Elion was not prepared for that kind of question, but even so, he organized his thoughts and said, "Pork is indeed a common food.
"However, if pork is not cooked for a sufficient amount of time, the tapeworm larvae that may be present in it can enter the digestive system.
"They have small hooks on their bodies that allow them to attach to the intestinal wall, where they паразitize, grow, and reproduce…"
Before Elion could finish speaking, Chase shook his head and interrupted him. "But that would be very unlikely. Those enter the digestive system. Rebecca's illness is in her head, not in her intestines.
"Even professionals with years of experience cannot say with certainty that an intestinal disease affects the brainstem, right?"
Upon hearing this, everyone else waited to hear Elion's response, wanting to see how he would explain it.
Elion thought for a moment. In the original story, it was explained in a way he barely remembered, but now, with his new knowledge, he was able to find a similar answer. "Since this is not a typical case, tapeworms can lay between 20,000 and 30,000 eggs a day.
"Usually, these eggs leave the body through excretion, but there will always be some that escape. Unlike mature larvae, these unhatched eggs can penetrate the intestinal wall and enter the bloodstream, flowing throughout the body.
"As long as the parasite's eggs are healthy, the human immune system will not reject them, but instead recognize them as its own.
"Then, the larvae that hatch from these eggs can evade immune monitoring and control the flow of bodily fluids by secreting special substances.
"This allows tapeworms to survive in any part of the human body, so there is a small possibility that they can also appear in the brain.
"That is why intracranial pressure can increase due to cerebral cysticercosis caused by tapeworms. Subsequently, clinical manifestations such as headache, vomiting, aphasia, and epilepsy will appear."
After hearing Elion's words, Foreman, who already knew this, chuckled. "So, do we look for a veterinarian now?"
Elion understood the joke and said, "There's no need for such a complicated process. We just need to make sure she takes a broad-spectrum anthelmintic, highly effective and low in toxicity, in time before the tapeworm dies."
Cameron, who had been listening, suddenly spoke up and asked, "If the tapeworm dies, can we still reverse the effects?"
Foreman shook his head and said, "That's problematic. After the tapeworm dies, its body will no longer be able to evade detection by the immune system.
"The immune system will reset and try to destroy the dead tapeworm in the brain. The resulting high temperatures can cause fatal damage to the brain."
"Brilliant kid, how did none of my three fellows think of this? Your job isn't to agree with me; it's to dive into other possibilities and challenge me."
"The intern's analysis was excellent. You should feel embarrassed and pause your teaching plan for the new guy for a bit."
House, forgetting that he himself had initially ruled out this disease, looked at Cameron and said, "Cameron, take care of telling Rebecca the results of our diagnosis and give her the appropriate medication."
Everyone left the room, including Elion, who remained deep in thought.
Up to now, living naturally in a life that was not his own kept him confused, but the fact that he was in a familiar place, saving people, made that confusion fade away.
But now, with little to do, he wondered exactly what had brought him to this place and how long his experience would last.
"Alright, now we'll just monitor our patient's condition and wait for her recovery."
At that moment, Cameron, who was responsible for informing Rebecca about the diagnosis, came out with a serious expression.
Sensing that something was wrong, House immediately asked, "Now what?"
Cameron hesitated for a moment and then said what was troubling her. "She no longer trusts you. She refuses to take the medication and prefers to wait."
House was stunned, and after pacing back and forth a few times, he finally made a decision.
"I'll talk to her." After saying that, House returned to Rebecca's room.
He wanted to use his own experience to persuade Rebecca to value life and not give up easily.
Foreman watched House's retreating figure and asked Elion, who was quietly preparing a cup of coffee, "Intern, since you have so many ideas in your head and you have photographic memory as you said, what should we do if House fails to convince the patient?"
Elion remembered Rebecca inside the room, and his eyes filled with pity.
Because he could completely empathize with Rebecca's current mental state. He had lived through situations similar to Rebecca's more than once.
In his last experience, he had refused treatment to dull the pain; he had not even approved euthanasia. He wanted to die by his own means.
"It's certain that she doesn't want to die. It's just that after so much suffering, she no longer trusts us. She's probably afraid that the pain will increase until she dies.
"The physical and mental suffering this causes is worse than simply dying. So all we have to do is make her believe that she has tapeworms inside her, that it's something simple, and that she won't suffer."
Foreman smiled and asked, "All that just to state the obvious? I didn't ask that. I asked whether you had ideas different from what we're all thinking right now."
"If House fails, it will then be our job to find a way for Rebecca to accept the treatment. That's why it's important to think of ideas that can save our patient's life." Chase explained the odds and what their job was now, after finding the disease: to do everything possible to get the patient to accept the treatment.
That was also something doctors had to do, simply because it was another way of saving lives.
"It's not that complicated." Foreman thought of something and said, "We don't need her to believe us. We just need a court order. If we can say that she is mentally affected and cannot make decisions for herself, the court will support our request."
That idea was simple to carry out, because all it took was court approval for them to give Rebecca the medication without her consent.
Cameron's eyes showed understanding, and she expressed her support. "In fact, in a life-or-death situation, we can simply say that the illness has caused her mental instability.
"I think she'll understand our good intentions later."
Hearing the increasingly outrageous comments from House's three fellows, Elion broke out in a cold sweat.
It was a good thing he hadn't had these doctors before he died; otherwise, he might not have saved the life of the girl who was attacked by that damned dog.
Foreman noticed Elion's silence and asked him, "Do you think sitting around and waiting for her to believe us is a good idea? Rebecca could die at any moment, so wasting time on something that's a coin toss is a mistake that will cost our patient her life."
"They're not thinking like patients…" Elion thought, without answering Foreman's question, who only wanted to teach him that they didn't always have power over patients.
"Foreman, Elion still hasn't faced a similar situation, so it's normal that he doesn't think like we do." Cameron believed that once Elion encountered a patient who didn't want to be saved, he would understand their stance.
"No, but we have to teach him everything we know. The problems a single mistake of ours can cause, and the trouble we can get into if a family member files a complaint."
If the family finds out that there was a method to save their loved one's life and it wasn't approved because of the refusal of a mother, father, or sibling, they will direct their pain and turn it into hatred toward the doctors who didn't save their loved one.
That had happened many times, and it was terrifying how much families could win.
That was why, if they simply sat and waited as Elion had suggested—waiting for the patient to believe them without going any further—then that problem could arise.
Elion had undoubtedly not thought about this, and he accepted this lesson with gratitude. Even he knew that a patient does not always accept their doctor's word, and if there was a way to save a life, he would do whatever it took.