Chapter 1258 Other Therapies
“Your situation is similar to hers, but not exactly the same,” I had to tell him the truth. “Your illness is called poliomyelitis, also known as polio. It’s actually a sequela caused by the virus damaging nerves. It’s no longer the same condition.”
“Similar things have been said by doctors, but I don’t quite understand. Could Dr. Parul explain it to me more clearly?” Safah asked, his tone no longer ascalm as before.
“It’s very simple. Imagine the virus as pests and your nerves as tree roots. A syphilis patient is like a tree with a hollow infested with insects. Although the insects have burrowed into the tree, they haven’t damaged the roots. As long as the insects are eliminated, the tree can slowly heal.”
“As for the poliomyelitis you contracted, the pests are directly on the tree roots. Your roots have been completely gnawed away by the pests. The pests are long gone, but your roots can never recover.”
I used a concise analogy to explain Safah’s current condition to him. Although my analogy might have a slightly strange ambiguity, he would definitely understand his illness.
Safah pondered for a moment, the room filled with a heavy atmosphere. He surely understood his predicament, but not every doctor dared to speak so plainly, especially when facing a ruthless Black Boss.
After a long silence, Safah said in a muffled voice, “As expected of Dr. Parul. Without any examination, you understood my condition. Those other capable doctors said the same thing.”
Of course, I understood. In fact, when I first saw Safah outside the venue, I had already used my God’s Eye to scan his central nervous system. The situation was even more severe than I had imagined.
Safah’s spinal cord injury was very serious, almost completely ravaged. He had contracted the illness at a very young age, and the sequelae had accompanied him his entire life. Due to long-term lack of exercise, the motor nerves in his lower body were almost completely paralyzed, and his leg muscles had even atrophied.
If he hadn’t had his legs replaced once, his situation would have been even worse. However, it didn’t matter if his legs were replaced or not, as the problem wasn’t with his legs in the first place.
Now, according to my estimation, his lower body had completely lost sensation. He couldn’t even manage his own excretion, and if it worsened, he could experience difficulty breathing and even cardiac arrest.
“I just want to know one thing, Dr. Parul, can I still be saved?” he stared at me intently. I suspected that if I said no, he might order his bodyguards to cut me down in a fit of rage.
“Yes.” My answer made him visibly relax, and the tense, suffocating atmosphere in the room eased considerably. But I immediately added, “Theoretically, yes.”
Safah’s face, which had just relaxed, tensed up again. He asked anxiously, “What do you mean, theoretically? Dr. Parul.”
Elena kept giving me looks, subtly urging me to speak positively. However, I still had to tell the truth. “Theoretically, since the nerves are damaged, all you need is to replace the nerves. If the spinal cord is damaged, all you need is to replace the spinal cord. But do you know where the spinal cord is?”
Safah remained silent. I walked behind him, and to Elena’s shocked gaze, I reached for Safah’s back. He clearly became nervous but offered no resistance, allowing me to trace a line down his spine.
“The spinal cord is inside your spine, within the spinal canal. Replacing a single vertebra is almost impossible because it’s connected to so many things like the ribs and hip bones. Didn’t those doctors tell you?” I asked.
Safah was silent for another moment before saying, “I once went to the Royal Capital to see a grand physician of the Royal Medical Society. He said the surgery was extremely dangerous, with a nine in ten chance of death. Even the Royal Medical Society of Iberia hasn’t mastered this technology.”
“He said there might be doctors in the world capable of spinal cord transplantation, but it wouldn’t be found in Iberia. Dr. Parul, can you tell me if you can perform spinal cord transplantation?” Safah looked at me again.
So, Safah actually knew a lot, including what caused his illness, how to treat it, and the risks involved in the surgery. He understood everything, yet he was unwilling to accept it and kept seeking medical help.
Perhaps he hoped to find some miraculous cure that would heal his spinal cord without surgery, or to receive a divine blessing from the gods for a complete recovery. I could only say that the hope was slim.
“No. Even if I had the chance, I wouldn’t attempt it. The failure rate and mortality rate are too high,” I stated directly. Replacing a spinal cord, I estimated even Amelia couldn’t do it.
“Then why did you say you could cure it?” Safah roared, angered. Was I toying with him?
“It is indeed possible, at least theoretically. I know of another method, one that doesn’t require replacing the bone marrow, but the conditions are quite difficult to meet,” I added.
“What is it? Hurry up and tell me!” Safah asked impatiently. He had come with only a sliver of hope, but unexpectedly, he heard good news – there was another treatment.
I walked to the window and pointed at Hannah and Elena, who were dancing a waltz with the Divine Machine Knights on the dance floor. “Mr. Safah, have you heard of the Mechanical Church?”
“I have. They are a religion that worships the Machine God. I’ve heard they advocate for replacing body parts with machinery, ultimately achieving ascension to a perfect divine body. They’re a bunch of lunatics! Wait? You, you mean, if I could get a mechanical prosthetic limb?!”
Safah suddenly realized. This was also a blind spot in his thinking; he hadn’t considered using machinery to replace body parts. After all, such actions were considered heretical by most mainstream religions.
“No, more thoroughly. They have artificial nerves that can enhance their reaction speed. If you could get your hands on them, they could replace your necrotic nerves, allowing you to move again,” I said.
“Are you sure, Dr. Parul! If it’s true, I’ll go and ask to buy those artificial nerves right now!” Safah said excitedly.
“Although you can try, I think the hope is quite slim. Artificial nerves are their core secret technology, actually used to enhance their warriors. They probably won’t sell them to an outsider like you,” I poured cold water on his enthusiasm.
“What if I sincerely entreat them? I have wealth and many subordinates,” Safah said excitedly, his face flushing red. He had finally seen hope and was unwilling to let it go easily.
“If it were you in your youth, perhaps there would be a chance. You are old now, they probably wouldn’t accept you. As for wealth and manpower, I don’t think the Mechanical Church, one of the five major orthodox religions of the Holy Roman Empire, would care about them.”
