Super Doctor - Chapter 196

“It really is pernicious anemia, just not sure which type… I hope it’s not aplastic anemia…” Xu Ze frowned in thought. Aplastic anemia was extremely troublesome. The best treatment currently was a bone marrow transplant, which required a matching bone marrow donor – the hardest part, sometimes not found even among hundreds of millions of people.

Although future medical technology had other treatments, with his current Level 2 super medical system, there was naturally no way…

Since Xu Ze had decided to help this father and daughter, his greatest hope was that it wasn’t aplastic anemia. Otherwise, if no matching bone marrow donor could be found, there would be no solution.

Xu Ze smiled gently at the little girl, then looked at the middle-aged man. “She has anemia, right? Do you have her medical records with you?”

Seeing that Xu Ze immediately recognized his daughter’s anemia and asked for the records, the young man was clearly not a layperson.

The middle-aged man quickly fumbled through his clothes and pulled out several medical record booklets, handing them to Xu Ze respectfully. “Are you a doctor too? These are Xiao Yan’er’s records… Please take a look…”

Xu Ze smiled and nodded, taking the little girl’s medical records and flipping through them.

Some onlookers, seeing a doctor examining the girl, grew curious. Was this young man also a doctor? But judging by the girl’s condition, it was clear this was a difficult illness that even Beijing hospitals hadn’t cured, or perhaps treatment was halted due to lack of money. Could this young doctor be reliable?

Though everyone thought this way, now that a doctor had stepped forward, their curiosity was piqued. Regardless of whether he could treat her, they all wanted to see what illness the little girl actually had…

Xu Ze flipped through the records from several hospitals. The earliest was from a county hospital in Southwest Province, diagnosing “Anemia, cause under investigation.” Next was from the Provincial Hospital of Southwest Province, but their diagnosis was also “Anemia, cause under investigation.” Later came records from Beijing Hospital, yet the final diagnosis remained unclear. The entire treatment-seeking period spanned a year.

After a quick review, Xu Ze understood the general situation. This father and daughter, after ineffective treatment at local hospitals, had traveled thousands of miles to Beijing for medical help. They had already been in Beijing for two months.

Xu Ze carefully read over a dozen densely packed test reports. After finishing, he felt slightly relieved. Not only several local hospitals but also Beijing Hospital had considered aplastic anemia. However, these tests, including bone marrow aspiration and analysis, had already ruled out that possibility.

Other possibilities like iron-deficiency anemia, megaloblastic anemia, hemolytic anemia, etc., had also been ruled out. So, Beijing Hospital’s final conclusion was still “Anemia, cause under investigation.”

Their treatment, unable to identify the cause, could only follow conventional anemia treatment: iron supplements, folic acid, and periodic blood transfusions to sustain the little girl’s life.

However, these were just stopgap measures. When hemoglobin and red blood cells dropped too low, they would transfuse some blood to maintain life. There was no specific treatment method.

Long-term blood transfusions incurred costs ordinary families couldn’t bear. One unit of red blood cells cost five to six hundred yuan, and it only raised hemoglobin by about 10-20g. Given the girl’s low hemoglobin levels and the rate of decrease, she needed transfusions almost every few days.

The accumulated costs of long-term transfusions, plus traveling and diagnostic tests, were an astronomical figure for ordinary people. It seemed this father had truly exhausted his resources. Finally, with no money left for transfusions, he resorted to this method to get some money to sustain his daughter’s transfusion needs.

Seeing the hopeful look in the man’s eyes, Xu Ze smiled faintly. He now had a rough idea of the girl’s condition. Since all currently known types of anemia had been ruled out, the only remaining possibility was intrinsic factor deficiency anemia…

Current medical technology couldn’t detect this type of anemia, so these standard anemia tests couldn’t identify it. For anemia with an unknown cause, even Beijing Hospital could only give the diagnosis “Anemia, cause under investigation.”

Based on the current situation, having ruled out other causes, the likelihood of intrinsic factor anemia was as high as eighty percent… However, Xu Ze still couldn’t formally diagnose it. According to the internal medicine knowledge Xiao Dao taught, detecting this intrinsic factor required very advanced testing. By Xu Ze’s estimation, it required at least Level 4 permissions. With his current Level 2, he would need to reach Level 3 to possibly use it.

Seeing the smile in Xu Ze’s eyes, the middle-aged man, though initially not holding much hope, felt a surge of joy. Desperate, he looked at Xu Ze hopefully, disregarding that the young man didn’t seem like a highly experienced doctor. “Doctor, can you treat this illness?”

Hearing the man’s question, Sun Lingfei also quickly looked at Xu Ze. She naturally knew Xu Ze was very skilled in treatment, especially with difficult cases like Old Master Tang and Old Master Li. Since Xu Ze had specifically examined this little girl just now, even if Beijing Hospital couldn’t cure her, there should be hope in Xu Ze’s hands.

She felt great sympathy for the little girl. Hearing the man’s question and seeing the faint smile on Xu Ze’s face, her heart also leapt with joy. She eagerly followed up, “Xu Ze… you can cure her, right… right…”

Under Sun Lingfei’s urging, Xu Ze naturally didn’t keep them in suspense. He smiled and said, “I have some confidence…”

“Some confidence?” Not only did the middle-aged man feel joy, but the surrounding onlookers also became excited. Everyone had seen the pitiable state of the little girl and hoped she could be cured. Hearing Xu Ze say he had some confidence naturally made them happy.

“Really? Can you really treat her? Doctor, can you really cure my Xiao Yan’er?” Tears streamed down the middle-aged man’s face upon hearing this. He had brought his daughter from the southwest to Beijing, visited several major hospitals, but no doctor had dared say such a thing. He had almost given up hope.

Now, suddenly hearing someone say this, whether true or false, he finally felt hope. The hardships of the past year seemed worth it.

“I can try… I am somewhat confident…” Seeing the man’s extreme joy and the intense hope shining in his previously despairing eyes, Xu Ze nodded seriously.

“Ah… Really? This… doctor, are you sure?” The speaker was an elderly onlooker who lived nearby. He had seen this father and daughter these past days and knew some of their situation – that Beijing Hospital hadn’t confirmed a diagnosis and nearly two months of treatment had been ineffective. Hearing Xu Ze say he was somewhat confident, he couldn’t help but ask in astonishment.

After all, there were many scammers who claimed they could even cure cancer. Although this young man didn’t seem like one, the old man was still somewhat worried. This father and daughter were already so pitiful; if they were tricked by a scammer, it would be truly tragic.

Seeing the doubtful looks from the crowd, Xu Ze smiled lightly. He naturally understood the old man’s meaning. He said to the middle-aged man, “Given this situation, you’ve been treated here for two months with no effect. There’s no need to go to other hospitals…”

“Go directly home…”

“Go home directly?” The man’s heart sank. Although he had considered this idea before, he was unwilling to give up easily. But this young doctor, who said he had some confidence, was telling him to go home?

Xu Ze smiled and nodded, then took out his wallet, pulled out all the two to three thousand yuan in cash, and placed it in the little girl’s arms, whom the man was holding. “If you believe me… don’t get treatment in Beijing anymore. It’s a waste of money here… It won’t be cured…”

Hearing Xu Ze’s words, a pretty woman in her late twenties behind him showed a look of indignation. This woman happened to be a doctor from Beijing Hospital, passing by after work, and had stopped to watch.

She had also heard about this little girl’s situation. Her own Beijing Hospital indeed hadn’t been able to identify the cause, and treatment hadn’t produced good results. So, although Xu Ze’s words made her uncomfortable, she couldn’t refute them…

“Does that mean it can’t be cured? Doctor… didn’t you just say you were confident?” The middle-aged man, looking at the few thousand yuan in his daughter’s arms, burst into tears again. He knelt before Xu Ze, crying, “Doctor, please save her… save her…”

“Hey… get up, get up… When did I say I wouldn’t save her?” Xu Ze quickly reached out to help the man up, then explained urgently, “I know you’re out of money. I just gave you some, plus what everyone gave you earlier. It should be enough for you to return to the southwest and sustain your daughter’s transfusions for about a month…”

“During this month, don’t do any other tests, don’t take any other medicine. Just check her complete blood count twice a week… If the anemia worsens and requires a transfusion, then transfuse. When no transfusion is needed, just rest at home…”

Hearing this, the man was shocked again. “No medicine? No further tests? Isn’t that just waiting for death at home?”

“No… Listen to me. If you believe me, just go to a large local pharmacy and buy eight boxes of authentic Dong’e Ejiao. Boil two pieces for her every day, one in the morning, one in the afternoon. Just take it like that…” Xu Ze instructed seriously. “After taking it for this month, you’ll probably see the effects…”

“Ah? Eat Ejiao? That can cure it?” Everyone was stunned…