"A person should be able to distinguish their own body, which parts belong to the body and which don't … But this leg, something's wrong … It's not real, I can't feel its existence, I don't think it belongs to me."
This was not the sudden appearance of a new batch of patients at Eastern State. It was the description given by a patient with body agnosia more than 30 years ago.
Body agnosia was a rare neurological syndrome. It was the complete opposite of Phantom Limb Disorder — more than 80% of amputees could still feel their lost limbs for a long time after their wounds had healed. Some were even accompanied by Phantom Limb Pain. The patient could feel the amputated limbs were still there and the pain was coming from the same spot.
The existence of these conditions indirectly proved that the nervous system directly restricted the human's ability to sense their own body.
It was not the body itself but the nervous system that determined the number of limbs a person had and the condition of their limbs.
But what was the mechanism behind this nervous system? How did it play such a role in the human brain?
For a long time, the medical community had been trying to figure this out, but they had not found a scientific explanation.
For now, Gu Jun had no way to explain to the patients and his colleagues what was happening.
At the Eastern State Phecda Medical Department's base, on the 9th floor of the psychology building, there were already 37 individual sickrooms, each occupied by a patient with Alien Hand Syndrome. Their cries of pain echoed in the corridor. Some of them even started to mumble gibberish from the torment of the patients.
In less than a day, 37 patients had sought treatment at various hospitals in Eastern State. Perhaps there were more patients who had not been diagnosed yet.
They all showed the same symptoms, pain in their right upper limbs. They would lose their senses within 3 to 8 hours and the pain would worsen. There would be multiple blockages in the affected limbs. Thrombolytics would alleviate the pain but the patients' pain would only worsen. Other than that, from the moment they lost their senses, the patients would desire amputation to remove their affected limbs.
Alien Hand Syndrome was a symptom that sought amputation. It was similar to another very rare paranoia disorder.
Body Integrity Identity Disorder.
People who unfortunately lost a limb due to an accident would always miss the time when their limbs were intact. However, BIID patients were the exact opposite. They always longed for a limb to be amputated. It did not belong to them. They were born without it, or they suddenly did not want it anymore. It did not matter whether they were called disabled or not. They believed that this was normal. Only by getting rid of the afflicted limb could they realize their true and complete self and obtain happiness.
Usually, the affected limb was one of the four limbs, but sometimes, there were two, three, or even four cases.
In order to achieve this goal, and the doctors did not agree to amputation, BIID patients often resorted to self-mutilation behaviors that patients with body agnosia would not do. There were cases of car crashes, freezing their legs with ice water, and even self-amputation. These were all cases that had happened.
This mental illness had not been recognized and named for a long time, so its pathology was still a mystery for the time being. Whether it was a mental illness caused by purely external factors or a brain dysfunction caused by a disorder in the nervous system, there were only hypotheses.
Currently, the most effective treatment for BIID, the best way to relieve the patient's pain and improve the patient's quality of life, was to amputate the patient's limb.
Gu Jun came to the door of one of the sickrooms. The team beside him also stopped to look at the patient through the glass window.
The patient's name was Zhou Yibao, 21 years old, a third-year student at Jihua University. He was the first patient to seek medical attention for alien hand syndrome.
At the time, the emergency doctor who treated Zhou Yibao, Li Ruiquan, noticed the abnormality and informed the hospital to report it to the Phecda. Things developed quickly after that. The Eastern State Phecda received reports from many hospitals. After confirming the abnormality, they transferred the patients to the Phecda for isolation and treatment.
Why them? What was the pathogenesis? What did these patients of all ages and genders have in common? Was alien hand syndrome contagious?
These were questions that the Medical Department was still trying to answer.
In terms of treatment, the Medical Department could not come up with many solutions. Even if BIID did originate from a neurological abnormality, there was no proof of the neurological abnormality.
Therefore, lobotomies and nerve destruction were not suitable. Furthermore, instead of destroying the brain to cause unknown and irreversible damage, it was better to amputate the limb. After all, even if the patient lost an arm, he could still live a high quality of life and have a prosthetic limb installed.
To deal with normal BIID, the usual methods were cognitive behavior therapy, aversion therapy, and other psychotherapy, but the effect was not that great.
The psychological team had already tried these methods on the patients with alien hand syndrome. They had injected some of the patients with tranquilizers, Zhou Yibao was one of them. However, the patients did not manage to calm down. If anything, the symptoms only worsened.
This situation was similar to the patients with Mutated Scale Disease who felt a constant itch on their diseased skin.
The patients with alien hand syndrome were tormented by the rejection of their own hands until they were going crazy.
Of course, Gu Jun knew this was not a normal BIID. It was not something that happened naturally, it was the power of negative selection. The black goat cub …
As he thought about this, Gu Jun opened the door of the ward while his mind was in a mess.
In an instant, there was an inexplicable jolt in his right hand, as if it had sensed something.
"Ah …" Zhou Yibao, who was fixed to the bed, saw the group of medical staff in protective clothing walk in. He immediately screamed in agitation, his eyes bloodshot. "Hurry up and amputate my arm. Cut off this hand. It's not mine, it's not mine …"
The patient's right upper limb was especially reinforced. Because it was to promote blood flow, the area of the binding was not large. The upper arm, elbow, and forearm were all shackled with iron cuffs.
This was not only to prevent the alien hand from losing control but also to prevent the patient from harming himself. The back of the hand that the patient had stabbed with a pen had been treated.
Gu Jun looked at the alien hand wrapped in white gauze. An illusion flashed before his eyes. It was like he was dissecting the giant severed limb of the black goat cub by the dissecting table, but the person standing next to the dissecting table seemed to be someone else …
At that moment, the patient's alien hand yanked at the cuffs, causing them to clang loudly. The cuffs appeared to be on the verge of breaking.
"Cut it off, cut it off …" The patient became even more hysterical.
Gu Jun gripped his right hand tightly, similar to how he gripped it at the cave mountain stream, trying to suppress the strange movement.
Uncle Dan and the rest were helpless. They had already gone through the normal procedures to deal with abnormal energy, but the Medical Department did not have much time left.
However, the Medical Department did not have much time left. The patients were affected by the stimulation of pain. Their heart rate, blood pressure, and other indicators were all in the danger zone. The test results of the liver, kidney, and other organs were not optimistic. Moreover, the effect of thrombolysis and anticoagulation on the affected limbs was constantly declining. If this continued, the patients would be sent to the emergency room at any time.
"Ah Jun, should we consider amputation?" Uncle Dan asked softly.
It was not a solution, an experimental treatment. Perhaps the patient would still experience phantom limb pain after amputation, or perhaps the illness would be cured.
Phecda doctors like them were also clinical doctors. Most of the time, they did not have the ability to cure the patient, but they could try their best to help the patient survive …
Gu Jun took a deep breath and did not say anything for a long time. A strange voice seemed to echo in his ears.
'You will have many chances to perform surgeries. Surgeries, do you still know how to perform surgeries … '
"I suggest we try artificial coma on the patient first." Gu Jun said in a low voice. He did not know where the demon was, so he could not go along with the demon's wishes. Otherwise, it would not end well. "Other than that, I wish to observe a right upper limb amputation for another cause."
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