I Can Talk to the Internal Organs

Chapter 408 - 373: Lymphatic Cancer

Lu Jiu TCM Hospital.

In the department of difficult and complicated diseases, Lu Jiu was feeling Lu Shujun’s pulse.

In his view, the impact of stopping the medicine wasn’t particularly significant.

Chinese medicine doesn’t mean that if you miss it for a day, your body will fail.

Its effect on the body is positive. Simply put, the more you take, the more it aids in recovery. If you stop, the recovery of the Five Viscera will pause, but it won’t cause secondary damage.

Lu Shujun’s condition of vomiting and diarrhea was actually due to taking the wrong medicine.

When Lu Heng brought his father over, he also brought along the plaster.

Lu Jiu just sniffed the plaster and knew which herbs were in it.

The most typical ones were Chicken Blood Vine and Ligusticum Chuanxiong. Chicken Blood Vine has the effects of replenishing blood, promoting circulation, relaxing muscles, and activating collaterals, while Ligusticum Chuanxiong promotes qi and blood circulation, dispels wind, and alleviates pain.

What can be said is that both medicines were not wrong, but they were too superficial.

The composition of the plaster only targeted the disease. Although ALS seems like a liver disease, treatment actually needs to focus on the Spleen, and then the Heart.

Moreover, plaster is not the preferred treatment for this kind of disease.

In Chinese medicine, there are many ways to take medicine, such as pills, decoctions, powders, plasters, and elixirs.

Some patients need pill treatment because they require the slow release of the pill. Once Chinese medicine is made into a pill, its medicinal power is released very slowly, unlike decoctions.

Decoctions are very potent. The character "汤" (tang) with the addition of grass on top becomes "荡" (dang), meaning its effect is very strong when it enters the body. Even in some difficult diseases, if the prescription is correct, a single dose can have a very noticeable effect, something that pills find hard to achieve.

And powders and plasters are used for their concentrated medicinal power, such as when a patient has a sore throat. Both pills and decoctions will go straight to the stomach once ingested.

But if it’s a powder or plaster, it will stick loosely to the diseased area.

This is also the case in traumatology.

Regarding elixirs, they are actually made for easy preservation. Ancient Chinese chemistry was essentially alchemy.

Once an elixir is made, it can be preserved by sealing with wax. Some medicines can even be kept for several years or even decades.

The so-called miracle doctor whom Lu Shujun encountered was essentially a regular doctor who specialized in treating a certain disease with plasters.

If it’s a disease he is good with, there will definitely be an effect. But for diseases outside of that, not only might it be ineffective, it might even have adverse effects.

This is actually a portrayal of most folk doctors. Some are very skilled at treating coughs, some are good at treating eczema, and some are good at bone setting, but most people won’t claim to treat every disease.

Yet, there are always bad apples. Some are driven by money to do things beyond their capabilities.

Thankfully, Lu Heng discovered it in time, and not much plaster was used.

"It’s not an issue, just affected the Spleen and Stomach. I’ll adjust the follow-up prescription and give it a try for a couple of days," Lu Jiu said.

After taking the pulse, Lu Jiu found that Lu Shujun was not particularly serious, far from life-threatening.

Actually, it’s not surprising. If a few plasters could cause trouble for his dad, this so-called miracle doctor wouldn’t be far from imprisonment either.

Such treatment that neither cures nor causes major harm is the most lucrative technique.

Don’t even mention Western medicine; there are plenty of such people in Chinese medicine now too.

"Is there really no issue?" Lu Heng’s worried heart also relaxed.

Lu Jiu said, "There’s really no issue, but do make sure not to give your dad random medication in the future. Be sure to tell your family once you’re back. If this happens a couple more times, I can’t guarantee there won’t be problems."

This time the miracle doctor used plaster; what if the next one uses decoctions?

Plaster is very effective in regulating localized conditions, and it’s less harmful, while a wrong decoction could be significantly harmful.

Lu Heng, with a stern face, said, "I’ve already scolded my third uncle and mom severely, this won’t happen again."

Even though he knew his third uncle was concerned for his dad, or else he wouldn’t have gone around finding a miracle doctor.

But good intentions don’t always yield good outcomes. If he doesn’t say a few harsh words this time, his third uncle might still take chances and find another miracle doctor when he’s not home.

Then his dad would be in danger!

Now that Lu Jiu can manage it and his dad’s condition is steadily improving, it’s enough to prove Lu Jiu’s medicine is effective.

Lu Jiu didn’t comment further. He wrote a new prescription and handed it to Lu Heng.

After the father and son left, another patient walked into the consulting room.

This person looked about fifty or sixty years old, a woman.

When entering the consulting room, Lu Jiu’s computer doctor interface displayed an information message.

Name: Mao Yanning, Gender: Female, Age: Fifty-one, Body type: Petit.

Reason for visit: Breast cancer for three years and eight months, no surgery, left breast has burst open, discharging blood and fluid. Pain at the tumor site on the left breast, sometimes not painful. Discharges a lot of pus. Right arm hurts like burning, left arm hurts for a few days and then doesn’t. Since May this year, the right armpit has swollen, initially the size of an egg, rapidly enlarged within two weeks. The right breast has also increased rapidly in size and hardness, itches from the inside, and has a sense of oppression and pain, causing breathing difficulties. Right hand numb, neither hand can be lifted.

Consultation:

1. Sleep: Can’t sleep due to pain.

2. Appetite: Good.

3. Bowel movement: Daily.

4. Urination: Light yellow.

5. Thirst: Thirsty, prefers warm drinks.

6. Temperature of hands and feet: Feet cold, body hot at night.

7. Physical strength: Poor.

8. Head and body: Low fever, difficulty sweating.

9. Menstrual cycle: Irregular, low quantity.

Pulse Diagnosis: Large and rapid pulse, six beats per breath.

Observation:

1. Tongue Diagnosis: Pale yellow and moist.

2. Eye Diagnosis: Heart area flat and pale.

Diagnosis: The disease has entered Shaoyang, similar to Western medicine’s diagnosis of lymphoma.

This was clearly Lan Mei’s diagnosis.

With this, Lu Jiu didn’t need to conduct a second diagnosis.

Because he also saw from the observations that this patient indeed had various symptoms of lymphoma.

However, although the disease entering Shaoyang isn’t immediately fatal, it does indicate that the condition is about to shift from yang to yin.

Currently, the disease site is between the surface and inside, and it could soon enter the yin syndrome.

If not intervened soon, the situation will be very critical.

Fortunately, this patient didn’t undergo surgery, hence the condition hasn’t entirely become a deep syndrome.

Treating it wouldn’t be as laborious as for those previous cancer patients.

"Have a seat," Lu Jiu said.

"Dean Lu, can you really treat cancer?" Mao Yanning asked.

"It’s not certain it can be treated, don’t overestimate my abilities," Lu Jiu said.

"Director Lan of your hospital said you’ve treated dozens of cancer cases, many of whom recovered well. Mine should be treatable too, right?" Mao Yanning said.

"In theory, your condition is somewhat milder, but whether it can be managed depends on the medication and your own recovery ability, so I can’t guarantee a cure," Lu Jiu said.

"Is it because I didn’t have surgery? That Director Lan just mentioned that it’s fortunate I didn’t have surgery, otherwise it would have been over," Mao Yanning said.

"I’m curious, it’s been over three years, you knew you had cancer yet chose not to have surgery," Lu Jiu also showed surprise.

Breast cancer in modern medical terms is defined as curable, considering the five-year survival rate, many people, whether or not they undergo surgery, can survive that long.

For safety, most people choose to have the surgery.

Yet, she hadn’t undergone surgery for over three years, something Lu Jiu hadn’t encountered before.

"I didn’t pay medical insurance, surgery costs several tens of thousands, and my family just farms over a dozen acres, where would we get that much money?" Mao Yanning said.

Lu Jiu said, "Why not pay it, it’s very worthwhile."

Mao Yanning frowned, "It costs over 300 RMB a year, too expensive."

Uh...

Lu Jiu was silent.

Clearly, Mao Yanning knew that with medical insurance, a high percentage of medical expenses would be reimbursed.

Yet, she still chose not to pay, maybe because even post-reimbursement, the cost was still perceived as high by her.

Rather than this, she might as well not seek treatment, so the insurance was deemed unnecessary.

This thought is common among many rural residents.

Medical treatment is too expensive!

...