Chapter 106 She needs to rest. A brown sugar egg will surely help her get through this…

The symptoms that the woman and the man had were actually very common, but it was precisely because they were common that they were so shocking.

The woman suffered from uterine prolapse due to excessive childbirth and lack of proper care. This kind of setting, used to add spice to a paper doll with flowers, is terrifying only to be understood when seen in person. The woman was helped into the room by Mary and the others for examination, and Yao Xiaoyu saw that her uterus had completely prolapsed out of her body.

Even under these circumstances, the woman still had to work in the fields, just like when she had bound feet and had to crawl or lie down to work. She tied a small cloth bag around her waist, put her uterus inside, and continued to work as usual—it was only natural to have children after marriage, and the more sons the better. As for the various damages that childbirth caused to the body... isn't that something all women experience? What's there to say?

At this point, surgery to reconstruct the pelvic floor structure cannot be performed. The doctor's advice is to rest in bed and see if the uterus can return to its original position on its own. However, judging from the woman's clothes and appearance, it is clear that this advice is useless. After hesitating, the woman suddenly asked if she could have her uterus removed.

“This place is for giving birth. I have three sons, so it’s okay if we don’t have any more children in the future.”

The woman didn't want to be laughed at anymore—the first time she used the cloth bag, she had no experience and tied it on the outside. When the villagers saw it, they would point at it and laugh loudly, and some would even deliberately bump into it. Even after she put the bag inside her clothes, people still pointed and whispered.

These people included both men and women. Some of the women might not be in the same situation as her, but since they didn't expose their sacs, they could join the gossiping group with a clear conscience. This lump of flesh made her physically uncomfortable, and those people made her mentally uncomfortable. If she could exchange the inability to have children again for peace and quiet, she would be willing.

It would be great if the doctor could help, but if not, she could do it herself. She was diligent and always kept her scissors sharp. When she was little, she accidentally cut off a piece of her own flesh with scissors. It hurt a lot, but it wasn't unbearable. She would choose a quiet day, cut it off, drink a bowl of hot sugar water with eggs, and the wound would scab over when she woke up.

She'll need to be a little more careful later, but once she's fully recovered, she won't have to carry the cloth bag anymore, and she won't be afraid of being laughed at.

The woman was pondering to herself when she looked up and met the gaze of a strange woman. The woman's voice seemed to have a hook, and after exchanging a few words, she told him everything.

The woman didn't say anything she didn't quite understand, refusing to cut off the piece of flesh. She only said that there was a place that required a special birth date and time to be favorable for a year, and this woman's birth date and time were just right. If the woman was willing to go with her, the woman would not only provide her with food and lodging for a year, but would also send twenty silver dollars to her home as an advance payment.

"...If my family agrees, I'm willing."

Even now, when Yao Xiaoyu recalls the nonsense about birth dates and times that the woman had spouted, she still feels that she acted impulsively. But she doesn't regret it. At the time, the woman's eyes were very firm. If Yao Xiaoyu hadn't struck first with the wall, the woman might have taken matters into her own hands after being rejected.

If Yao Xiaoyu hadn't encountered this or didn't have that much money, it wouldn't have mattered. But by sheer coincidence, the uterine prolapse and the procedure to remove it directly triggered Yao Xiaoyu's PTSD, and she simply couldn't ignore it.

Fortunately, although the money was spent with some heartache, the result was still satisfactory. When they heard that their daughter-in-law could earn twenty silver dollars a year and was staying in the hospital to cleanse the feng shui, and wasn't doing anything unclean, the woman's in-laws readily agreed. If Yao Xiaoyu hadn't promised to take the woman with her when she came back, her in-laws would have wanted to push her out immediately.

While signing the contract, Yao Xiaoyu finally learned the woman's name: Shulan.

"Don't let her do anything these few days, especially don't let her get injured. If any part of her body is missing, we won't take her. Besides returning the deposit, you'll also have to give me five yuan back. Don't blame me for not telling you in advance."

Yao Xiaoyu left ten yuan as a deposit, giving instructions to her in-laws, but her eyes were on Shulan. Originally, she was going to cut off the piece of flesh below, but Shulan, feeling guilty and not wanting to cause any more trouble, turned her head away.

"We definitely won't let her do any work!"

Yao Xiaoyu recalled how Shulan's in-laws had been staring intently at the ten shiny silver dollars, nodding incessantly, and suddenly burst out laughing. Then, two small drops of water slid down her cheeks.

Yao Xiaoyu read a true account in modern times, which said that a woman was ridiculed after her uterus was removed. One day, while cooking at home, she cut off her uterus. When people found her, she had already died of massive bleeding in bed, with a bowl of brown sugar and egg water that she had prepared for herself next to her. [1]

After reading the story once, it took root in Yao Xiaoyu's heart. She was not a particularly kind person, and she helped Shulan because she saw the shadow of that woman in her. It was indeed heartbreaking to spend the hard-earned silver dollars, but if the money could save a life and also relieve her obsession, it would be a very worthwhile deal.

***

The most common postpartum complication was in women, but the problem in men was not unusual either; he had sores, or more precisely, boils and carbuncles. [2]

A boil, commonly known as a carbuncle, sounds unremarkable, but the red spot on the back of his shoulder was more than twice the size of an egg, yet there was no sign of any white discharge. It had several haphazard cuts on it. The man said he cut it to squeeze something out, but the effect…

A carbuncle is a large lump on the back, sometimes called a yellow water sore or a pustular abscess. The lump on the man's body was as big as a small bowl, yet it remained stiff; touching it would elicit a groan of pain. The villagers said the man was beyond saving, but he refused to give up—

They have their own way of treating carbuncles: wait until it grows yellow and shiny and becomes purulent, then puncture it with something, squeeze out the pus, and as long as there is no fever, it will generally get better.

"I'll take any treatment, I just want to live."

The man lay on the door panel, pleading with the crowd. He had no money to call a doctor, and now he was just trying anything. The woman next to him kowtowed repeatedly to them, and soon blood appeared on her forehead. The people next to her told her that she was the man's wife, an orphan girl they had taken in during the famine. If the man died, the woman would be kicked out.

This is because the village has a relatively clean and upright atmosphere. Many women without a powerful backer would really be sold off if their husbands left.

In modern times, boils can be ripened using ointments like ichthyol. Although carbuncles on the back look scary, surgery usually resolves the issue. However, in this era, we can only rely on the body's self-healing ability. After discussing it for a long time, the group decided to try ripening and draining the boil.

The traditional Chinese medicine doctor checked the medicinal herbs in his hand, preparing to use them both internally and externally. The Western medicine doctor placed a hot, thick cloth on the man's boils and carbuncles to manually ripen them. He then took out the instruments and silver needles he had brought with him, selected the thinnest one, and pierced it to drain the pus.

Yao Xiaoyu grimaced as she looked at the food. To distract herself, she asked if it was possible to accelerate the process by eating certain foods – weren't there always plots like that in novels, where a character was beyond medical help, and then the doctor suggested eating chicken or lamb to fight poison with poison, thus accelerating the process and saving their life?

Shen Peilan and Han Banxia thought for a moment and then shook their heads.

The idea itself is not wrong, and it might be worth trying if it were just boils. However, the problem is that there are also carbuncles. Eating foods that trigger these conditions could cause the toxic heat to penetrate deeper, leading to sepsis, which is what Western medicine calls septicemia.

Doctors value their prescriptions and medical skills highly, but this kind of knowledge is not considered confidential. If possible, they hope everyone can know it. Nowadays, human life is as fragile as grass, and it's good if one more person can live.

In their enthusiastic explanation of the science, the two also mentioned the dangers of squeezing out pus to Yao Xiaoyu—compared to using a cloth strip to drain the pus, violent squeezing may cause the toxins to spread to the surrounding area of ​​the wound, or enter the bloodstream and cause a high fever, or spread to other places and form new carbuncles.

Yao Xiaoyu suddenly realized, and the surrounding villagers nodded in agreement.

No wonder some people get a fever and talk nonsense after squeezing out a big lump, and some people get another one in a new place after a few years. You can't squeeze it with your hands anymore, you have to learn from the doctor... to drain it!

Yes, that's the word!

The family is poor, but they can still afford a strip of cloth and a needle. They'll have to ask this person when they start attracting customers so they can learn from them.

Perhaps the man was really lucky. After a series of combined Chinese and Western treatments, although the boil on top did not develop white spots, the carbuncle below began to soften, and when pressed, it rippled like water. Even the skin in that area became much thinner. Doctors with experience in this area took turns to make a judgment and concluded that it could be treated in two more days.

The man couldn't be left alone, but the hospital staff had to rush to the next location. Maria thought for a moment, then left two male doctors there to continue the free clinic, while the rest of the group continued on their way. Before leaving, Yao Xiaoyu only saw one drainage point.

It doesn't require complicated techniques. A thin needle is heated red-hot over a candle and pierced into the softest part. One end of a strip of cloth that has been boiled in hot water is stuffed in. The man screams in agony, and the onlookers gasp in shock. But the doctors' hands remain steady, and they even have the leisure to change the ripening medicine for the boil.

Do you think he can survive?

Yao Xiaoyu suddenly spoke up, and everyone knew who she was referring to. After a moment of silence, Anna spoke first.

"He is a very responsible man, and God will bless him."

Aside from medical appointments, Han Banxia, ​​who was usually quiet, rarely spoke in the carriage:

"As long as he strictly follows the doctor's orders, his chances of survival are very high."

The two started a conversation among the group, and everyone spoke optimistically, but no one could give a definite answer that they had survived.

Those two wounds were far too large and too dangerous.

Yao Xiaoyu blinked, and suddenly thought of Ah Q's head full of scabies. She used to think it was just a description of his appearance, but now she realized that it was a mark of suffering—many people in the village had it on their heads, but they didn't care about it...?

"It's just a little ugly, but it doesn't hurt or itch."

That's what the villagers say, but Yao Xiaoyu noticed that people with scabies on their heads would wear hats when they went to town. This condition isn't difficult to treat, but many people miss the treatment window... Ultimately, it's because the villagers don't understand this.

Yao Xiaoyu clenched the notebook in her hand, apologizing in her heart to the infinite flow novel that was originally scheduled to be the next book. She wanted to write a new story that could popularize some medical knowledge.

-----------------------

Author's note: It's been a bit long, the next chapter will be about Shanghai!

————

[1] This really happened. You can find it by searching the keyword "cutting off the uterus" on Douyin or Xiaohongshu. It is very sad to see.

[2] Sores are a general term for carbuncles, boils, furuncles, and furuncles. A carbuncle is a localized suppurative disease caused by infection with pathogenic factors and obstruction of qi and blood circulation. It has a rapid onset, is prone to suppuration, ulceration, and healing. Initially, the local area is smooth and soft without a head, and soon a lump forms. The epidermis becomes red, swollen, and painful, and gradually enlarges, becomes raised, hard, and hot to the touch.

————

I spent ages researching carbuncles and boils, and it's making my head spin. Hope you can bear with me.

————

————