Chapter 183
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 183
Chapter Title: A Delicate Consultation
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Director Han Yeowon had sent over a patient for the first time in ages.
She said it was an acquaintance from the game.
She really did socialize everywhere and had connections galore, didn't she?
It was like night and day compared to him, who'd spent his whole life cooped up in academia.
'Hemorrhoids, of all things!'
Even Director Han Yeowon, who'd made the referral, claimed she didn't know the diagnosis. He'd wondered what it could be, and out of all the possible ailments, it turned out to be hemorrhoids.
"Oh, you must have been agonizing over this all alone."
Kim Chunsik grabbed the young man's hand tight.
The youth's eyes trembled, and his palm was slick with cold sweat.
"Doctor...!"
"I get it—that pain. It must have been so hard to even talk about. You've done well coming here. That took real courage. You're already most of the way there."
The moment he heard the diagnosis, Kim Chunsik understood everything.
Why he hadn't even told his close friend Director Han Yeowon what was wrong. Why he'd shown up at the clinic looking so tense.
'It's like looking at myself thirty years ago!'
If the patient hadn't been right there in front of him, Kim Chunsik might have wiped away a tear.
Kim Chunsik had first been diagnosed in his early thirties.
...Truth be told, even before that—in his teens and twenties—he'd occasionally seen blood from his anus, but it always cleared up after a few days, so he'd ignored it.
It wasn't until every bowel movement left a stinging pain and an unpleasant residue, like he'd wiped incompletely, that he started feeling a sense of crisis.
Then one day, the pain vanished, and when he came to his senses, there was a dangling piece of flesh he could feel.
It was bizarre.
He'd learned from textbooks that hemorrhoids formed when congested veins and connective tissue protruded, but wasn't this just some loose flesh flopping around?
- It's stage 3 external hemorrhoids.
He was at the point where surgery was unavoidable.
- ...Yes.
Even thirty years ago, anesthesia existed.
The surgery itself wasn't long.
But the real suffering came afterward.
First, he had to lie flat all day without lifting his head because of the anesthesia.
And until the surgical site healed, every trip to the bathroom brought excruciating agony.
'Gah, arrrgh!'
He somehow recovered, only to hear...
- It's a recurrence.
Less than two years later.
Blood again, sudden prolapse—he went to the hospital and got that news.
- Let's schedule the surgery right away.
- I'll think it over and come back.
This time, at least, it hadn't progressed as far as before.
Instead of booking surgery, Kim Chunsik dove into medical texts.
What if it came back after cutting it out? At this rate, he'd need surgery every two years.
'Ugh.'
Hemorrhoids were a disease born alongside humanity's upright posture.
Records dated back to 3000 BCE, and fixing King Louis XIV's intractable case had rocketed a surgeon's status overnight—since internal medicine couldn't cure it.
Even the Donguibogam classified them into nine types and listed various decoctions.
'Bojungikgi Tang? Kamihyangshosan? No, not those. I need something for blood stasis. Maybe Chueo Tang...!'
Kim Chunsik selected the perfect decoction for himself and even made his own topical ointment.
The ingredients weren't easy to find off the shelf, but he was a grad student at the time.
Borrowing some herbs from the school and using the decoction machine was within his purview.
He never told anyone what he was brewing—just ran the machine in secret.
'Perfect. This'll cure it for good!'
Even the follow-up hospital visit confirmed it was clean.
He was over the moon when the anal torment finally ended.
'I couldn't tell a soul... but thanks to it, I saved a lot of people.'
As a professor at the university's affiliated Korean medicine hospital, he didn't see many hemorrhoid patients.
He'd just factor it in when prescribing for those who mentioned it alongside other issues.
But after joining Seongsu Clinic, when Director Han Yeowon set up the external decoction room herself, he made a suggestion.
- We absolutely need to make a hemorrhoid ointment and sitz bath formula. There's demand!
Kim Chunsik's strong recommendation was accepted right away.
Soon, samples arrived with instructions to try prescribing them. Before any external ads, existing patients spotted them on the desk display and started inquiring about purchases.
Kim Chunsik happily prescribed the ointments, sitz baths, and meds as needed.
Of course, if consultation warranted it, he'd recommend surgery too.
"How long has it been?"
With that experience under his belt, Kim Chunsik was confident he could pour his all into treating this young man.
"About three months."
Kim Chunsik's face lit up.
At this stage, it should heal just fine.
"Lucky you came before it got worse. That's good."
"Uh, did I come quickly?"
Truewind, who'd spent three months in torment before finally dragging himself here, was a bit surprised.
"Absolutely. Some elders have had it for 30 or 40 years and don't even know when it started."
"Ah..."
"I know how hard it is to come to the clinic. But no need to be ashamed. There's even a saying in Korean medicine texts: 'Ten out of ten people have hemorrhoids.' It's extremely common, and early stages are easy to treat."
"Thank you so much for saying that. Truth is... I was terrified to come."
Kim Chunsik patted Truewind's back.
"Any stinging when you defecate?"
"Yes, sometimes it stings, and it itches now and then."
"Feel any blood clots or flesh protruding?"
"Nothing sticking out on the outside, but inside, it feels lumpy. I haven't checked closely, though..."
"Sounds like internal hemorrhoids."
Kim Chunsik gave a brief explanation of the types first.
"Hemorrhoids is a broad term covering hemorrhoidal cushions, fistulas, and fissures. Hemorrhoids proper are varicose veins around the anus from expanded blood vessels. That's what most people mean by 'hemorrhoids.'"
"Ah, yes."
"Anal fissures are just tears in the anal lining. Severe constipation can harden stool and cause splits, but a one-off heals like any skin scrape in a few days. Repeated ones can lead to hemorrhoids, though."
"Ah, right. I thought it was that at first, but now it feels like it's turned into hemorrhoids. Gulp."
"Finally, anal fistulas form from chronic abscesses or inflammation in the anal glands around the anus—they burst and create pus tracts. Those always require surgery."
Fistulas, with rotting anal glands, were a whole different beast from hemorrhoids or fissures.
Just hearing about it scared Truewind.
"It's not a fistula. Let's confirm with an anal inspection to rule out upper GI bleeding and assess congestion."
"Uh, visually?"
"I'll do a digital rectal exam—finger palpation of the rectum."
It was exactly that: probing the rectum with a finger, essential for anal issues and prostate problems.
Clack. Clack.
Truewind's teeth chattered.
"...If you'd prefer a machine, we don't have colonoscopy here. No need to do it twice—get it all at once at a specialist clinic."
"No, no! Just check it!"
Truewind shook his head wildly.
"Don't worry. Mild internal ones don't hurt much on exam."
Severe cases with wounds or heavy congestion screamed in pain from insertion alone, but mild ones barely registered.
"Got it."
Kim Chunsik quickly performed the exam, gloved up, to spare Truewind embarrassment—about five seconds of inner wall palpation.
"Slight internal congestion. With the history, it's stage 1."
Internal hemorrhoids progress from stage 1 to 4.
Stage 1: occasional bleeding, not palpable externally.
Stage 2: protrudes slightly on defecation, retracts spontaneously after.
Stage 3: must be manually reduced.
Stage 4: won't reduce, with severe pain and bleeding.
"Stages 3 and up can respond to non-surgical treatment, but it's inefficient. Better to operate first, then treat to prevent recurrence."
In Western medicine too, 3-4 go straight to surgery; stage 2 gets conservative trial before surgery if needed.
Some clinics book surgery for all; others start with ointments and internals.
Kim Chunsik had even treated a stage 4 internal/external combo with fistula—an 80-something grandma who'd lived with it 40 years and refused surgery outright. What more could he say?
"I really did come early."
Truewind sighed in relief at Kim Chunsik's words.
"Yes. Follow treatment in stages 1-2, and it clears up. I've never failed a stage 1."
"I'll trust you, Director."
His trust had maxed out the moment Kim Chunsik took his hand.
Truewind handed over full control once more.
They dissected his lifestyle and diet, pinpointed fixes.
No decoction needed yet.
"Switch to a high-fiber diet first. If constipation persists, we'll prescribe internals. Start with ointment and sitz bath."
Truewind left with pills, ointment, and sitz bath formula in hand.
'I did it!'
Just spilling his history and getting the meds nearly brought tears.
After visiting the Songpa branch of Seongsu Clinic, Azure Wind Young Master flooded the group chat with messages.
Kim Chunsik had been so kind and trustworthy; he was thrilled to have met this director.
It happened to be study and meeting day.
Before diving in, I casually asked,
"Did Truewind get good treatment? What was he dragging his feet about?"
- Can't tell you—patient confidentiality.
Kim Chunsik's firm reply came back.
Oh no, was it some serious personal issue tied to the illness? I'd just figured it was general reluctance to see a doctor. My bad.
"The diagnosis and history sound okay? Should heal fine?"
- Mm. It's one I'm very confident about.
Judging from Azure Wind Young Master's messages, it seemed so.
"One consult, and Truewind's totally hooked? He said he nearly cried from how well you empathized."
- Hahaha.
"You're amazing. Just the other day you were barking orders, and now you're evolving daily—from kind to downright moving consultations..."
I was genuinely in awe.
Would I turn into a stubborn old fogey at his age?
Even after retirement, keeping an open heart, giving your all every day, and growing—that's no easy feat.
- Hahaha, this one was a bit special... no, that friend just thought well of me.
And humble to boot!
I moved past the patient topic to what I'd meant to discuss.
"Thanks to you, Director, we're all improving too. Right— the homepage is done! We're taking orders for standby meds like candy even outside the network. And the hemorrhoid ointment you suggested..."
- *Cough!* *Hack!* *Achoo!*
But suddenly, Kim Chunsik startled like he'd been shocked.
"You okay?"
- J-Just went down the wrong pipe. *Cough*. That's all.
"Ah, take care. What were we saying?"
- Hemorrhoid ointment.
- *Cough!*
"Right. Hemorrhoid ointment, Sitz Ointment, Coptis Detox Pills, etc.—bundling orders. Also recruiting a few more for the network while we're at it. Okay?"