Practicing Medical Skills in a Small Clinic

Chapter 380 - 193: The Little Girl with Ascites—You Should Have Come to Me for This_3

The woman’s tears had started to flow.

She quickly wiped them away with her hand, afraid her daughter would see.

Li Jingsheng watched this heartbreaking scene, feeling a knot in his chest.

It was quite an unpleasant feeling.

However, he also understood the nurse’s predicament. Taking in such patients would mean scolding for the nurse, and the emergency department couldn’t handle it either.

"Sister, what illness does this child have?"

Li Jingsheng strode over.

He was ready to get involved in this matter.

He knew two chief physicians at the People’s Hospital. For patients with difficult-to-treat conditions, the People’s Hospital shouldn’t refuse admission.

But he couldn’t be sure.

At least he could try to put in a word for this woman, open a convenient door if possible.

"It’s just that there’s fluid in the stomach, they say it’s some kind of abdominal effusion. It’s been a few years now. We’ve treated it at our local health clinic, the county’s maternity and children’s hospital, and the People’s Hospital, costing tens of thousands with little effect."

The woman spoke of her daughter’s condition and the arduous journey seeking medical help, and she couldn’t help but cry again.

For an ordinary rural family, paying tens of thousands for treatment is by no means a small amount.

Pay no mind to how the impressive chief physicians make fifty to sixty thousand, or even seventy to eighty thousand a month.

But many ordinary rural families’ annual income may not even reach fifty thousand. Many are at an income level of twenty or thirty thousand a year, or even lower.

This is why education is important.

Education might not necessarily change one’s destiny, but having at least an undergraduate degree is certainly better than having none.

"Have any examinations been done?"

"Yes, so many, I can’t even count. Every time we go to a hospital, it’s one test after another, waiting in line takes most of the day."

The woman shook the several folders of materials she was holding.

Judging by the thickness, they really did a lot of tests.

"Come, sit over there and let me take a look at the examination materials."

Li Jingsheng guided the patient to the nearby seating area provided for patients and their families.

Since Li Jingsheng was wearing a white coat, the woman trusted him a lot. She handed the materials over to Li Jingsheng as he said.

There were at least ten complete blood count tests inside.

Can’t these hospitals be a bit more flexible and conscientious?

Many hospitals don’t acknowledge test results from other hospitals, or if the tests were done too long ago, they make the patients redo them.

It’s understandable, but sometimes they could be more accommodating.

This child is so small, so thin, like skin and bones. Drawing blood so many times is heartbreaking just to think about.

The patient underwent liver function tests, protein electrophoresis, hepatitis B virus serology, abdominal CT, X-rays, chest film, MRI—every possible test was done.

Yet no hospital identified the cause of the illness.

The diagnoses were all normal pathological descriptions, changes in certain tissues, and the discovery of a large amount of effusion in the abdominal cavity...

But there was no result for the diagnosis of the cause.

Li Jingsheng had a certain level of expertise in gastroenterology, hepatology, cardiology, and thoracic diagnoses. At this moment, carefully examining these films, he acknowledged that diagnosing the cause in a short time was entirely unrealistic.

"Sister, I’m Li Jingsheng, a doctor in the orthopedic outpatient clinic. I have to go back to work at my clinic now. If you trust me, I can help you contact the People’s Hospital. You can take a cab there with your child. The People’s Hospital is one of the two largest hospitals in Lijiang City. They are more skilled at treating such difficult and complicated cases."

These last words from Li Jingsheng weren’t really supposed to be said.

But there was no other way.

This woman from the countryside didn’t understand much, and if he didn’t say it, she might think Li Jingsheng was a medical scam artist.

As if he was trying to deceive her into going to another hospital to earn a hefty broker fee.

"Can’t your place treat it?"

"It’s not that we can’t, but some illnesses might be better treated over there."

"Let me think about it! Thank you!"

The woman appeared very cautious, as other medical staff had been quite indifferent to her.

This young male doctor’s excessive enthusiasm made her feel distrustful instead.

"Alright! I work at the manual reduction clinic in orthopedics. If you make up your mind or the People’s Hospital still can’t solve the problem, you can find me." Li Jingsheng thought for a moment and decided to give the woman a phone number.

Doctors sometimes have truly compassionate hearts.

Even when faced with patient skepticism, they remain so.

He truly felt sorry for this mother and daughter. Moreover, if this little girl’s condition couldn’t have its cause identified for effective treatment, she might not survive.

After giving the phone number to the woman, he hurriedly returned to work at the orthopedic clinic.

In the manual reduction clinic, Doctor Xu and Li Jingsheng worked together, greatly increasing the efficiency of treatments.

The number of patients seeking consultations had noticeably increased.

Hospitals certainly don’t conduct losing business deals.

They spent money to recruit Li Jingsheng, and now seeing that his bone-setting skills were entirely up to standard to handle matters independently, the hospital might promote some services to attract more patients for manual reduction and bone-setting treatments.

Busy until five-thirty in the afternoon, Doctor Xu left work on time.

He never worked overtime.

Li Jingsheng saw three more patients remaining, so he stayed a bit longer to treat them.

One patient, after manual reduction, still needed to be hospitalized for traction.

This took up some extra time.

By the time he finished, it was already six seventeen in the evening.

He left the hospital and took a cab back to the clinic.

The rural woman hadn’t called him. He didn’t know if she had been admitted smoothly or not.

Li Jingsheng also had plenty of his own matters to attend to, and without proactive contact from the other side, he certainly couldn’t manage.

There had been no news from President Yan regarding the lease of that courtyard.

This was actually a good thing.

If nothing could be done, or if they hadn’t even consulted about the matter, they would have already declined.

Now, with no news, and having received a pack of cigarettes, it’s clear they’re helping inquire about the matter with the leadership.

If he could lease the entire small courtyard, that would be wonderful.

Then, his Sunshine Clinic will soar higher, developing even faster.

Upon entering the clinic, Li Jingsheng saw a familiar face.

An elderly man who scavenged for a living was sitting in the waiting area.

"Oh, sir, what brings you here? Is your health okay?"

Li Jingsheng always held a great deal of respect for this elderly man.

"I’m doing well. I’m here because I need to discuss something with you. I’ve heard your clinic’s lease is about to expire, is that right?"

"Oh, your news is quite up-to-date! You’re right, it is about to expire."

Li Jingsheng sat down accordingly.

This matter was something he certainly wouldn’t broadcast publicly. How did this scavenging elder know?

"Are you looking to rent the small courtyard across the street?"

"Well... where did you hear about that?"

At this point, Li Jingsheng firmly believed in the saying, ’The walls have ears.’

"If Yan Bingkuan hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have known you were looking to rent that courtyard. Faced with such a big problem, why didn’t you come to me? You should have. I could help you resolve it."

The elderly scavenger spoke with a very confident tone.

Meanwhile, he was a little upset with Li Jingsheng for not seeking his help.