Chapter 988: Chapter 988: There Really Is a Tumor

"Aren’t you going to do some counseling for Li Hao? When I saw him inviting Teacher Wu over for a consultation, he looked totally listless." Qi Wentai asked.

"How am I supposed to counsel him? In the end he still has to bear it himself." Liu Banxia said with a wry smile.

"A lot of times you’re stuck with a no-win choice, and whatever you do feels wrong. Compared to some elderly terminal cancer patients, we can be a little more relaxed facing those cases. But the young ones? They’re really not that easy to handle."

"That’s how it is, you really just have to go through more of it." Qi Wentai nodded.

Just then another ambulance pulled up at the entrance of the emergency center.

Qi Wentai glanced over. "Huang Bo, you go take this one."

"Okay." Huang Bo responded, and hurried up to meet them.

"The patient suddenly collapsed at work, unconscious, vital signs stable. Has symptoms of dyspnea, oxygen given in the ambulance." the paramedic said.

"Resuscitation Room Two. Have you contacted the family?" Huang Bo asked.

"They’ve been contacted, no family history of disease." the paramedic said. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Huang Bo nodded and pushed the patient into Resuscitation Room Two.

"Now that we’ve got them here, it’s really a lot easier. Even if I’m not around, I can hand things over to them and they’ll still do a decent job with the initial assessment." Qi Wentai said.

"You can’t let them go completely off the leash either, otherwise they’ll end up like I was, daring to try anything on anyone. Thinking back now, sometimes I still feel a tiny bit scared." Liu Banxia said.

Qi Wentai chuckled; he honestly hadn’t expected to hear that kind of thing from Liu Banxia.

"Eh? Captain Shen, what brings you here?"

Liu Banxia had wanted to chat with Qi Wentai a bit more, but when he saw Shen Xinhao walk in wearing plain clothes, he hurried over to greet him.

"Have you been worried these past few days?" Shen Xinhao asked with a smile.

"How could I not be worried? I’ve been worried every day. Let me put it this way: whenever a car behind me honks, I get a jolt. So? Have you managed to dig anything substantial out of them?" Liu Banxia asked.

Shen Xinhao nodded. "Not only did we get something substantial, we netted some big fish. They know quite a lot, and they also know that getting caught in the act this time means serious charges, so they’re all scrambling to earn merits."

"But I’m afraid I still have to put you out a bit. For now you still need to stay more alert. Their organization isn’t small, and it’s involved in a lot. There shouldn’t be much of a problem though; the people behind them don’t know about you."

Hearing this, Liu Banxia finally relaxed a little.

He knew himself he was being a bit over-neurotic; those few guys should basically be the last ones that slipped through the net in Binhai City.

"Right, Captain Shen, how come I haven’t seen the people protecting me? I’ve been paying attention every day these past few days, watching when I go to and from work." Liu Banxia said.

"The people aren’t the same every day. Whoever has time will walk with you for a stretch." Shen Xinhao said with a smile.

"They don’t need to stick that close. It’s basically just giving you an extra layer of insurance; there really shouldn’t be any major issues. You really helped us out a lot this time. So, when do you have time? I’ll treat you to a meal."

"The day after tomorrow. I’m off the day after tomorrow; if you’re free, then let’s do it then. If you’re not, just squeeze it in when you can. Anyway I can get off work on time in the evenings now, I only do night shifts occasionally." Liu Banxia said.

"Okay, then let’s leave it at that. We’ll get in touch the day after tomorrow and lock down a time." Shen Xinhao nodded.

"I actually can’t be sure of the exact time either; it depends on whether anything urgent pops up. Our work is pretty similar to yours, lots of sudden incidents."

"I get it. I deal with a lot of police comrades, and quite a few traffic cops too. If something comes up, just go handle it. And smoke a bit less, will you? This stuff is getting kind of harsh." Liu Banxia said.

Shen Xinhao nodded with a smile, waved, and then walked out.

Just now, Liu Banxia had actually wanted to ask Shen Xinhao if there were any young guys he could introduce to Yanzi. But after thinking it over he gave up; their work is about the same as his, except theirs is even more dangerous.

"Teacher Liu, that patient just finished the initial assessment and has been sent for a head MRI and chest CT." At that moment Huang Bo walked over.

"The initial findings weren’t great. Breath sounds in both lungs are somewhat diminished. The patient regained consciousness during the physical exam, had some weakness in the lower limbs, and there was no response with the knee-jerk reflex."

"Plus the fact that he suddenly collapsed, I’m thinking it might be a neurological cause. I went straight for an MRI—this doesn’t count as overstepping with the imaging, does it?"

Liu Banxia nodded. "It doesn’t. But if the patient’s family is present, you still need to explain things clearly to them."

"And once the patient is able to communicate normally, you also need to ask him repeatedly and try to gather more information. How about this: when he comes back, I’ll listen in."

"Thank you, Teacher Liu." Huang Bo said happily.

"Don’t be in such a hurry to thank me. I’m just listening, not talking—specifically to pick out mistakes." Liu Banxia said.

Even though he said that, Huang Bo didn’t mind. As long as Liu Banxia was there, he felt reassured.

At this time Wu Wenlin and Li Hao also walked out of Resuscitation Room No. 1, both of them looking rather serious.

"Teacher Wu, the situation isn’t very good?" Liu Banxia asked.

"It’s really not very good. The lithium carbonate has caused too much damage to his body," Wu Wenlin said.

"Although the blood and urine test results aren’t out yet, from asking the patient some questions we can already make a basic judgment about his kidneys."

"He can’t take lithium carbonate anymore. Even a small dose would still cause significant damage to his kidneys. This time he doesn’t need dialysis, but we still need to adjust things properly."

Liu Banxia frowned. "If he stops it completely, won’t his mental state deteriorate even faster?"

Wu Wenlin nodded. "That’s the consequence of overdosing. Even though the dialysis we did last time was a rescue for his kidneys, the damage that was done is still there."

"For now let him think it over himself. He has to be transferred to the ward later. We also need to talk to him properly and get his family here as soon as possible to help with treatment."

Liu Banxia looked at Li Hao. "Let Li Hao handle the counseling. He also needs to follow this patient throughout the whole course."

Wu Wenlin nodded. "Let’s leave it at that for now. When the blood and urine results are out, show them to me and then we’ll finalize the medication. The people who came are looking for you, right? They seem pretty anxious."

Liu Banxia turned around and saw that it was Chu Wanting, whom she had met this morning. From the look on her face, something must have turned up in the colonoscopy.

"Director Liu, are you busy right now?" Chu Wanting asked.

"Not really. The colonoscopy is done?" Liu Banxia asked.

"It’s done. This is the colonoscopy result. I didn’t do the lower part; I came straight to you," Chu Wanting said.

Liu Banxia took the report and read it carefully. Thirteen centimeters from the anal verge there was a mass. The border of the mass was irregular, and the base showed infiltration.

"You’re Qiaoqiao’s friend, so I won’t beat around the bush—you need surgery," Liu Banxia said.

"From the current situation it’s still fairly early. The location of the mass is also pretty good and won’t affect anal function."

"And I judge it to be around stage II. Even if it has progressed to stage III, the prognosis for rectal cancer is still quite good. There are no other masses found around the bowel, which is pretty ideal."

"Director Liu, after the surgery, can it be cured? Will chemotherapy still be necessary?" Chu Wanting asked.

"The chance of cure is very high, but the staging of the tumor ultimately depends on the pathology," Liu Banxia said.

"As for chemotherapy, my personal suggestion is to decide based on your father’s overall condition. We’ll see how he recovers after surgery and then refer to the oncologists’ recommendations."

"Catching it at this stage is already quite good. Although at the base—right here, look closely at this section of the bowel—this ring here, doesn’t its color and shape look a bit different from the rest?"

"That means this mass is already showing signs of extension. It may grow larger, or may spread to the surrounding area via the lymphatic system."

"So when we cut we can’t just remove this part alone. We have to leave a safety margin both above and below. But with this location it won’t affect your father’s future rectal and anal function."

"The commonly used procedure now is laparoscopy, what people usually call minimally invasive surgery. We make a few ports in the abdomen, remove the lesion internally, and then make a small incision to take the tumor out."

"There’s another option, a new surgical method our hospital is planning to introduce. We only make the laparoscopic ports in the abdomen without an extraction incision; instead, the specimen is removed through the anus."

"We have extensive experience with laparoscopic surgery. The transanal extraction procedure will also be done by me, but it will be the first one in our hospital. Since there’s no extra abdominal incision, recovery should be a bit better in the long run."

"Also, because it’s the first case, I can try to apply to the hospital for a discount on the surgical fee, but the decision is still up to you and your family."

"Another thing: finish the remaining items of the physical exam. Since you’ve already paid, it basically doubles as a pre-op workup. I’ll call over there later; the results can be shared with us."

"Once you’re done with the tests over there, come back and we’ll arrange admission. That way you can save a bit of money. Do you have any requirements for the ward?"

"Director Liu, as long as the ward is quiet, that’s enough," Chu Wanting said.

"Okay, I’ll tell the head nurse and have them arrange a room a bit farther from the busy area," Liu Banxia nodded.

"Go do the tests first. As for which surgery to choose, I’ll arrange for someone to explain the differences between the two procedures to you later, and then you can decide."

"After the tests, we’ll look at the old man’s parameters. If everything’s okay, I’ll add him to tomorrow’s surgical list. If the parameters aren’t good enough, we’ll need to optimize him first."

"Thank you, Director Liu. I’ll take my dad to finish the rest of the tests first," Chu Wanting said.

"Alright, I’ll call Director Cao at the physical examination center now. When you get there, just look for him," Liu Banxia nodded.

That was about all she could help with. Even though it didn’t save that much money, at least none of it would go to waste.

The package over there is a set physical exam; if you skip some items, there’s no such thing as a partial refund.