CHAPTER 123: 123 ANOTHER LESSON

(Thanks to my good friends, Stone’s Mood and Three Kingdoms Seven Generations, for their monthly ticket encouragement!)

Wang Huan’s expression wasn’t as relaxed as Liu Banxia’s. He took a close look at the young man.

Liu Banxia was perplexed. Shouldn’t the diagnosis be confirmed by now? Why hasn’t Wang Huan said anything?

"Do you mean that in your hometown, people regularly shepherd sheep by the river?" Wang Huan started speaking.

The young man nodded. "But it’s so unethical. Sheep really eat anything. The shepherds don’t care; if the sheep eat more outside, they don’t need to feed them as much when they get home."

"Doctor Wang, could it be Brucellosis?" Liu Banxia asked, surprised.

Wang Huan glanced at him. "I’m starting to suspect so. We haven’t seen any cases here at the Second Hospital in many years. We’ll need to conduct some corresponding tests later."

"Doctor, what disease is it?" the young man asked, a little confused.

"Don’t worry for now. Let’s wait for the blood test results first," Wang Huan reassured him.

"You also don’t need to worry. Even if it is diagnosed, it’s much easier to cure than the cold you think you have. It’s a bacterial infection, and the treatment is quite simple."

The patient listened in disbelief. He saw Liu Banxia and Wang Huan’s expressions, which seemed very stern. Only when it’s a serious illness would doctors look like that. And now they’re telling him not to worry? Is this just an attempt to console him?

At this point, Liu Banxia was extremely impressed with Wang Huan. Indeed, for a surgeon, there was still a long way to go to master internal medicine.

Treating patients requires real skill.

He had heard the patient’s words but had inadvertently disregarded them. If Wang Huan hadn’t asked that extra question, he wouldn’t have thought of it.

Brucellosis is the common name for Brucella infection, a zoonotic disease. It’s often carried by sheep, cattle, and pigs, and people can get infected through contact with them.

However, this disease mostly appears in pastoral areas or among farming communities.

In Binhai City, not just in the urban center but even in the surrounding towns, it’s rare to see anyone raising sheep. Otherwise, Wang Huan wouldn’t have said he hadn’t seen this disease for several years. The incidence rate in the city is very low, as there’s little contact with the source of infection.

After a while, the blood test results came back. The white blood cell count was normal, but the lymphocyte count had increased significantly, which is also a hematological sign in patients with Brucella infection.

DING! Earned 30 experience points and 50 proficiency points in Diagnostic Skills.

Even though the reward wasn’t much, it meant that Liu Banxia, who had been observing, learned something new from this case.

He thought he was also meticulous, but his meticulousness was focused on the patients’ physical manifestations. He would only consider things further if he saw them with his own eyes.

The cause of this patient’s illness was deeply hidden. Perhaps the sheep often drank water from the river, causing fish to carry the bacteria. The patient then ate the fish, and the illness manifested in him.

This chain of infection was very well concealed, but Wang Huan had uncovered it with ease. That was true skill.

Because now, they could perform specific tests, like a blood culture, and send it to the disease control department for confirmation. This would save the patient from going down the wrong path and spending unnecessary money.

Otherwise, under normal circumstances, at least a chest X-ray or a CT scan would have been needed. When a diagnosis is unclear, many other tests are often required.

And then what? Still no diagnosis? They might even have had to perform a lumbar puncture. Or the case might have been handed over to the neurologists to be treated as neurosis. That would have been hugely embarrassing, and it wouldn’t be easy to maintain his standing in the Second Hospital.

Misdiagnosis. It sounded like such simple words. However, when it actually happened to a patient, the cost could be a life.

The next steps were quite straightforward. First, admit the patient to the hospital and ensure he received adequate fluids, electrolytes, and nutrition. Then, administer antipyretic analgesics and Rifampin for antibacterial treatment. Perhaps by the time the blood culture results were back, the patient would have improved significantly.

"I learned a lot today. Brother Wang, your skills are truly extraordinary," Liu Banxia said after they left the consultation room.

"I was just lucky. I came across a similar case during my internship. Otherwise, I would have been just as bewildered today," Wang Huan said with a wry smile.

"Haha, we don’t care about the process, only the result. Anyway, it’s resolved, and that’s better than anything," Liu Banxia replied.

"We need to be more careful in the future. Who could have expected that fish would ’fall in love’ with sheep and cause an infection for the patient? In my opinion, there’s no doubt about it; all the symptoms match, and the chain of infection is clear."

"Brother Wang, you really taught me a lesson today. It’s a wake-up call for my medical career. Otherwise, I was starting to think I was pretty good, diagnosing several cases in a row. I figured internal medicine wasn’t all that complicated."

"But that’s not the case at all. My ego was getting inflated, and Brother Wang just burst my bubble with a pin. That’s great! So, what does everyone want for a late-night snack? My treat. Seriously, I’m paying, no tricks."

"Dr. Liu, what kind of budget are we talking about?" Shen Lin asked with a smile.

"As long as you don’t go too wild, I can handle it. After all, I’ve made a bit of money, and I don’t have to pay so much rent anymore," Liu Banxia said magnanimously.

"Oh, Dr. Liu! We’d feel bad taking too much. Just order whatever you think is good for us; we’re not picky," another nurse chimed in with a smile.

The ball was now in Liu Banxia’s court, and he was ready to play the big spender. However, he ordered something very down-to-earth: a selection of grilled skewers.

Although the food wasn’t very hot when it arrived, it wasn’t a problem as long as everyone ate quickly.

It cost less than five hundred yuan in total, which wasn’t much for more than ten people. After all, prices were quite high these days; a single grilled squid cost twenty yuan.

He was genuinely happy today. Some things you really couldn’t learn from books. You could only discover and master them gradually through practice—that was true knowledge.

Even if someone reminded you, without personal experience, you might not pay much attention; it would likely go in one ear and out the other.

"President Liu, it looks like your ’flying knife’ gigs pay pretty well," Wang Chao remarked, munching on a squid as he approached.

"Mine really isn’t much, especially now that I’ve taken on this new role; it’s going to be even tougher in the future. Brother Chen, for someone at your level, it should be pretty good, right?" Liu Banxia said, looking at Chen Jianxin.

Chen Jianxin gave him a helpless look. "Do you think everyone has your good luck and resources? Plenty of surgeons can perform minor operations, but for major surgeries, they don’t think our skills are up to par."

"I just occasionally help out at a cosmetic surgery hospital, earning maybe two or three thousand yuan per operation. But the good thing is, it’s stress-free, flexible, and the schedule is easy to manage."

Liu Banxia looked at him, somewhat surprised. He had thought that in a prestigious hospital like the Second Hospital, ’flying knife’ gigs would be an easy thing for surgeons to arrange. Especially for experienced attending physicians like Chen Jianxin, whose practical skills were very strong.

It seemed there was a discrepancy with what he’d assumed. Chen Jianxin had mentioned "resources." He himself was lucky to have Shi Lei as his superior, allowing him to benefit from such resources.

You really couldn’t take anything for granted. There was a knack to everything.