back at it. I didn’t know if I was an electric eel in a past life, but I swear, this guy thought about frying people more than curing them. Like an absolute lunatic.
“No, no. In my experience, without treatment, there’s almost no recovery.”
Thankfully, Liston was on our side. Like a sturdy medieval knight, he shook his head and backed us up.
“That means this treatment is working. Worst-case scenario, maybe the recovery rate just happens to be higher than normal. Shouldn’t it at least be half?”
Half. He meant a 50% recovery rate, which, from a modern perspective, was laughably low. But in this time period, 50% was fantastic. People were dying more from treatment than disease. That told you something.
Maybe one in ten recover…?
The real problem was that even that might be too generous. Sure, things might improve over time as we figured out the optimal treatment window, but…
Even to me, this setup looks kind of pathetic.
I mean, putting a rubber glove on someone and having them wave it around? It was kind of absurd. Still, I wasn’t about to resort to something more drastic. We, nineteenth-century doctors, were trying to develop treatments in the name of science, not brute force. I couldn’t let myself slip into bad habits. I had a medical degree, damn it.
“Dr. Pyeong, any other ideas? Sorry, but you’re the only one worth asking right now.”
“Hmm…”
“If it’s difficult, we could try electricity with the rubber hand again…”
“Let’s consider that too. If the idea is to rewire the brain, maybe stimulation will help the senses return.”
“In that case, I’ll start drawing blood!”
“I’ll spin it!”
“Let’s vibrate things too!”
I had to move fast. If I didn’t come up with a better plan, these maniacs were going to start poking, shocking, and spinning our patients again.
I can’t let them do that to those poor people outside…
Even now, the hospital entrance was swarming with patients. Some were recent amputees, others were long-time sufferers. Even though the treatment results weren’t anything groundbreaking yet, people kept coming.
Why?
Because rubber hand therapy didn’t hurt. It didn’t damage bones. It was one of the few treatments available that didn’t involve unbearable pain. That alone made it a miracle in their eyes, even if it was kind of sad.
“Okay then! Until we agree on a single method, let’s just give each patient the treatment they want!”
The problem was… there were too many patients. Even with Liston, I couldn’t handle them all. Amputations were still being performed as we spoke. It wasn’t an epidemic, yet the patient numbers were growing as if it were.
Word had spread: if your limb hurt, you could have it cut off under anesthesia. You might die, but at least you would die painlessly. So people were lining up.
Ah…
I thought I could just stand back and watch, but that was clearly a mistake. Now some patients were sitting in electric chairs with rubber hands, some were having blood drawn, and some were spinning in a centrifuge. Others had weights strapped to their heads.
I didn’t know what kind of “training” these other doctors received, but they were all inventing strange new treatments. I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
Joseph, Alfred, and I stuck together most of the time. Colin wandered off on his own. Everyone else followed different professors, so the treatments they learned varied wildly.
Turn around, head!
I kept pacing after the others left. But nothing helped. After all, I was a surgeon, not a neurologist or psychiatrist. It would have been so much easier if they just told me to cut off another arm.
“Hey, Pyeong.”
Liston approached me with a bright smile.
“Yeah?”
“Isn’t it a good thing at least one person got better? Come on, let’s go get something to eat.”
“Ah… Yeah. Where?”
There was no hospital cafeteria. We had to bring our own food. And because this was England, it was nearly flavorless. It was the kind of meal that made you miss your mom instinctively.
Joseph was no different. Back when I stayed with his family in Upton, I got to eat real Korean food made by my mom.
“I’ve been making decent money lately. Let’s go get some meat.”
“Oh.”
Here, “meat” meant either cow or sheep. When I first came to England, I thought, Island country, great, tons of seafood! But nope. Apparently, fishing in the North Sea was tough, and everyone here was obsessed with cows. Still, I wasn’t complaining. Even poorly cooked English beef was still beef.
“Oh… Is this a hotel?”
“Yeah.”
“Isn’t it expensive?”
“It’s fine. I’ve got money.”
We arrived at a hotel in a horse-drawn carriage. You might wonder, A hotel? In the nineteenth century? But this was the British Empire. These people even had primitive sewage systems.
Compared to the rest of the era, Britain was surprisingly modern.
“Huh.”
I was handed a menu, and was immediately shocked. The waiter, surprised to see an Asian guest, looked me up and down. But in London, it wasn’t all that unusual anymore. The city was full of exotic people.
“Wait…”
“What?”
“There are no prices on this menu, Brother.”
I called him “Brother” since it was a private meeting and nudged him in a panic.
“Oh… really?”
I expected him to know, but when I looked up, even he looked flustered.
What the hell, man?
“Still, we’ve got enough money to eat. Besides—”
“Besides?”
“Do you think they’ll scam me?”
“Ah.”
Good point. No one was dumb enough to scam a guy like Liston. I felt reassured. Finally, I had time to take in the surroundings.
Despite living in the nineteenth century for a while now, I was still struck by the classy interior. Old-fashioned, yes, but elegant.
“Oh.”
“What is it?”
“That mirror. It reflects so well.”
“Haha. Mirrors are getting better these days.”
There was a glass mirror at my senior’s house too, but it wasn’t nearly this clear. I stared at it, impressed.
Just then, another hotel staff member approached. I had apparently been introduced as a noble from Joseon, so he spoke to me with extra courtesy.
“There are many smaller fortresses than this, sir. But the ceramics and paintings here are quite valuable. Would you like to take a look?”
He was clearly trying to get me to buy something. His expression was so eager that I almost felt bad for him. Don’t do that, man. It’s just fluff.
Ah… could I get rich selling Condoms?
My senior’s father had negotiated a pretty fair deal, and I was set to get a share of the net profits…
“No, let me take a look around first.”
“Ah, yes, I was being too forward.”
With that, the waiter left, and soon the food was served. I had expected courses to come one at a time, starting with appetizers. But nope. Everything came at once. It wasn’t Korean cuisine, but the setup was strangely familiar.
“Huh?”
“What is it?”
Was this racism? Or did they serve it like this because I was from Joseon and assumed I would want to eat that way?
Liston blinked at the sight too. He wasn’t extremely wealthy, but he had probably been to a few places like this. His reaction suggested this wasn’t normal.
But now the main dish will get cold…
British cuisine. They didn’t care much for flavor, but come on, wasn’t this just bad practice?
I started chewing the meat. It tasted like plain beef, nothing else. At this point, I seriously wondered if God had cursed the British palate.
“Uh!”
“What now?”
As I looked at the mirror, my meat nearly fell, and I instinctively reached out to catch it despite the fact that the image was just a reflection.
“Sorry… uh?”
I was about to apologize to Liston for almost spilling his food, but an idea suddenly popped into my head.
Now wasn’t the time to think about taste or food. This idea, this was important.
“What is it?”
Apparently, Liston had caught on too. There was a saying that British food was designed to help you focus on the decor and the people you were dining with. With nothing getting in the way, we both had clarity.
“That mirror… What if we used illusions? With mirrors?”
Liston clapped immediately.
“Yes! That would look much more like a real hand than the rubber ones!”
Translator’s Notes:
Rubber Hand Therapy — An illusion-based treatment concept using a fake hand to help the brain reinterpret pain or sensation in a missing limb.
Phantom Pain — Pain felt in a missing limb or body part after Amputation. It comes from the nervous system and brain rather than the missing limb itself.
Electrotherapy — Treatment using electrical stimulation. In this context, it is one of the dubious experimental methods proposed by nineteenth-century doctors.
Centrifuge — A machine or device that spins rapidly to separate or affect substances through rotational force. Here, it is used absurdly as a proposed treatment.
Neurologist — A doctor specializing in the brain, spinal cord, nerves, and nervous system disorders.
Psychiatrist — A doctor specializing in mental health and disorders involving mood, thought, perception, or behavior.
Mirror Therapy — A treatment that uses a mirror reflection to create the illusion that a missing or affected limb is present and moving normally.
Condom — A contraceptive device. In this story, rubber Condoms are treated as a public health and commercial innovation.
British Empire — The global empire ruled by Britain, historically associated with extensive colonies, trade, and international influence.