The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 702 Strange Symptoms

Liu Banxia, at the emergency center, was also busy with his daily routine. He had no idea that the much-praised "Little Six" were feeling immense pressure because of his presence. Even if he had known, he wouldn’t have interfered much. This was a normal part of a doctor’s development. Being able to handle patients independently didn’t make one a fully-fledged doctor. It merely signified the end of one stage in their medical career and the beginning of another.

In their minds, Liu Banxia, the "Great Demon Lord," was a special case.

Qi Wentai and Wang Chao, who had started at the same time as Liu Banxia, were also performing quite well, but they were still unable to perform many types of surgery. Liu Banxia, with the aid of the system and by incessantly consuming Honor Points, was like someone who had lived many more years than others. He was a frugal person; until his diagnostic skills reached level 5, he was even stingy with his Glory Points. Only recently, as he gained more Glory Points, did he splurge on a complete set of exquisite stones for himself. In the past, he had come from a poor background and lacked the capital to squander, which had laid the foundation for his current diligence.

As Liu Banxia was reviewing patient files, Wei Yuan approached him. "Had your fill of excitement these past two days, huh?"

"I sure have," Liu Banxia said with a sigh. "My back still aches. I haven’t exerted myself this much in a long time. I’m getting old."

"Nonsense!" Wei Yuan said. "From now on, just schedule yourself for surgery two days a week, like the director. That will make things a bit easier for us."

"Spare me, please," Liu Banxia responded. "The operating rooms are incredibly busy right now. I had to squeeze in my surgeries these past two days. Recently, the number of patients referred to our hospital has increased again. The Spring Festival was a long time ago, and the weather has gotten warmer, but it’s still really concerning. And look at pediatrics; their appointments have shot up too."

"This wave of colds is also quite severe. This season is tricky—not too hot, not too cold. You sweat when you run, and then a little breeze makes it easy to catch a cold."

"Are you still going to cover the pediatric ward today?" Wei Yuan asked.

"I’ll see," Liu Banxia answered. "If there are too many kids, I’ll have to go and help out. Director Shi Lei is off today, and I’m off tomorrow. You’ll have to put in a bit more effort tonight. Although the juniors have a certain level of skill, they still need to be supervised."

"Leave that to me," Wei Yuan said with a smile. "We can’t delay Director Shi Lei’s happiness, and it shouldn’t affect you spending time with your wife. But I heard you’re going to the school tonight? To give a speech?"

Liu Banxia gave a wry smile and nodded. "Qiu Huaili’s son, when we had dinner last time, kept insisting that I go to their school again to encourage the students preparing for the college entrance exams. In his words, I’m a prime example of a grassroots success story, perfect for firing people up. Plus, since I diagnosed his illness and Wang Mingxing’s, I’ve gained some goodwill, I suppose."

"Haha, I think that’s true. That really is the case," Wei Yuan laughed. "It’s not that we haven’t had people admitted unconventionally to our Second Hospital, and you know what those situations are usually like. But someone who can achieve what you have, and be this outstanding, you’re the first. Go for it. Promote yourself well. Maybe in the future, some students will be inspired to go to medical school and then come to our Second Hospital. Your educational outreach is really at the forefront; you’re already recruiting from high schools."

"Actually, you might be right," Liu Banxia said. "When I went last time, quite a few kids were planning to apply to medical school. But I did try to give them a reality check. Medical school entrance scores are so high. If they don’t genuinely love the medical profession and are only thinking about becoming doctors, that path is incredibly difficult. Not everyone can endure this kind of hardship. Different choices determine your future life. Whether you’re a man or a woman, everyone’s afraid of entering the wrong profession."

"Isn’t that the truth?" Wei Yuan nodded, deeply empathetic. "There were times I regretted it too. But back then, I saw it as a stable way to make money, and that’s why I persisted."

Just then, Wang Huan walked over. "What are you two talking about?"

"Just saying how tough it is to be a doctor," Liu Banxia said. "I saw the internal medicine department has a lot of registered patients today. You must be exhausted."

"Knowing there are so many registered patients, you didn’t offer to cover a shift in internal medicine?" Wang Huan asked.

"Couldn’t do it," Liu Banxia said. "I had to prioritize pediatrics, right? I even asked Brother Wei to cover my surgical consultations today. Otherwise, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to manage everything."

"Sigh... let’s just leave it at that for now. I need to see my patients," Wang Huan said and walked towards her consulting room.

"Alright, I’ll go take a look around then. You get back to your work," Wei Yuan said as he left.

"I’ll review some case files first, then check on the patients from yesterday’s and the day before’s surgeries. Call me if anything comes up," Liu Banxia said.

Even though he didn’t have to do fixed daily rounds anymore, he was still very busy. These were his surgical patients, so he had to go check on their condition. If there were any changes, he’d need to adjust their medical orders. Given the current situation in the emergency center, it was utterly impossible for him to be idle like before. No way, no how. Unless he was on a day off, only then could he truly relax.

After reviewing the case files, he gathered the remaining four juniors and began his rounds. He didn’t call Qing Kewa. She was in the final stage of her internship, so this kind of task wasn’t necessary for her anymore. It would be more beneficial for her to gain experience by seeing more patients in the emergency center. However, his rounds were somewhat different from the usual ones. He was giving focused attention, currently just to the patients he had operated on in the past two days.

As he was strolling, his phone rang.

"Brother Wang, what’s up?" Liu Banxia asked after answering.

"Are the patients upstairs all settled? If so, come down quickly. I have a patient here who needs a consultation," Wang Huan said.

"Okay, I have two left here. I’ll come down as soon as I’m done," Liu Banxia replied and hung up.

Wang Huan requesting a consultation meant the case was very tricky. He sped up his checks on the last two patients. Fortunately, they were both routine cases, and not even their medical orders needed changing.

"That’s basically the situation with these few patients. Make sure you’ve all recorded it and pay close attention. Shi Lei will know what’s going on at a glance tomorrow," Liu Banxia said as they headed downstairs.

"Teacher Liu, when you come to work the day after tomorrow, will you bring us some small gifts?" Xu Yino asked with a wide smile.

"Small gifts? What are you lot scheming now? I’m staying home with Qiaoqiao tomorrow, not going anywhere. Where would I find gifts?" Liu Banxia shot her a look.

Xu Yino didn’t mind; she figured it was always worth a try.

When Liu Banxia reached the clinic on the ground floor, he saw Wang Huan was still with a patient, so he waited outside.

About ten minutes later, Wang Huan and the patient came out.

"Brother Wang, what’s the situation?" Liu Banxia asked.

"My first patient of the day," Wang Huan began. "A 25-year-old male. High fever of 39.3 degrees Celsius, difficulty breathing, and a swollen right leg. Physical exam also revealed some splenomegaly and rales in both lungs, for which I’ve ordered imaging."

"The onset was very acute, starting with a fever. He took some medication at home. Three days later, his leg began to swell, and the fever rose. He didn’t think much of it, but now he has dyspnea, the high fever isn’t subsiding, and his submandibular lymph nodes are swollen."

"I suspect it might be renal vein thrombosis and a related lymphatic system disorder. Otherwise, the physical exam wouldn’t have directly revealed splenomegaly."

Liu Banxia frowned. "How long since the onset?"

"About eight or nine days," Wang Huan said. "Oh, and he also has some chills."

"I also asked; there’s no family history of illness. The more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt, especially with the uncertainty, so I called you over."

"I’ve ordered a complete blood count, a leg ultrasound, and tests for pulmonary embolism. The results should be out in a little while. You can help me look at them then."

Liu Banxia nodded.

The persistent high fever and dyspnea alone were dangerous enough to warrant serious attention, not to mention the rapid swelling of the patient’s leg. Even if Wang Huan hadn’t laid out all her deductions, Liu Banxia could grasp the general picture. If this was indeed deep vein thrombosis in the leg, there was a high chance the patient now had a pulmonary embolism. That would be extremely dangerous. He could assess the situation right here and decide whether to call cardiac surgery and rush the patient to the OR.

However, another question emerged. If things were progressing as conjectured, why had the thrombus formed so quickly? The initial symptom was fever, and a thrombus had formed within just a few days. That speed was somewhat alarming.

But for now, these were just their speculations. They couldn’t confirm anything without seeing the actual results. Furthermore, the splenomegaly was also a significant finding, and a lymphatic system issue was also possible. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

They waited less than twenty minutes before the patient returned, holding his diagnostic reports.

After Liu Banxia and Wang Huan reviewed them together, both their brows furrowed.

The complete blood count showed white blood cell levels were close to normal, not elevated as they had anticipated. The leg ultrasound confirmed renal vein thrombosis. The pulmonary embolism scan results revealed bilateral pulmonary artery thrombosis.

"Can you think of a cause? You were just mulling it over, weren’t you?" Wang Huan asked.

Liu Banxia nodded. "I’ve treated thrombosis patients before, but none whose condition progressed this rapidly. I was just wondering, if it developed as you conjectured, what could have caused it?"

"I haven’t figured it out," Wang Huan said, sounding a bit uncertain. "Should we start thrombolytic therapy now? The pulmonary embolism was likely caused by a dislodged deep vein thrombus from the leg, right?"

Ordinarily, such cases rarely presented as bilateral pulmonary embolisms; they were usually unilateral. So, this young man’s condition also struck Liu Banxia as rather strange.

When things deviate from the norm, there’s usually an underlying reason. The young man’s symptoms were abnormal, and the cause remained unclear. At the very least, based on the current diagnostic results, they still couldn’t make an accurate judgment.