Doctor Cha recently had its major supporting character fall victim to a serious disease, and amid revelations too dramatic and shocking, she must go through with the treatment guided by the one who hurt her and her loved one.
Oh Deok-Rye is a major supporting character in Doctor Cha and the titular character’s loving mother. Throughout the show thus far, it has been made abundantly clear where Jeong-Suk gets her good qualities from, and it’s her mother Deok-Rye.
Even in her old age, Deok-Rye works as a caregiver but of late, her ability to do any sort of work has been impeded by acute pain in her shoulder. She goes to get it diagnosed, only to be confused and overwhelmed by the different diagnoses from different doctors.
Ailment & hospitalization
Oh Deok-Rye has pain in her shoulder that hinders her daily life and after visiting some alternative medicine practitioners, she continues to suffer from the worsening condition.
When Jeong-Suk catches up to it, she immediately calls her mother to Gusan University Hospital, to give her the best medical care she can have. Deok-Rye’s case, though, is assigned to none other than Seung-Hi.
Unaware of who Seung-Hi is to her daughter and what she has done to her, Deok-Rye is delighted to be assigned to her, since she visited her before too, and spent some quality chats with her in the past.
Meanwhile, her condition has worsened to the point where she has given up on her work and has to be hospitalized and given proper care.
Diagnosis & treatment
Her MRIs and other diagnoses come but the most significant of them all is Seung-Hi’s, who works hard to find what’s afflicting Deok-Rye. She reads up on the reports and later even consults with a doctor in the U.S. via video call.
She informs Jeong-Suk what her mother is going through and it’s Giant Cell Arteritis. Her diagnosis is that Oh Deok-Rye is suffering from Polymyalgia Rheumatica. This condition affects her bones and joints and makes even small movements a painful exercise.
She also tells Jeong-Suk that it’s better if she’s treated at Gusan University Hospital only, reassuring Jeong-Suk that while Deok-Rye might be her mother, she is also her patient.
The drugs administered to Deok-Rye after that work wonders and improve her health, and she later admits that her shoulder barely hurts. After a couple of days, she’s allowed to be discharged from the hospital. Before leaving, she leaves a note to Seung-Hi in which she thanks her for the treatment.
Also Read: Oh Deok-Rye: Doctor Cha character explained