The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 422: Sudden brain herniation

"Other than the headaches, confusion, and sleepiness, do you have any other symptoms?" Liu Banxia continued to ask.

The girl shook her head. "No, just these three have been tormenting me. I thought it was just a cold at first, but it’s been quite a few days now."

"Alright, let’s take your blood pressure first, and then get a blood test done," Liu Banxia nodded.

There was no other way to treat such symptoms. The only option was to conduct a careful examination, step by step.

The girl’s blood pressure was indeed somewhat high, which could be an external manifestation of her condition. However, it wasn’t ridiculously high. After all, she had just been berated by her mother, and it was understandable that her blood pressure might spike due to emotional upset.

"Doctor, how is it?" The girl’s mother approached as soon as the blood sample collection was over.

"Her blood pressure is a bit high. We’re going to get her blood tested now to see what’s going on," Liu Banxia responded.

"See, I told you! This is what happens when you consume so many snacks and junk food. All that fried food, what’s so good about it? Look at yourself, you have high blood pressure now," the patient’s mother started criticizing again.

"I only had it a few times! Typically, I’m drinking the soup you make all the time. My mouth has no flavor from it," the girl retorted.

"So that justifies your consumption of all that junk food? There’s plenty of good food at home that you don’t eat. Have you started drinking alcohol too?" the mother retorted back.

The girl mumbled something incoherent, not backing down.

However, after she finished speaking, both Liu Banxia and her mother were taken aback.

"What were you trying to say just now?" Liu Banxia asked anxiously.

"I... I said I want to go home," the girl replied.

"Doctor, what’s going on?" The girl’s mother became even more anxious.

Her daughter’s words earlier had sounded like a foreign language, but they definitely weren’t. They were also nothing close to "I want to go home."

"Miao Rui, take this patient for an urgent brain CT scan," Liu Banxia ordered.

"Doctor... Doctor, please say something." The girl’s mother grabbed Liu Banxia’s arm.

"Your daughter just exhibited a language impairment. Combining that with her headache, confusion, sleepiness, and high blood pressure, it might indicate a cerebral issue," Liu Banxia replied patiently.

Miao Rui rushed in at that moment and, along with a nurse, pushed the gurney towards the CT room. The patient’s condition was still unclear; it could be a stroke, so they didn’t dare let her walk on her own.

"Oh my god! I don’t know if the girl was just upset by her mother’s scolding, but now my own head is throbbing," Liu Banxia muttered, massaging his eyebrows.

"Every mother is different. This one is clearly a stark contrast to the mother of our Clostridium difficile patient from earlier today," commented Shi Lei.

"Yeah, I understand a mother’s concern for her child, but some of her words can be too harsh and deeply upsetting for the child," Liu Banxia responded.

At this time, Wang Chao stepped out of the elevator, looking utterly fatigued.

"Go grab something to eat first and then take a good rest. Dr. Shi and I will keep an eye on things here," Liu Banxia suggested.

"Do we have a plan for the follow-up treatment?" Wang Chao asked.

Liu Banxia shook his head. "We can only follow the original plan, mainly focusing on control and adjustment. Clostridium difficile is too aggressive. It’s going to be tough in the later stages."

Wang Chao nodded but didn’t say anything else.

He was disheartened. Liu Banxia’s meaning was clear: basically, they had to wait. Wait for what? The next relapse, of course. When that happened, there would be pretty much nothing they could do.

Liu Banxia patted his shoulder. This was his patient, yet Wang Chao had somehow gotten involved too.

"I’ll go eat first. Call me if anything comes up," said Wang Chao before heading off to eat with Huang Bo and Qing Kewa.

"Boss, do you think I should mention the fecal microbiota transplant plan to the patient’s parents?" Liu Banxia asked hesitantly.

"I think they’re quite rational. If we bring it up now, they will at least be mentally prepared. By the time the third relapse occurs, they might be able to make a quicker decision."

"Alright, you can communicate this to them. Be objective, though; don’t let the patient’s parents think that this will definitely work," Shi Lei cautioned.

"Don’t worry, I hold myself and my interns to very high standards when it comes to this," Liu Banxia assured him.

And he wasn’t just paying lip service; he genuinely cared a great deal about this matter.

Upon reaching the ward on the second floor, he found the young man’s parents sitting dejectedly by the bed. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Dr. Liu." The patient’s father stood up as Liu Banxia entered the room.

Liu Banxia nodded. "His condition aligns with our predictions, meaning he will likely need to be continually on an IV drip. However, while reviewing some data, we did come across an experimental treatment."

"Don’t get excited yet. This experimental treatment is still in the experimental stage. There have been successful cases, but far more failures."

"The treatment involves a healthy fecal transplant, hoping that the transplanted healthy feces can help adjust the balance of the gut microbiota and restore equilibrium."

"There are more risks and uncertainties involved because feces contain numerous types of bacteria. If even one type of harmful bacteria takes hold, it could be life-threatening."

"The reason I’m telling you about this experimental therapy now is so you have ample time to consider it. During this period, you can also search for related information online," Liu Banxia explained.

"Dr. Liu, do you mean we should keep it in mind for future use?" asked the patient’s father.

Liu Banxia nodded. "That’s more or less it. This experimental therapy can only be considered a last resort, akin to gambling with his life."

"Alright, I need to return downstairs now; the CT scan results for another patient should be out soon. Actually, I probably shouldn’t have told you this now. However, it’s better for you to be able to think about this rationally than to panic when you’re informed suddenly later on."

"Thank you, Dr. Liu. We’ll look into it," said the patient’s father gratefully.

After leaving the ward, Liu Banxia didn’t feel much lighter, primarily because of the patient’s father’s gratitude. He felt he hadn’t really done much; after all, they could have found this experimental therapy with a simple online search.

He wasn’t even sure if he was doing the right thing, but perhaps he had at least given the patient’s family some hope.

After returning downstairs and waiting a little longer, the young girl’s CT results came out. It wasn’t a stroke, but hydrocephalus.

Ding! Consultation complete.

Gained 100 experience points, Diagnostics skill proficiency +50 points.

"Call a doctor from Neurosurgery for a consultation," Liu Banxia said.

"Doctor, is it very serious?" asked the patient’s mother.

"Please don’t worry yet. I’ve already invited a neurosurgeon to come and see how to proceed," Liu Banxia said.

The patient’s mother opened her mouth but said nothing.

"President Liu, hydrocephalus?" asked Zhang Xiao, who had rushed over.

"You take a look at the scan first." Liu Banxia turned the monitor towards him.

Zhang Xiao glanced at it. "It’s already pressing on the speech center. We’ll need to do a craniotomy for drainage. Medication likely won’t be very effective and could even pose a danger to the patient."

"Book an operating room. We can administer some mannitol temporarily to control the intracranial pressure and prevent brain herniation. Arrange the preoperative examinations, will you?"

Liu Banxia nodded. "Alright, you go and get ready. We’ll arrange the rest here."

"Doctor, is a craniotomy very dangerous? Is there any way to avoid it?" asked the girl’s mother.

"You heard him just now. The edema is quite severe, and what we need to do now is drain the fluid from the brain," Liu Banxia said.

"Otherwise, when the accumulated fluid reaches a certain volume, it will compress the brain. To put it bluntly, it will squeeze the brain out of shape. Do you understand that?"

The girl’s mother nodded.

"There will definitely be risks with the surgery. All surgeries have risks, let alone brain surgery. Shortly, I will have someone explain all the potential risks to you in detail, and we will give you time to consider."

"However, this time won’t be very long. It’s already pressing on the speech center. Even if a brain herniation doesn’t occur, it could still cause permanent damage to the speech center."

He considered himself a fairly eloquent person, but he was outmatched by this girl’s mother. Besides, explaining surgical risks was something the interns could handle. This would be a good high-difficulty communication test for them. If they could handle her, they could probably handle most patients’ families.

"All taken care of?" asked Shi Lei, who had just finished his consultation with a patient.

Liu Banxia stretched lazily. "That girl from earlier has cerebral edema and has been transferred to Neurosurgery. I also spoke with the young man’s parents. They expressed great gratitude to me."

"But the more polite they are, the more uneasy I feel. I think I’ve done my best, but I wasn’t able to help their son at all."

"That’s something you have to figure out on your own. No one else can..."

"Dr. Liu, come quickly! This patient has fainted!" Before Shi Lei could finish, Zhou Qian yelled urgently.

Liu Banxia rushed over and saw the girl with hydrocephalus lying on the floor.

"Quick, call Zhang Xiao! Carefully move her onto a gurney and connect her to a monitor!" Liu Banxia ordered while examining the girl’s pupils.

"Doctor, what on earth is going on?" the patient’s mother cried, grabbing Liu Banxia’s arm.

"She’s developed a brain herniation! Please step aside and don’t delay our rescue efforts!" Liu Banxia’s voice also grew louder.

"Brain herniation?" Zhang Xiao arrived at that moment.

"Her right pupil is already dilated! What do we do?" Liu Banxia asked, his expression grave.

"Your hands are steady, and you have good feel. You could try to use a needle to insert it at the edge of the eyeball and aspirate the accumulated fluid from the herniation site. I don’t have the confidence for that, and the department chiefs are all in surgery," Zhang Xiao said.

Liu Banxia was startled; he had no idea such an emergency procedure existed.

"Is there no other way?" Liu Banxia asked.

Zhang Xiao shook his head. "At best, she only has a few minutes. We don’t even have time to get to the operating room. Bring up her CT scan!"

Without further hesitation, Liu Banxia directly exchanged points for a bottle of Potent Neuro-Stabilizing Compound.