CHAPTER 138: 138 STRANGE WOUNDS

Liu Banxia took this stool test result very seriously and personally called the lab to explain the situation. After all, no one wanted to see a possible medical dispute arise, especially since the patient’s condition was clearly unusual.

However, Liu Banxia was a bit perplexed as to why this patient hadn’t triggered a task. Either his own level had increased, making this patient a minor case, or the patient’s reluctance to be examined was too strong, meaning he wasn’t a "proper" patient.

The system was always cold and unfeeling, beyond his comprehension.

After waiting a while longer, the lab results came in. The lab called Liu Banxia directly: the occult blood test showed four plus signs. This result made Liu Banxia and Wang Huan exchange worried glances. It was a good thing they had insisted the patient stay.

"Doctor, what exactly are the results? You’re not trying to scare me into getting examined, are you?" The waiting patient was also getting scared.

"Scare you? There’s really no need for that. Take a guess, what might happen if we let you go now?" Liu Banxia asked with a smile.

"A stomach ache? Unstoppable diarrhea? But I don’t have much left in my stomach now," the patient replied.

"The result of the fecal exam showed occult blood four plus signs, which is quite dangerous. ’Occult blood’ means there is blood in your stool. We currently suspect bleeding in your digestive tract, possibly from an ulcer or some other condition," Wang Huan explained.

"If we let you go now, this bleeding point might continue to expand. That could lead to vomiting blood or internal bleeding. If you were on a train and couldn’t get timely treatment, it could endanger your life."

"We’re not trying to scare you, but if it led to a perforation, imagine how dangerous that would be. If contents from your digestive tract spilled into your abdominal cavity, wouldn’t that be dangerous enough?"

"No matter what you think, you have to get examined this time. I’ve already written up the order. Let’s start with a gastroscopy, especially since you mentioned chest pain. It might be upper digestive tract bleeding. Once we treat the source of the bleeding, you’ll be fine."

If it weren’t for this test result, the patient might not have taken it so seriously. Now that he understood "occult blood" meant bleeding, and it was four plus signs, he lost his composure.

"Phew, that’s finally settled smoothly." Wang Huan let out a sigh of relief after the patient left.

"Isn’t that the truth? Otherwise, my perfectly righteous day would have been ruined," Liu Banxia said with a straight face.

"Haha, so we get a chicken leg for this!" Wang Huan said, grinning.

Liang Xiaolin was exasperated. What on earth was I thinking? Did my brain short-circuit? And then she decided it was all Liu Banxia’s fault for bringing up chicken legs in the first place.

Coming out of the internal medicine clinic, Liu Banxia spotted a patient at the triage desk and took a closer look.

Is today ’Old Patient Day’ or something? Why does this guy look so familiar?

"Yes, I’m looking for him to change my dressing; he does it painlessly!" At that moment, the patient also saw Liu Banxia and called out cheerfully.

"Do you recognize me?" Liu Banxia asked once they reached Treatment Room Two.

"I do! You were the ones who changed my dressing last time and insisted I get the rabies vaccination. That whole ordeal nearly killed me!" the patient said.

"Ah, I remember now. What’s wrong this time?" Liu Banxia looked at the wound on the man’s arm. "It’s not another dog bite, is it? Even if you’ve had the rabies vaccine, you can’t just go on fearlessly getting bitten all the time."

"Doctor, I’m the patient here! You’re supposed to comfort me, not tease me," the patient complained mildly.

"Haha, I’m only saying this because I can see you’re good-natured. Otherwise, I wouldn’t dare. If you filed a complaint, all my work this month would be for nothing," Liu Banxia said with a laugh.

"Did you treat the wound at home? I see some bloodstains around it. Let me squeeze a bit more out for you. This one’s a bit deep, but it won’t need stitches."

"I remembered what you told me last time," the patient said. "After it bit me, I squeezed the blood out."

"But that rabies vaccine was a real ordeal. I’m still running a bit of a fever even now. And the wound from last time is healing very slowly, even though I’ve been very careful not to get it wet."

"It hasn’t healed yet? Let me see," Liu Banxia frowned.

The patient raised his hand, and indeed, the wound hadn’t fully healed.

That’s not right. So many days have passed; how could it not have healed yet?

DING!

Strange Wound

Open-Ended Task: The Host has discovered that the patient’s wound is abnormal and suspects potential underlying factors requiring further diagnosis. Task reward will be issued based on the diagnostic results.

"Does the wound have any other symptoms? Any burning sensation? Did it start after the rabies vaccine?" Liu Banxia asked.

"No burning sensation, just some itching. It probably started after the rabies vaccine. I went to get the shot the day I left here. I still have one last shot to go. It’s such an ordeal. After the second one, I couldn’t lift my arm for a whole day," the patient complained.

"And I don’t know if it’s because of the rabies vaccine, but my Tiggie seems to think I don’t trust him anymore. He’s been a bit moody lately, and even when I take him for walks, he doesn’t walk properly. At home, whenever I try to play with him, he gets agitated."

Liu Banxia frowned. Although the rabies vaccine was a protein vaccine, and some people experienced adverse reactions after injection, he had never heard of it affecting wound healing or causing itching.

It’s normal for a wound to itch while it’s healing, but that kind of itch usually happens when a scab is forming and the wound is closing up. But this patient’s previous wound hadn’t even fully healed yet, which was very abnormal.

"Doctor, aren’t you going to treat my wound? I don’t need to get vaccinated again this time, do I? COUGH. COUGH." the patient asked, coughing lightly.

"Do you have a cold?" Liu Banxia asked.

The patient shook his head. "This cough? It’s just a bit of a tickle in my throat sometimes. It’s an old problem, not a cold. It usually goes away after I take Tiggie out for a run and break a sweat."

"Open your mouth, let me have a look," Liu Banxia said.

The patient glanced at him but opened his mouth anyway.

Liu Banxia took out a tongue depressor, held down the patient’s tongue, and shone his penlight into the throat. The pharyngeal wall looked fine; his tonsils were slightly congested.

Picking up his stethoscope, he listened. The heart sounds were normal, but there were faint moist rales in the lungs. He took the patient’s temperature and blood pressure. His temperature was slightly elevated, but his blood pressure was normal.

Still a bit uneasy, Liu Banxia reached out and checked the lymph nodes in the patient’s neck and under his jaw.

"You really shouldn’t be careless about this," Liu Banxia said. "The lymph nodes in your neck are swollen. Combined with your cough and fever, it could be an upper respiratory tract infection."

"Normally, this might not be a big deal, but you’re currently getting rabies shots, aren’t you? I suggest you get a routine blood test. If it really is an upper respiratory tract infection or pneumonia, we can start treatment sooner."

The patient hesitated. More tests? Last time it was the rabies vaccine, now a blood test. Is it really necessary?