Practicing Medical Skills in a Small Clinic-Chapter 283 - 161: Respecting Disease? Lower Limb Injury Fatality Cases_2
It was obvious that when she was young, this middle-aged woman must have been a great beauty.
"Hello, ma’am. My name is Li Jingsheng, and I’m here to see Doctor Xu."
"Come in! I’m over here!"
Doctor Xu was sitting in the living room, but his spirits seemed not too well.
"I bought some fruits and milk for Doctor Xu, though I’m not sure if he’ll like them."
Li Jingsheng handed the items to the wife.
"No need to bring anything! Old Xu hasn’t had visitors in a long time; allowing you to come means he acknowledges you. Young man, please come in."
The wife invited him into the house.
The house was luxuriously decorated, with the latest model of curved-screen TV. The air conditioning seemed to be central, and the furniture was mainly Chinese-style, appearing quite simple and elegant.
Li Jingsheng secretly sighed, realizing the teacher was indeed wealthy!
"Teacher, are you feeling better?"
"I won’t die! It’s an old ailment, comes back once or twice every year."
Doctor Xu was never polite with him.
He spoke very casually as well.
"Young man, have some tea! Help yourself to the fruit on the table."
The wife made him a cup of tea.
"Thank you!"
Li Jingsheng accepted it with both hands and took a seat on the sofa.
He sat on a single-seater sofa.
This type is easier to manage, but when it comes to comfort, a soft leather sofa is more comfortable. Although Chinese-style sofas have cushions, the armrests are wooden, and sitting on them never feels that relaxing.
You’d worry about falling or bumping into something; with a leather sofa, you can just slouch in and become lazy. You can sit however you like.
These Chinese-style seats, whether wooden sofas, armchairs, or round chairs, always seem formal and too serious.
"What kind of illness do you have?"
"No idea. Went to People’s Hospital, Qiaobang Hospital, all checked but couldn’t find the cause. Those Western doctors just say it’s a cold."
It seemed Doctor Xu had quite a prejudice against Western medicine.
"Aren’t you on IV drips? It’s been three days; there should be some effect by now, right?"
Li Jingsheng noticed Doctor Xu looked quite pale and not in high spirits.
The common cold actually refers to a group of symptoms that usually resolve on their own in two to three days or around a week, often caused by viruses, leading to fever, cough, headache, and runny nose.
Traditional Chinese medicine differentiates colds into wind-cold and wind-heat categories, attributing them to external pathogens.
Western medicine defines a cold as an upper respiratory tract infection or influenza.
"At first, the drips worked well. But now, after frequent use, they’re less effective."
Doctor Xu spoke with some annoyance.
"Since you know the harm of overusing antibiotics, why not choose another treatment method, like taking Chinese medicine?"
Li Jingsheng felt that the teacher leaned towards traditional Chinese medicine.
"Most of the Chinese medicine on the market has high profits, poor efficacy, and fewer side effects, so why should I bother taking them? Moreover, the Second Hospital didn’t invite me to treat me like a deity; if I weren’t somewhat irreplaceable, they’d have replaced me long ago. And I can’t bear to see those patients come from far away and leave disappointed! Injections work fast, so I’m used to it now."
Doctor Xu explained.
"Old Xu, you didn’t have this illness before, isn’t it all because of..."
The wife interjected from the side.
Before she could finish, Doctor Xu glared at her, "Don’t talk nonsense about things without evidence. You go about your business; let me discuss bone setting with Xiaoli."
It was evident that Doctor Xu held a prominent position in the household.
The man is the sky, the woman the earth; it’s not a bad thing that major decisions are made by the man.
Doctor Xu’s wife, at fifty, still being so pretty and poised, indicates that her husband must be very caring towards her.
Otherwise, no matter how beautiful a woman is, if married to the wrong person, she would become old and haggard in a few years.
"You all chat, call me if you need anything."
Though scolded by Doctor Xu, she didn’t seem angry.
Perhaps she was merely giving her husband face in front of a guest and might make him kneel on a washing board once the guest leaves?
"Didn’t you say you wanted to consult me about bone setting? What problems did you encounter?"
Doctor Xu looked at Li Jingsheng.
"Today, I treated a patient with a severe fracture of the fibula and a minor fracture of the tibia. Though I successfully set it, I still feel it wasn’t as seamless as when you do it."
Li Jingsheng’s real intent was to visit his teacher; consulting about bone-setting was just a pretext.
Now, he could only find something to talk about.
"Isn’t that a given? I’ve been bone setting for many years, and you haven’t studied it for long. Achieving over 90% alignment in bone setting is already exceptional."
Doctor Xu rolled his eyes.
"For severe fractures, if you can align them to over 95% perfectly, that’s already very remarkable. I’ve only reached about 97%."
The success of bone-setting can be determined by feeling the alignment of the bones.
Li Jingsheng’s current bone palpation skills are enough to assess the alignment after setting.
"Hehe, I just want to achieve more perfection! Do you think 97% is the highest degree of alignment?"
After all, once bones are broken, they can’t be rejoined to a 100% alignment.
A broken mirror can be pieced together, but the crack will remain.
That’s why the saying goes: easy to mend but hard to restore to the original state.
"The highest level of bone-setting can reach 99%. You don’t need to pursue it too vigorously. My mentor used to say that striving for over 95% alignment in bone setting is already excellent. What truly matters is the healing speed, the strength and functional recovery of the bone post-recovery. For these more advanced skills, as long as you have a general direction now, perhaps you’ll explore that realm when your skills improve in the future. In my life, I’ve only reached this level."
