CHAPTER 190: GIVE CONFIDENCE TO PATIENTS

Early the next morning, Liu Banxia quickly washed up, grabbed a bite in the cafeteria, and rushed to the proctology ward to change the little one’s ear dressing.

It was quite easy; the little one was sound asleep in a surrender pose, and after Liu Banxia finished changing the dressing, the child merely turned over.

"How come you’re here so early?" Qiu Huaili asked.

"I was on duty all night and got up at four. I have to go to the city hospital later to see a patient," Liu Banxia replied.

"Then let me give you a ride. The car is just sitting idle these days anyway," Qiu Huaili said casually.

"Brother Liu, can I come along?" Qiu Mingyuan asked, walking in from outside.

"Sure, if you don’t mind it being boring, come along," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

He contacted the couple and learned they were already on the subway. Liu Banxia didn’t delay; he gave some instructions to Liang Xiaolin and Qing Kewa, who were arriving for their shift, and then headed directly to the city hospital.

Qiu Mingyuan had initially planned to chat with Liu Banxia on the way, but he was thoroughly impressed when Liu Banxia got into the car and immediately started dozing off.

Previously, I truly didn’t understand. Only after spending two days in the hospital did I realize just how long Liu Banxia’s working hours were. He’s truly relentless; eating and napping are his only forms of rest.

"Are we here? That was quick." Liu Banxia woke up as soon as the car came to a steady stop.

"My goodness, Brother Liu, your ability is too incredible! Falling asleep and waking up at will?" Qiu Mingyuan asked in astonishment.

"If you pull all-nighters in the hospital for ten days to half a month, you’ll cultivate this skill too," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

He waved to the couple waiting there. The subway really is fast; even a dedicated car can’t beat it.

"Sorry, we might have hit some traffic. Let me get in touch with the people here," Liu Banxia said.

"Dr. Liu, you’re too kind," the patient’s wife said quickly, nudging her husband.

Even though Liu Banxia could be considered the man who saved his finger, the husband wasn’t very enthusiastic. Liu Banxia didn’t mind. Could one really hold such things against their patients?

"Liu, I didn’t expect you all to arrive so early," Xie Chunli said, walking out after a short while.

"Director Xie, you’re too polite. We’ve troubled you," Liu Banxia said hastily. He hadn’t expected Xie Chunli to come out and greet him personally.

"Don’t be so formal. Lin Hui was ecstatic to hear you were coming. His comrades can’t visit him every day, and he’s been a bit bored here," Xie Chunli said with a smile.

"You must be curious, right? This is Director Xie from the city hospital’s Burns Department. My lifesaver is currently receiving treatment here under Director Xie," Liu Banxia explained to the young couple.

They were somewhat bewildered by this. The patient’s wife knew why they had come today, but she couldn’t connect it to Liu Banxia’s "lifesaver."

"Ah, Dr. Liu, you really came!" Lin Hui, who was standing in the ward, called out enthusiastically when he saw Liu Banxia.

His appearance startled Qiu Mingyuan and the young couple; it was their first time seeing someone with a hand inserted into his abdomen.

"Don’t be scared, everyone. I was scared at first too, but Dr. Xie said they can take it out for the first surgery tomorrow or the day after," Lin Hui said sheepishly.

"He’s a firefighter. During a fire, he grabbed a hairspray bottle to save me. His hand was completely burned, the surface carbonized, and it also suffered some chemical contamination," Liu Banxia explained.

"To allow the skin on his hand to heal properly and for his fractured arm to recover well, we had to resort to this method, which looks quite terrifying. However, this is just the beginning of his ordeal; he still needs to undergo two more surgeries."

"First, we’ll separate the fingers in pairs. Once they’ve healed sufficiently, we’ll separate all the fingers. Moreover, he’ll have to go through a long recovery period to regain about 80% of his hand’s previous function."

Liu Banxia spoke casually, but the young couple and Qiu Mingyuan were shocked to hear it. Such a situation was terrifying just to think about.

"This gentleman is also one of my patients. He was accidentally cut by a shrimp, and his finger got infected with flesh-eating bacteria. After an emergency debridement, we managed to save his finger," Liu Banxia continued.

"However, he’s a bit down. He lacks confidence in the long recovery period and fears that his future life will be more difficult. He’s even more worried that he won’t be able to provide a more comfortable living environment for his wife and their unborn child."

"I’m also quite troubled by this. I didn’t bring you here to compare miseries; that would be meaningless. I just know that patients who maintain a positive and optimistic attitude tend to have very good recovery outcomes."

"No matter what others say, these are things you have to figure out for yourselves. I believe that no matter what happens, as long as we’re alive, there’s always something to live for."

The small ward fell silent. Both Lin Hui and the young couple could be considered unlucky individuals.

Liu Banxia didn’t stay in the ward for long; he had only come to instill confidence in his patient. Lin Hui, who had suffered such severe hand injuries, was still persevering with optimism. What reason did this other patient have to give up?

"I still need to thank you again. He seemed much more spirited when he left," Liu Banxia said to Xie Chunli after they left the ward.

"It’s nothing. Patients’ mental states are very hard to grasp these days. You’re very considerate to have thought of this," Xie Chunli replied.

"You’re praising me too much. It was the patient’s wife who came to me yesterday," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

"What we can do is treat the patients’ physical ailments unless we involve psychologists for counseling. However, the fees are too high, making it difficult to popularize. This was the simple solution I could think of, especially since they have a baby on the way."

"Are you planning to do some research in this area?" Xie Chunli asked curiously.

Liu Banxia shook his head. "I don’t have that thought right now; I still haven’t fully figured out my small-incision appendectomy. Actually, it’s only because I have fewer patients at the moment that I have the leisure for such things."

"In the future, when I’m seeing many patients every day, it will probably be difficult to even consider such issues. Director Xie, we’ll head back now; we came out on leave."

Xie Chunli nodded. "Call me directly if anything comes up. Let’s collaborate again when there’s a chance."

"Aren’t you putting me on a pedestal? If I become arrogant, you’ll have to take responsibility," Liu Banxia joked.

"Brother Liu, doesn’t that person over there look a bit familiar?" Qiu Mingyuan asked, tugging Liu Banxia’s arm as they stepped out of the elevator.

Liu Banxia looked up and chuckled. It was indeed a "familiar face." Could this be considered enemies meeting by chance? It was the man they suspected of having liver cirrhosis, whom they had encountered that night while eating skewers.

The man also saw Liu Banxia. He froze for a moment, then looked around.

"I heard you got diagnosed?" Liu Banxia asked with a smile.

The young man glanced at him awkwardly. "There’s also a cyst on my liver. They can do surgery to remove it tomorrow. Um... thank you."

If it hadn’t been for the conflict that day and Liu Banxia’s words, I wouldn’t have come to the hospital for a check-up. The results back then had thoroughly scared me.

However, having to thank Liu Banxia made me feel incredibly awkward. I genuinely hadn’t expected to run into him at the city hospital; I’d even considered bolting just moments ago.

"You should thank my Brother Liu! He has sharp eyes. If you had delayed any longer, you’d have been done for. That’s how illnesses are: early detection, early treatment, and then it’s not really an illness. Right, Brother Liu?" Qiu Mingyuan said earnestly.

This made even Xie Chunli laugh. "That’s not a bad way to put it. Many serious diseases develop slowly from minor issues. It’s just that by the time our bodies can detect them, it’s often already too late."

"Director Xie, please don’t see us out. We can head back on our own," Liu Banxia said.

Xie Chunli nodded and walked back into the elevator.

"Don’t worry too much. If you pay attention to your lifestyle after the surgery, you can still recover well," Liu Banxia said, turning back to the young man.

"But you should stop that disreputable streaming gig. What if you run into someone with a really bad temper who beats you up? You guys were lucky that day. If I had actually called my people over, do you think you would have gotten off so easily?"

The young man’s expression became even more unsightly. We knew Liu Banxia had just been bluffing about calling for backup, but that ridiculous bluff had been enough to scare us out of our wits.

"Um... you... you won’t tell the doctors here not to do my surgery properly, will you?" the young man asked again, worriedly.

Liu Banxia rolled his eyes. "Am I that petty? If I really wanted to cause trouble for you, do you think I couldn’t find out who you lot are?"

"Your phones are still with me. Arrange for someone to come to the Second Affiliated Hospital to get them from me. I originally planned to send them directly to the police station, but I couldn’t be bothered with the walk."

"Okay, I’ll tell them," the young man nodded quickly.

Phones are money too! I thought I’d lost them for good. For someone like me, needing surgery, without a proper job or medical insurance, every penny counts. I’d have to pay for everything out of pocket.

Liu Banxia didn’t rush back. He took a detour and looked around the outside of the city hospital’s emergency building. There’s truly no comparison.

The number of walk-in patients and emergency patients brought in by ambulance here... by my rough estimate, it must be at least five times more than at the Second Hospital.

The city hospital has mature departmental operations, experience, and systems. Even if the Second Hospital has undergone initial renovations, it’s unlikely to reach this scale in a short time.

This is quite a contradiction. You hope for more patients so you can gain medical experience, but you also fear having too many patients, exceeding the capacity to treat them.

Anyway, just imagining it briefly gives me a headache. Managing dozens, even hundreds, of patients every day... how difficult would that be?

I’m quite lucky to be involved in the re-planning of the Second Hospital’s emergency department. And there’s this transition period for me to gradually adapt. Otherwise, if I were made chief resident right from the start, I’d just be making mistakes all day long.

The path of medicine is truly challenging. Even with the System’s help, I’m still at the lowest level, just as my current title suggests. I must continue to work hard.