The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 698: Eating is also a part of work

Although Liu Banxia had thousands of thoughts in his heart, the final conclusion had to be based on the examination results. This was the only thing he could concretely discuss; all his speculations were merely guiding thoughts.

Seeing Peng Bo come out with a serious expression, Liu Banxia sighed silently in his heart. There was no need to guess anymore; it had definitely been diagnosed.

However, he felt no joy from completing the diagnosis and identifying the disease. The child’s future life would be greatly affected.

"Banxia, we found an arteriovenous malformation in the stomach, with signs of minor bleeding. But the hemorrhage isn’t very severe, so it hasn’t been treated for now," Peng Bo said.

"Now we can confirm the diagnosis: it’s hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia. Judging from the current manifestations, it isn’t particularly serious, but we need to do a full examination."

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"Dr. Liu, how can it be treated?" the child’s mother asked anxiously.

Liu Banxia composed himself. "The treatment of this disease is indeed very troublesome. For us, we can manage and control it, but we cannot cure it completely."

"The most common symptom of this disease is, as its name suggests, localized capillary dilation. Another manifestation, as Doctor Peng just mentioned, can be arteriovenous malformations."

"It’s like two unrelated roads suddenly converging. As you can imagine, problems are very likely to occur at such an intersection."

"And such malformed blood vessels can cause a series of complications. The primary manifestation is bleeding. Another is that the presence of these malformed vessels allows bacteria to easily infiltrate the blood or spinal fluid."

"What we need to do next is to give the child the most comprehensive and thorough examination to see if there are other such malformed vascular bundles in other parts of his body."

"Since the child is still in his growth and development period, some vascular bundles might be well-hidden and haven’t flared up yet. The vascular malformations caused by this disease are usually systemic."

"The brain, liver, upper digestive tract, lower digestive tract, lungs, and so on, can all potentially be affected. Therefore, we need to conduct examinations to detect these issues early and try to prevent them."

Hearing his words, the couple was instantly overwhelmed. Dealing with one such arteriovenous malformation would be difficult enough, and now there might be multiple ones in their son’s body.

Actually, Liu Banxia hadn’t mentioned one thing: if this disease doesn’t manifest before the age of sixty, it generally doesn’t significantly affect lifespan.

But the child had developed it now, and the future could only become increasingly perilous. It also wasn’t possible to correct all the malformed vascular bundles that might be found.

The current feasible plan was to address problems as they arose, wherever they flared up. And this type of treatment was only temporary; recurrence was highly probable.

Right now, he truly couldn’t bring himself to tell the parents all of this. He was worried they wouldn’t be able to withstand such a blow and needed to convey the information to them gradually.

"Currently, my personal recommendation is to first conduct a comprehensive examination, and then address the gastric bleeding," Liu Banxia continued.

"That’s also why it wasn’t treated directly just now; otherwise, the relevant examinations would have to be postponed. Once the results of the comprehensive examination are available, we can determine the best treatment plan."

"Brother Peng, please help arrange the examinations. If other departments need to be involved, our other departments will cooperate. After all, there’s still an intracranial infection. I suspect bacteria entered the cerebrospinal fluid from the lesion in the stomach."

"Alright, you go ahead and get busy. And go get something to eat. Chen Hongyang is looking for you; the pediatrics department is very busy today, and he wants you to go over and help him out for a while," Peng Bo said.

"You two shouldn’t worry excessively," Liu Banxia said, turning back to the couple. "If we pay more attention in daily life and conduct regular check-ups, we can still effectively control this condition."

"For example, the child’s bleeding gums aren’t caused by gingivitis, but by the telangiectasia on his gums. So, in the future, you’ll need to be careful in his daily routine: use a softer toothbrush and don’t let him brush too hard."

"Also, for other parts of his body, try to minimize impact and pressure as much as possible. After this course of treatment, if he feels uncomfortable anywhere in his body, bring him to the hospital for a check-up."

"The progression of any illness follows a process. If we can ensure regular check-ups, we can monitor his body comprehensively."

"Although this approach might seem like just muddling through, it’s currently the best treatment strategy we can think of. Because this is a hereditary disease, it doesn’t give us a choice. All we can do is accompany the child and face it bravely together."

"Dr. Liu, we... we need to think about this. It’s too... too sudden. What will Jiajia do in the future?" the child’s mother said, her voice choked with emotion.

Such situations were all too common. Nevertheless, neither Liu Banxia nor Peng Bo felt comfortable.

When faced with such a disease, it truly didn’t matter how much money your family had. Even if your family was wealthy, you couldn’t stop the progression of the illness.

Even without any impact or pressure, the vascular malformations could develop on their own.

Seeing Su Wenhao approach, Liu Banxia nodded at Peng Bo and left the area.

It was indeed time for lunch. It was already 1:30 PM. If he didn’t eat, and another emergency surgery came up, he’d likely be too exhausted to perform it well.

"Eh? Director Fang, why are you filming here today?"

When he arrived at the cafeteria and saw Director Fang and his team filming there, Liu Banxia was startled.

"We just want to record some of the daily details of medical staff at work. Eating here with you all is also very interesting," Director Fang said with a smile.

"I’ve noticed that during the actual mealtime, not many medical staff come to eat. Instead, the number of people suddenly increases in the latter half of the dining period."

"And now, it’s long past mealtime, yet many people are still arriving one after another to eat. You haven’t eaten yet either, have you?"

Liu Banxia nodded. "I just finished handling a case, and there was an additional surgery at noon, so my meal got delayed."

"If you’re not busy, let’s chat for a while. Just don’t film me eating; I’ll eat behind the camera. Su Wenhao, go get me a meal."

As he spoke, Liu Banxia tucked his meal card into Su Wenhao’s hand.

"Dr. Liu, how often does it happen that you miss your normal meal times? Does this kind of eating schedule affect your regular consultation work?" Director Fang asked.

"In our emergency center, this happens a lot, especially for surgeons and operating room staff," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

"Actually, it’s pretty much the same in all hospitals; there are stipulated meal times. For staff in administrative positions, their meal times are more regular."

"But for people like us, well, it’s hard to stick to a regular schedule. There are always unexpected situations, like patients needing immediate treatment, which means meals have to be pushed back."

"Another instance is for those who have surgery in the morning; when they eat is never fixed. It’s always based on when the surgery finishes."

"And for the internal medicine outpatient staff, it’s also very difficult to adhere strictly to meal times. Because there are so many patients seeking consultation now, if they rigidly stop for meals on time, it could aggravate doctor-patient relationships and cause friction."

"But we can’t go without eating either. ’Man is iron, food is steel.’ We can’t always be working with a glucose drip in our arm, can we? That’s just for emergencies. We still need to eat properly to have the stamina for the work ahead."

"So, although the hospital has relevant dining regulations, there’s often some flexibility. You can’t apply a one-size-fits-all approach to everything; it’s a humane consideration, I suppose."

Director Fang nodded; he could understand what Liu Banxia was saying.

Just then, Su Wenhao brought the food over. Liu Banxia was genuinely hungry, picked up a chicken leg, and started gnawing on it.

"Dr. Liu, I also spoke with Manager Zhou from your cafeteria for a bit. He said you often have to run back to work in the middle of a meal, and because of that, he has specially prepared lunch boxes for you?" Director Fang asked again.

Liu Banxia chuckled. "That’s perfectly normal. Even if we eat in shifts at noon, we might still encounter major emergency treatment tasks."

"Then there are patients who have already been seen; if their condition suddenly deteriorates, their attending physician also needs to go and handle it."

"It’s not that we doctors lack compassion or wouldn’t lend a hand if we see a situation. It’s just that only the patient’s attending physician has a comprehensive understanding of their condition and can make an accurate judgment."

"Treating patients, well, it’s different from other jobs. Each person is different. For the same illness, medication will be adjusted based on the patient’s physical condition."

"Unless it’s something requiring emergency treatment, like intubation or puncture and drainage, it’s generally not advisable to interfere recklessly. You might end up doing more harm than good and could even face a lawsuit."

"As for those lunch boxes, we really have to praise our Manager Zhou. He’s really considerate of us. Otherwise, if good food gets thrown away after just a few bites, it’s too wasteful."

"Because this happens to us so frequently, and many times we go directly into surgery, Manager Zhou prepared these lunch boxes for us. Other departments face similar situations. Most of them leave their food here and come back to finish it after they’re done with their urgent tasks."

"Let’s put it this way: eating is also part of our job. If you don’t eat well, seeing patients is genuinely exhausting. You might manage it once or twice, but if it’s a regular occurrence? You just can’t sustain it."

Director Fang nodded. This trip for the interview was definitely the right decision, he thought.