I Can Talk to the Internal Organs-Chapter 143 - 117: Is Immediate Surgery Upon Discovery Truly Science?
"It’s hard to say if it has metastasized; you’ll need to check at the hospital yourselves. But I don’t think it’s necessary right now, as the treatment time has been too short. If you go for a check-up, there might not be any significant changes from what you saw before."
"Moreover, what significance does it have to know whether your mom’s condition has metastasized or not? Can it make her live one more day or improve her mood?"
"If it can’t, then why do the check-up, right? Just remember one thing for now: as long as she can eat, sleep, and doesn’t feel pain anywhere, that’s enough. You don’t have to worry about other things."
Lu Jiu has said these words more than once, but he always has to repeat them several times because data is always clearer than abstract concepts.
Even though Lu Jiu has said that personal feelings are always more accurate than instruments, it’s useless; until this concept becomes rooted in everyone’s hearts, data’s persuasiveness will still take the leading role.
Of course, if Chen Muyao really wants to take her mother for the check-up, Lu Jiu won’t stop her excessively, though the final outcome is unlikely to bring them happiness.
Because from beginning to end, Lu Jiu hasn’t touched the cancer cells—neither killing nor expelling them. He just lets them be. Metastasis is certain; it’s just that Lu Jiu can help Fei Jin so it won’t be too ravaged by cancer cells, preventing Sun Dan from suffering severe coughing or even coughing up blood due to cancer cells invading her lungs.
But in such a situation, if you go for an examination, undoubtedly, the lungs are very likely to have already been invaded by cancer cells. That’s why Lu Jiu said the examination is meaningless.
"Alright then, we’ll listen to you, Dr. Lu." Chen Muyao instinctively feels that her mom’s recent good condition must be due to Lu Jiu’s treatment reducing or preventing the spread of cancer cells; otherwise, how to explain this situation, right?
This is also a more shallow understanding of cancer among ordinary people, always thinking that getting better means fewer cancer cells or no metastasis.
"Okay, go home, and come back for a re-examination next week," Lu Jiu said.
"Mm-hmm." Chen Muyao took Sun Dan’s arm and slowly left the clinic.
At this moment, Hu Yaoyuan in front of Lu Jiu also snapped out of his shock. He forcefully suppressed his urge to question and joked calmly, "Dr. Lu, that’s impressive, you can treat cancer too?"
Lu Jiu never noticed Hu Yaoyuan’s expression management all along, only treating him as an ordinary patient making small talk, "I don’t have that capability. I can’t deal with cancer cells; it’s just adjusting the constitution so that the elderly can live more comfortably."
Just like that?
Hu Yaoyuan was half-convinced, half-doubtful. He didn’t think the mother and daughter just now were actors, and similarly, he also believed that Lu Jiu couldn’t possibly cure cancer.
But if cancer isn’t treated, how could it be possible for the patient to live comfortably? The logic here just doesn’t make sense.
Cancer cells are ruthless; if you have these things, especially if they are malignant, they will definitely spread and metastasize. If you don’t control the cancer cells, how can the patient’s body improve?
Even for them, they can only suppress it with drugs, and whether the patient’s body can improve depends entirely on how well the cancer cells are controlled.
"Dr. Lu, how do you do it?" Hu Yaoyuan asked.
How to do it?
Lu Jiu was both amused and helpless, "This isn’t something that can be explained in just a few sentences. Let me adjust your lower back pain first."
Hu Yaoyuan suddenly felt that his lower back pain wasn’t that important anymore. He was now very eager to know how Lu Jiu treated cancer.
"Dr. Lu, how about explaining while treating?" Hu Yaoyuan said.
Seeing how curious Hu Yaoyuan was, Lu Jiu couldn’t help asking, "May I ask bluntly, do you have relatives or friends with this kind of..."
Hu Yaoyuan smiled, "No, no, I just simply find it too unbelievable. Cancer is an incurable disease. Even if it can only be adjusted, I think that’s already very impressive, so I want to ask how it’s done."
Lu Jiu smiled, "Alright, come, lie over there, and let me see exactly where your lower back pain is."
"Oh, okay." Hu Yaoyuan immediately walked to the small bed and lay down.
Lu Jiu approached and began pressing Hu Yaoyuan’s lower back meridians, "Does it hurt here?"
"No."
"Here?"
"It’s alright."
"Here?"
"Ah—pain!"
"Here?"
"Ahh—yes, yes, easy there, Dr. Lu."
Lu Jiu stopped immediately, understanding that it was the area around the Dai Mai (belt vessel) that hurt the most for Hu Yaoyuan.
With this information, Lu Jiu knew where to insert the needles.
During pulse examination and after listening to the Five Viscera description, Lu Jiu confirmed that Hu Yaoyuan had kidney yang deficiency.
Lower back pain caused by kidney yang deficiency generally has different distribution locations, and different locations correspond to different acupuncture points.
If the Dai Mai is in pain, then the acupoint to focus on is the Lin Qi point, which is located on the outside of the dorsum of our foot.
"Alright, turn over and lie down, and I’ll perform Acupuncture for you," Lu Jiu said.
Once Hu Yaoyuan turned over to lie flat, Lu Jiu swiftly and accurately inserted a needle into the Linqi point on the dorsum of Hu Yaoyuan’s foot. Soon, the skin around the needle began to redden. Hu Yaoyuan clearly felt a sour and achy sensation in his foot, not exactly comfortable, but not too unpleasant either.
Previously, when Ji Yuanning gave him acupuncture, he also targeted the foot. Hu Yaoyuan wasn’t surprised by Lu Jiu’s similar technique.
The Traditional Chinese Medicine’s technique of treating back pain through the foot was quite interesting, reminiscent of the strategy of surrounding points to hit the aid. Unlike Western methods, which tackle diseases head-on in a straightforward soldier-to-soldier, general-to-general manner.
"The reason your back pain isn’t improving is not because of an issue in your back, but due to insufficient kidney yang. Simply relieving the pain without solving the deficiency in kidney yang will lead to recurrent back pain. I’ll prescribe a formula after the acupuncture session, and drinking it for a while should alleviate the symptoms," Lu Jiu explained.
"Also, does your job require you to stand for long periods and work in air conditioning?" Lu Jiu asked.
Hu Yaoyuan replied, "Exactly, once I’m busy, I stand for five to six hours without resting. As for the air conditioning, it’s a necessity."
Lu Jiu said, "Try to avoid that in the coming days. Your back pain stems from a deficiency in kidney yang, and prolonged standing harms the bones, which in turn damages the kidneys. Normally, these minor injuries would recuperate after a night’s sleep, but since you’re constantly in a low-temperature environment, your kidney yang can’t recover. How can your back pain improve?"
Is that the case?
Hu Yaoyuan indeed felt uncomfortable in his legs and back from standing too long during surgeries. Previously, he thought it was just a muscle issue and never considered it could affect his internal organs.
"Alright, I’ll try to adjust things these days. Dr. Lu, please tell me how to treat cancer," Hu Yaoyuan urged eagerly.
Lu Jiu smiled while twisting a needle, "You’re a doctor, right?"
Hu Yaoyuan turned his head, seeing Lu Jiu’s knowing smile, and immediately confessed, "I didn’t expect to be exposed so quickly, hahaha. I thought you wouldn’t notice."
Lu Jiu laughed, "Jianghan City is not that big. Who else besides someone standing long hours in an air-conditioned room would be this interested in diseases? Also, even though you changed out of your work clothes, there’s still a strong scent of disinfectant when you’re close."
Hu Yaoyuan sniffed his collar and indeed smelled the disinfectant, "Hahaha, Dr. Lu, would you call this stealing skills?"
Lu Jiu was amused, "Dr. Hu, that’s not funny. Actually, wanting to learn from me about cancer treatment is pointless because from a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, cancer doesn’t really exist."
Hu Yaoyuan nodded, "I understand that, but just because it didn’t exist before doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist now. Now that the concept of cancer exists, how does TCM respond?"
Lu Jiu said, "Then we address it from outside the concept, managing cancer as if it isn’t cancer."
Hu Yaoyuan was puzzled, "Sorry, I don’t understand."
Lu Jiu chuckled, "This is where our perceptions differ. Your focus is on the disease, bacteria, and viruses, while ours is on the patient’s overall state. I don’t focus on how many cancer cells a patient has or if they’ve metastasized but on whether they eat well, sleep well, and feel any pain. Once those are managed, whether they have cancer cells or not isn’t significant. Even if it spreads throughout the body, what does it matter if it doesn’t affect the patient’s quality of life?"
Hu Yaoyuan was confused, "If cancer cells aren’t treated, how can a patient’s body improve?"
Lu Jiu smiled, "And if cancer cells are treated, does the patient’s body truly improve?"
This left Hu Yaoyuan speechless.
Indeed, clinically, no patient seems to have their quality of life return to normal post-chemotherapy or radiation treatment targeting cancer cells.
Wait a minute.
"Theoretically, it’s possible. It’s just that current technology can’t perform chemotherapy or radiation without harming normal cells, which is why the quality of life decreases," Hu Yaoyuan said.
"In theory... then if theoretically, a cancer patient’s living condition matches that of a healthy person, can I then consider that no matter how many cancer cells they have, they are essentially normal?" Lu Jiu asked.
This...
Lu Jiu’s words were convoluted, but the notion seemed somewhat rational, though theoretically, it almost contradicted what he was saying.
How to counter this?
Hu Yaoyuan thought for a long time until inspiration struck.
"It’s not all theoretical. Clinically, one-third of breast cancer patients have a 100% survival rate five years post-surgery. That statistic should prove something," he said.
Lu Jiu replied, "Then tell me, among these surgical patients, whose breast cancer was deadly and whose wasn’t?"
Hu Yaoyuan was amused and frustrated, "How can that be determined? Once diagnosed with breast cancer, it’s already considered a malignant tumor. Its potential for spreading and metastasis is absolute. Whether it metastasizes in three years or five years, or if it flares up in three or five years, who could know?"
Current research on cancer cells can’t predict their spread or metastasis timing, because even for ten thousand breast cancer patients, their cancer cells’ spreading and metastasis timing are entirely different. By the time these are detected through instruments, it’s often too late.
For malignant tumors like breast cancer, the most direct approach after early detection is surgical removal. The post-surgery five-year survival rate can reach 100%, with risks of relapse only appearing afterward.
"So, regardless of its lethality, once detected, immediate surgery reduces the risk for all breast cancer patients to the minimum, ensuring at least five years of survival, correct?" Lu Jiu asked.
"Correct, this is the most scientific treatment protocol currently," Hu Yaoyuan agreed.
"But aren’t there patients who don’t undergo surgery, yet their cancer cells don’t spread or metastasize within five years?" Lu Jiu questioned.
"I’m not sure, but likely there are," Hu Yaoyuan answered.
"Then for these patients included in the so-called five-year survival rate, is it a triumph of medicine or a disgrace?" Lu Jiu asked.
"..." Hu Yaoyuan hesitated for a moment, then slowly responded, "We can only ensure the health of the majority. We can’t refrain from performing surgeries for the sake of a few people, right?"
"A few?" Lu Jiu stared at Hu Yaoyuan with a sharper gaze, "If I told you that breast cancer spreads from the organs to the viscera and averages over ten years in progression, and that one-third of early-stage breast cancer patients can survive over a decade without surgery, maybe even longer, would you still consider immediate surgery upon detection as scientific?"
