These few long-time patients were indeed dealing with some relatively difficult-to-treat illnesses. Xu Ze carefully reviewed each of their medical histories first before performing the necessary targeted examinations.
His mind naturally held many special treatment methods from the future. Although many couldn’t be used yet, there were some he could apply.
Moreover, at least for certain diseases, Xu Ze’s understanding of them went much deeper than the current level of medical research. Once he understood the pathological cause of an illness, prescribing targeted medication would usually be effective. It was only for those patients who truly lacked other good treatment options that Xu Ze would resort to consuming energy for electro-acupuncture therapy.
The first patient was also a long-time case, mainly suffering from persistent pain in the upper abdomen. He had previously undergone gastroscopy, liver and gallbladder ultrasounds, and other examinations. Only the gastroscopy showed an issue, and the hospital directly diagnosed him with chronic erosive gastritis.
However, since the start of this year, the stomach-protecting medication he took had gradually become ineffective. He now needed a period of IV treatment at the hospital just to barely manage the condition.
But through his detailed examination, Xu Ze discovered that each time this patient was treated, it was strictly according to the gastritis protocol: antibiotics for inflammation, along with stomach-protecting and antispasmodic pain relief medication. These treatments only provided temporary control.
Through analysis and his own meticulous examination, Xu Ze considered the possibility that the patient might have a gallbladder issue. Because the patient’s previous gastroscopy had confirmed erosive gastritis, the local hospital had consistently treated subsequent upper abdominal pain as gastritis.
After treatment with antibiotics for infection control and antispasmodics for pain relief, even if the patient had a gallbladder problem, it would be suppressed by these medications. Since the gastritis treatment seemed effective, everyone naturally assumed it was just a gastritis issue.
However, some doctors failed to consider that while the patient’s previous gallbladder examination showed no problems, that didn’t mean there were none now. They still attributed everything solely to gastritis.
Of course, the patient’s condition could be controlled with gastritis medication, but once IV treatment stopped and he switched to oral medication, it became completely uncontrollable. This explained why his upper abdominal pain kept recurring…
When Xu Ze used the system’s ultrasound function to re-examine the patient’s gallbladder, he fortunately discovered that a gallstone the size of a soybean had indeed developed there over the past year.
In other words, the main cause of the patient’s current upper abdominal pain was gallstones. The doctor who had been treating this long-time patient simply hadn’t noticed this due to their preconceived diagnosis.
Xu Ze promptly prescribed some anti-infection medication and antispasmodics for pain relief, advising the patient to receive IV treatment for two days. He then directly informed the patient that the problem likely wasn’t caused by gastritis, but by a gallbladder issue. He suggested getting the infection under control with a few days of injections, then going to the hospital for a follow-up gallbladder ultrasound. If the problem was confirmed, surgery could directly resolve it, and there shouldn’t be further issues.
The patient had great trust in Xu Ze’s judgment. Lately, quite a few people had sought treatment from Xu Ze, many of them long-time patients like himself, and all had achieved good results.
So the patient took the prescription and promptly went to find Xu Ze’s father for IV treatment, planning to get the situation under control before going to the hospital for a follow-up ultrasound.
Seeing their old acquaintance happily go for injections after just a brief check-up from Dr. Xu, the few patients waiting who knew the situation well eagerly lined up one by one to see Xu Ze.
One after another, Xu Ze conducted detailed examinations, provided appropriate treatments, and sent each patient away satisfied.
However, the last patient made Xu Ze frown. This was a lung cancer patient.
In Xu Ze’s original time period, lung cancer could be cured, but in the present, Xu Ze had no solution for it yet.
If he followed the hospital’s standard treatment plan, it would have been simple. When he was at the First Affiliated Hospital with Zhang Lide, he had outlined a treatment plan based on modern medications that had impressed Zhang Lide greatly.
But such treatment plans could only slightly extend a patient’s life at best, and that extension was at most six months to a year. They had no special effect, instead increasing the patient’s suffering. The pain of late-stage cancer was absolutely unbearable, making life feel worse than death.
This kind of pain required strictly controlled narcotic painkillers like Dolantin and morphine for relief. However, such painkillers were difficult to obtain, and their effectiveness diminished as the cancer progressed. Many patients ultimately died in excruciating pain…
Faced with this patient, Xu Ze felt helpless. However, he wrote out a prescription for traditional Chinese medicine and sent the patient to his father to get the herbs.
This TCM formula was developed by future medical researchers to inhibit cancer cell progression and effectively control cancer pain.
This was the only relatively effective method Xu Ze could currently use. Although these herbs were somewhat expensive, consistent use could significantly reduce the patient’s suffering and possibly extend their life by one to three years.
The patient’s family, after receiving the prescription, thanked Xu Ze profusely before leaving. They hadn’t held much hope initially, but Xu Ze’s assurance that he could control the severe pain and extend life was more than they could have hoped for.
After finishing with the patients, Xu Ze stretched a few times and realized it was almost noon, time for lunch.
After a short two-hour break at noon, more patients began arriving one after another, specifically asking for the “little miracle doctor” Xu Ze. He was soon busy handling cases until around 4 PM before finally getting a break.
Xu Ze’s mother and father were delighted, though not primarily because the day’s income matched what they’d usually make in a week. What pleased them most was seeing how much Xu Ze’s medical skills had advanced. For parents, their children’s achievements were far more important than making money.
The next day, Xu Ze remained just as busy, with the trend intensifying. Patients from neighboring towns like Qingyang and Liuhua kept coming specifically to see Xu Ze.
This was all because of Xu Ze’s dramatic rescue at the car accident site a couple of days earlier. Many witnesses were from these nearby towns, and quite a few had heard of Xu Ze’s reputation.
Moreover, Xu Ze’s methods that day were truly impressive. He had saved so many people, performed an on-the-spot surgery with simple tools that even the county hospital doctors wouldn’t attempt, and pulled an elderly man back from death’s door, earning the admiration of those county doctors.
When these people returned home and spread the story, many who had already heard of Xu Ze became even more convinced. They traveled over ten miles to come to Chengtang Town for treatment.
By the third day, the Xu Family Medical Clinic was packed with people waiting outside. Xu Ze’s mother had to borrow over a dozen chairs from neighbors just to give the waiting patients and their families somewhere to sit.
Looking at the patients who had arrived early in the morning, Xu Ze could only smile bitterly. He had to see each patient himself, and many treatments required his personal attention.
Fortunately, after the incident the night before last had left him nearly depleted of energy, he’d learned his lesson. He had stayed awake for two full nights to replenish his energy reserves to over eighty percent.
So Xu Ze now felt a bit more confident. But judging by the number of patients today, he probably wouldn’t get much rest.
Still, since people had traveled such long distances to see him, he couldn’t very well turn them away. Xu Ze settled down and began examining them carefully and thoroughly.
But as the saying goes, when it rains, it pours. Just when things were hectic enough, something happened that nearly brought Xu Ze to tears…
Xu Ze had just finished examining two patients and sent them to his parents for injections and medication when suddenly, firecrackers started crackling loudly outside.
It turned out that the elderly man Xu Ze had saved in the car accident, along with the patient with the lumbar fracture and the girl with the ruptured spleen, were all hospitalized at the county people’s hospital. Their families had gathered there after two days of bedside care to discuss compensation with the vehicle owner.
After their discussions, they specifically invited Li Qiang, who had described the accident scene, to talk about Xu Ze’s kindness that day.
Li Qiang’s vivid account, combined with the diagnoses confirmed at the hospital and the patients’ own insistence on thanking Xu Ze, led to a heartwarming development.
The elderly man’s son and the girl’s parents wanted to thank Xu Ze for saving their loved ones’ lives. The wife of the patient with the lumbar fracture wanted to thank him for preventing her husband’s paralysis, ensuring he could continue supporting their family, essentially saving their whole family.
And so, this scene unfolded. The three families pooled together several thousand yuan, commissioned a large sandalwood plaque inscribed with “Little Miracle Doctor of Chengtang,” and carried it all the way from the entrance of Chengtang Town. They set off firecrackers along the route and arrived at Xu Ze’s door with their families in tow.
Looking at the old street outside packed with over a thousand onlookers, Xu Ze’s tears nearly fell…
Oh no… with this kind of fanfare spreading, how many more patients would come tomorrow?…
