CHAPTER 136: 136 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PHARMACEUTICALS

Boosting qi in the center, yang rising and decline raising?

Supplementing the center and raising the sunken, solidly protecting the original qi of the lower burner?

A light bulb flashed in Doctor Hou’s mind, and he quickly searched for Deputy Director Li’s previous diagnosis on the computer.

Is there a difference?

There is no difference.

Deputy Director Li had already mentioned everything Du Heng said, and in fact, had provided even more details.

Doctor Hou sighed silently. The glimmer of hope that had briefly arisen vanished immediately.

It seemed useless again.

He minimized the treatment record he had just made, stepped aside, and said to Du Heng, "Doctor Du, are you saying that you want to use Center-Supplementing Qi-Boosting Decoction for yang rising and decline raising, and then add cornus officinalis, psoralen, and agarwood to solidly protect the original qi of the lower burner? Take a look; Deputy Director Li from our Chinese Medicine Department has already prescribed this. It was useless, and the patient’s condition worsened."

Hearing this, Du Heng was stunned for a moment.

They had already prescribed this? The condition worsened? That’s impossible. This syndrome differentiation was the result of my own careful consideration. Combined with the pulse condition and the confirmed symptoms, there’s no way it could be wrong.

Du Heng was a bit confused for a moment.

Seeing Doctor Hou make way and reveal the computer screen, Du Heng walked over and carefully read their treatment records.

Paperless offices were excellent. They avoided waste and saved considerable expenditure for the departments and the hospital. However, some workplaces and departments had taken it to an extreme, almost fanatical, degree.

Take hospitals, for example. Could a fully computerized system work? Certainly, but sometimes it was genuinely inconvenient. For example, during ward rounds, doctors could easily check paper medical records if they had them in hand. Now, with everything on the system, doctors had to rely entirely on memory. It would be fine if they were responsible for fewer patients with relatively simple conditions. But if they encountered patients like Chai Yi, as was the case now, they had to be glued to a computer screen to check medical records.

Du Heng thought Xu Pinglin’s Digestion Department 1 was one of those that had gone to extremes. Their director and head nurse were definitely very stingy.

Despite his grumbling, Du Heng read the treatment process on the computer very carefully. After he had finished reading all the medicine ingredients in the prescription, he knew where the problem lay.

"Doctor Hou, right? I’ve found the problem."

Doctor Hou’s eyes widened.

You’ve found another one? Are you here to help or to find fault? Two treatment failures, and you’ve found two causes? Do you think we’re full of holes like a sieve, or just plain incompetent?

Doctor Hou controlled his emotions and asked slowly, "Then Doctor Du, please tell us, what problem have you found?"

Du Heng smiled slightly at Doctor Hou’s words. He didn’t mind the distrust in Doctor Hou’s tone. Instead, he looked earnestly at Doctor Hou and said in a bright, crisp voice, "The prescription was well-formulated. The addition of cornus officinalis, psoralen, and agarwood was a masterstroke. However, there’s one extra ingredient—dried orangepeel—which renders all efforts futile."

"Dried orangepeel?" Doctor Hou was somewhat puzzled, not understanding what Du Heng meant at that moment. Of course, the other doctors who had come along to gain experience were the same; they didn’t know what Du Heng was about to say.

"Yes, dried orangepeel. The dried orangepeel in the Center-Supplementing Qi-Boosting Decoction."

"What does that mean?" Doctor Hou asked, as he always did when he didn’t understand.

"The patient’s abdomen is swollen like a drum, similar to a pregnant woman about to give birth. It’s definitely caused by abdominal bloating," Du Heng spoke slowly and seriously. "And what kind of medicine is dried orangepeel? It’s a qi-regulating medicine, with the effects of directing qi downward and dispersing qi. This patient is already qi-deficient, with a swollen abdomen and obstruction above and below. So, where would the qi be directed downward? Where would it disperse? It would still remain in the stomach."

After this explanation, everyone had a sudden realization. Such medicinal properties exist not only in Chinese herbal medicines but also in Western medicines. Though they hadn’t known this specific point, they could understand his reasoning.

Du Heng paused briefly, then continued, "There’s another mistake."

"Another one?"

This time, not only was Doctor Hou surprised, but Xu Pinglin was also taken aback.

Inviting Du Heng was a mistake. If Du Heng kept pointing out flaws and finding a host of unreasonable aspects, it wouldn’t be so bad if the patient wasn’t cured. But if the patient *was* cured, his Digestion Department 1 probably wouldn’t be able to get consultations from the Chinese Medicine Department in the future. He would have thoroughly offended Deputy Director Li, especially in front of so many doctors from various departments; there’d be no recovering from that. He regretted it now. Why had he let all these people follow them in? It would have been much better to send them away.

Du Heng didn’t know what Xu Pinglin was thinking but continued, "After the patient drank the medicine, did they feel even more bloated and stuffy?"

Doctor Hou nodded in confusion, not even sure what he himself was thinking at that moment.

"The prescription contains red ginseng. Its effects are to greatly replenish original qi, restore the pulse, stem desertion, benefit qi, and restrain blood. However, the decoction’s effects are too potent and act too quickly; the patient simply cannot withstand it." Du Heng looked around at everyone. "If you had administered even one more dose, the patient would have died on the spot."

As these words were spoken, the air around them seemed to freeze. Cold sweat dripped from Doctor Hou’s forehead.

He weakly asked Du Heng, "Doctor Du, what should we do now?"

Du Heng turned his head and continued to look through the prescription. After twenty or thirty seconds, he said, "Still use your current prescription, but remove the dried orangepeel. Take out the red ginseng as well; don’t add it to the decoction. Instead, cut it into small pieces separately and let the patient swallow them first."

Xu Pinglin frowned. "Doctor Du, didn’t you just say that red ginseng is too strong and the patient can’t handle it? Why do you still want the patient to use it?"

"Swallowing small pieces allows it to enter the stomach and work gradually, avoiding the rapid, potent effects of the decoction. The properties of red ginseng can cause the sunken qi to rise slowly and steadily, gradually achieving its therapeutic effect."

Du Heng gently tapped the table. "Also, add Ginseng Walnut Soup and Young Maid Pill. Using these three formulas together, combined with the astringent and desertion-stemming effects of cornus officinalis, will achieve elevation with concurrent astringency and consolidation. This will restore the normal ascending and descending functions of qi, and the results will be even better."

Having finished explaining his treatment method, Du Heng stood quietly to the side. Whether they believed him, whether they would use his treatment method—that was for Xu Pinglin to decide.

Xu Pinglin was hesitant. Although he had invited Du Heng, and Du Heng’s explanations were logical, when it came to making the final decision, he was still undecided. But whether they used Du Heng’s method or performed surgery on the patient, the risks were equally great. Especially with surgery, the patient’s platelet count was barely adequate. If the wound bled uncontrollably during the procedure, the consequences would be unthinkable.ŸŸŸ

After a good while, Xu Pinglin made up his mind. He chose to use Du Heng’s method, but the operating room was also to be prepared. If Du Heng’s prescription didn’t work, or if the patient’s condition changed, they would immediately proceed to the operating room for surgery.

"Someone, go get Dr. Gu. Have him write out the prescription and sign it."

No sooner had Xu Pinglin finished speaking than someone from the back of the crowd hurried out.

In no time, Dr. Gu was called in. He was one of only two people in Digestion Department 1 who could prescribe Chinese herbal medicine. The other was one of his resident physicians.