The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 438 was conscripted by pediatrics

(Thank you to good friends Yuanqi Yuemie Yuanzi Yuan for the encouragement and reward, and thanks to my readers 20170922074850273, yj820606, Xianglong Yimai, Mantian Paopaor for the monthly ticket encouragement)

"Sister Li, is everything okay now?"

After returning downstairs, Liu Banxia came to Zhou Li’s side.

"I’m fine now. I didn’t cause you any trouble, did I? I just couldn’t hold it in. We nurses can’t just let them push everything onto us," Zhou Li said.

"Not at all. They’re the ones in the wrong. What are they making a fuss about? They must have nothing better to do," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

"I also told them that our hospital cafeteria can arrange for patient meals. Honestly, I don’t get why they don’t just order patient meals. It’s so much more convenient. The food will be sent directly to the ward, and it’s not much more expensive than ordering from outside."

"They’re just being calculative. No one wants to foot the bill, so they all want their brother to pay for it," Zhou Li said.

"The old lady was chatting with other patients in the ward. She said all the family property was given to her son, which made the daughters unhappy. Her son is also a bit scared of his wife; he’s the one who paid for the old lady’s hospitalization this time. Otherwise, why would she go to a nursing home? She really couldn’t live with her son anymore. Besides, her grandson has a girlfriend, and how can they marry without a house? Her second daughter’s family is well-off, but that money is theirs. Although the daughters said they didn’t want to fight for the inheritance—which was entirely given to the son, with nothing for them—the old lady now feels awkward asking them for money."

"Outsiders can’t really comment on such matters; it’s too complicated. But it’s unavoidable. If all the family assets go to the son, the others are bound to feel resentful," Liu Banxia nodded.

"Didn’t we have a patient here last time? The one who, because he had a son, barely cared for his daughter? When he had that car accident, he didn’t even want the arteriovenous malformation surgery, right?"

"Let’s arrange for someone new to handle the IVs and such in that ward. After all, there’s been some conflict. If we can just get through the next few days peacefully, that would be best."

"I know, I’ll arrange someone else. The New Year is just around the corner. How should we organize our emergency center? Do we need to decorate and organize some small activities?" Zhou Li asked.

"We should decorate the ward a little, and then offer some dumplings or something to the patients who can eat," Liu Banxia responded.

"However, not everyone will necessarily eat our food. Based on past experience in the inpatient department, it’s usually just some of the out-of-town patients. The local ones will find ways to celebrate on their own if they can; it doesn’t cost them much to do so."

"Sigh... everyone else reunites with family during the New Year, but we’re always busy around the clock," Zhou Li sighed.

"We’re all in the same boat. I’m going to head over to pediatrics. A child who fell into the water was brought in today," Liu Banxia said.

Zhou Li nodded.

It was already very good of Liu Banxia to chat with me for this long. The way I spoke earlier today... if the hospital decided to take it seriously, I might even get a minor demerit.

"Dr. Chen, how’s the young patient the emergency service brought in today?" Liu Banxia asked when he arrived at the pediatrics department.

"Nothing major, just a slight lung infection," Chen Hongyang said.

"It’s fortunate he was rescued promptly. In this weather, a few more minutes in the water, and he would have been in serious trouble. The chances of resuscitation would have been very low, and even if he were revived, there’d likely be brain damage."

"Does hypothermia progress that quickly? I’ve only read about it in books," Liu Banxia asked, surprised.

"If it were an adult, they might be able to hold on a bit longer," Chen Hongyang commented.

"I asked, and they said the child’s muscle spasms were already infrequent when he was put on the ambulance, so he was nearing the critical point by then."

"When I was in the emergency department, I treated a patient who was found drunk and collapsed in the street. If he had been lying on the road where people could see him, he might have been saved, but he was lying behind a car. He was found by a street cleaner in the morning. He was resuscitated, but he had severe frostbite and brain damage. And that was an adult wearing a down jacket. If a child falls into icy water and passes the critical point, their core temperature will drop precipitously."

Liu Banxia grimaced. "I didn’t really think much about it at the time. This is what experience teaches you. I’ve certainly learned a lesson today."

Chen Hongyang chuckled. "Don’t praise me. Since you’re here, help me look into a case. She’s 7 years old and has a history of asthma. She recently had an asthma attack at home, and the budesonide spray wasn’t effective. I performed nebulization, which helped somewhat, but not significantly. She is still experiencing difficulty breathing with audible wheezing. She experienced a febrile convulsion once during a trip two months ago, and her asthma has worsened since discharge."

Liu Banxia frowned as he carefully mulled over the information Chen Hongyang had provided.

Perhaps it’s also because the air quality isn’t great these days. There are quite a few patients with bronchial asthma, and the number of young patients has significantly increased. Many things can trigger it: stress, anxiety, exposure to cold or hot air, smog, pollen allergies, and so on. However, these asthma attacks usually subside after using an inhaler. You often see it in TV shows: the main character desperately rushing to a pharmacy to find an inhaler for someone. That’s not just scriptwriters making things up; it’s a life-saving medication for asthma patients, much like insulin for diabetics. This child’s case, however, is a bit unusual. After that one febrile convulsion, her asthma became much worse. Febrile convulsions are also common in children. You sometimes hear people say a child had a fever and then started convulsing—that’s a febrile convulsion.

"How are the blood test, sputum culture, and chest X-ray results?" Liu Banxia asked.

"The blood test is normal; the sputum is still being cultured. The chest X-ray is consistent with asthma, showing increased radiolucency and hyperinflation," Chen Hongyang responded.

"The child’s parents are extremely worried and distressed about her illness. She’s so young and hasn’t really had a proper childhood. They’re very cooperative, but I’m at a loss as to what tests to run next."

Ding! Task released: Complex Asthma

Open-ended task: The child’s asthma symptoms are severe. The host needs to further diagnose the condition. Rewards will be given based on the results of the diagnosis.

"Do you want to go see the child?" Chen Hongyang asked.

"Let’s wait a bit. I need to think through the whole situation first. Otherwise, if I go over now and can’t figure anything out, it’ll just make her parents even more worried," Liu Banxia said.

"Alright, I plan to have the child hospitalized for observation anyway; that’s also what her parents requested," Chen Hongyang stated.

"If you’re not busy over there, you could lend us a hand here for a while. There are many children needing IV infusions. How about helping the nurses ease their workload a bit?"

"Alright, I suppose I’ve been drafted. The two departments I dread going to the most are the ICU and Pediatrics. Seeing these little ones crying and whimpering, it just doesn’t sit right with me," Liu Banxia said with a bitter smile.

"It can’t be helped. Another cold snap is here, and kids easily catch colds when they’re playing and not paying attention," Chen Hongyang said.

Seeing Liu Banxia come over, the nurses working in Pediatrics were overjoyed.

The nurses working here are generally used to hardship and fatigue. What they feared most was giving injections to babies, especially when dealing with irritable parents.

Babies’ blood vessels are already very fine, and their small hands and feet are constantly moving; they won’t just lie still for an injection. That’s why, much of the time in pediatrics, when giving injections to babies under one year old, they opt for the scalp. The veins on the scalp are numerous and easier to access. After the IV is inserted, even if the baby moves a little, it’s less likely to be dislodged.

But even so, the injection is not easy. The pressure from the parents’ stares is immense, and the psychological stress is also intense. They’re terrified of missing the vein and triggering the parents’ wrath.

But with Liu Banxia around, it was a different story. His reputation for being quick and skillful was well-known, and his technique was characterized by three things: steadiness, accuracy, and decisiveness. If Liu Banxia helped out for just half an hour, it could be more productive than all of them working together for over an hour.

Since he’d been drafted anyway, Liu Banxia readily began to administer IVs to the babies who had been diagnosed and prescribed medication.

It really isn’t that easy to handle, much more difficult than I anticipated. It’s not like with Doudou. Doudou is familiar with me, so I can hold and play with Doudou however I want. These little ones here are all ’stranger babies,’ and since they’re not feeling well, they’re constantly restless.

However, Liu Banxia had his own methods. First encounter, a stranger; second encounter, an acquaintance, he thought. He’d hold a baby and play for a few minutes, gently massaging their little arms and legs, which seemed to make them a bit more comfortable.

Believe it or not, this approach he developed was quite effective. Initially, the babies would feel uncomfortable when he held them. After a few minutes of fussing, they would grab his hand and play with it.

While they were engrossed in playing, he would "mercilessly" administer the shot. The little ones would usually freeze for a moment, then scrunch up their faces and cry for a while.

Even if they don’t understand anything, you can’t just trick them like that, can you? They can still feel the pain from the needle.

The immediate consequence was that Liu Banxia’s area became overcrowded.

All the parents were eager to get their babies’ injections done quickly. Although it pained them to see their child suffer, the shot was necessary for them to get better. This male doctor seemed quite skilled. The few he had done were all successful on the first try, so the baby didn’t have to suffer as much. So, they queued up there, waiting for their turn.

The babies’ parents had a simple wish, but the nurses were thinking much more. This was because Liu Banxia was administering the IVs one-handed, while his other hand was busy entertaining the babies.

That was a true master skill, one we couldn’t replicate. Forget scalp veins; even when inserting an IV into an adult’s hand, we can’t do it one-handed! We need the other hand to stabilize the site to ensure a steady insertion and to avoid puncturing straight through the vein. After all, once the needle is in the vessel, it has to be advanced a bit further before it can be taped down.

The more they watched, the more amazed and envious they became. They were very clear about their own skill level; they really couldn’t learn his technique.

Chen Hongyang watched from the side, deeply impressed. I’d only heard rumors before, but today I’ve seen it with my own eyes. As a surgeon, Liu Banxia’s hands are truly a gift from heaven.