The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 501 Diseases Enter through the Mouth

As Liu Banxia had "anticipated," starting from around three in the afternoon, there was a noticeable increase in patients with stones arriving at the emergency center.

However, it wasn’t just the kidney stone patients he had mentioned—those usually peaked after the New Year. The current influx consisted mainly of patients with gallstones and cholecystitis.

Whether in the North or South, the standard of meals typically improves significantly during the New Year period. These richer foods often contain high amounts of fat and cholesterol, increasing the burden on the gallbladder.

Regardless of whether individuals had cholecystitis or gallstones, their gallbladder mucosa often had some pathological changes. Now, their gallbladders needed to work at full capacity, ramping up bile secretion to aid digestion.

It was like taking a car that was just barely drivable, then suddenly slamming the accelerator to the floor and trying to go for a joyride at top speed. Could the car possibly handle that?

Some patients could be managed with fluid infusions, while others with many gallstones might need surgery to remove their gallbladders.

Luckily, compared to the usual patient volume, there were still fewer patients today, so Liu Banxia didn’t need to step in. Shi Lei and Qi Wentao handled everything.

In the afternoon, Wei Yuan and Wang Chao had been sent to rest to prepare for the night shift.

Meanwhile, Liu Banxia attended to trauma and intoxicated patients in the lobby. So far, no patients with myocardial infarction or cerebral infarction had been sent over, but this was only temporary. During the Spring Festival, such cases were common.

"Miao Rui, take the next patients," Liu Banxia instructed, seeing two more people clutching their heads enter.

"How are we preparing for tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve dinner?" Zhou Li asked, sidling up to Liu Banxia.

"Hot dumplings, of course," Liu Banxia said.

"I hope there won’t be too many patients tomorrow night. Otherwise, with so many people, Zhou Qiang and the others will struggle to make enough dumplings. If it really comes to that, we’ll have to see if the inpatient department can lend a hand. We definitely can’t manage by ourselves."

"There’s something I need to tell you," Zhou Li said, glancing sideways.

"What’s up?" Liu Banxia asked curiously.

"Sister Wang talked to me. She feels there’s too much going on at home, so she wants to step back from frontline duties and have me take over managing the emergency center," Zhou Li said.

"I didn’t know about this. What are your thoughts on it?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Well, I’m torn," Zhou Li said, her face scrunching up.

"My initial plan was to get pregnant this year, have the baby next year, take three or four months of maternity leave, and then come back to work. By then, the baby would have care, and I could consider the head nurse position."

"But now Sister Wang has just thrown this at me, saying the elderly woman in her family’s health hasn’t been good recently. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have taken leave recently. So now I’m worried."

Liu Banxia nodded; it was indeed a troublesome matter.

This was a classic conflict between family and work. If Zhou Li became head nurse this year, it would definitely affect her plans for a child. That was a given; no head nurse takes maternity leave so soon after starting the position.

At the very least, she would need to solidify her position and get the work running smoothly. Only then, if she took a three or four-month maternity leave, would they likely hold her position for her.

The role of head nurse was important and unique; nursing work was a crucial part of hospital operations.

You had to make the nurses respect and trust you to be a good head nurse.

The current nurses weren’t an issue. Many were veterans of the emergency department, and some were interns. But what about after the Emergency Center expanded this year? They would certainly hire many more nurses, and managing them wouldn’t be easy.

Don’t assume there are no nurses with connections; doesn’t Xu Dan have Director Xiao backing her? Getting into a Grade A Tertiary hospital wasn’t easy, particularly one that was currently making a name for itself in Binhai City.

"Sister Li, about this, I think you really need to have a good talk with Old Wang," Liu Banxia suggested after some thought.

"I’m behind you in everything else, even if it means confronting Old Wang on your behalf. But in this matter, I stand with Old Wang. And this isn’t out of male chauvinism."

"When it comes to married life, Old Wang is already very accommodating towards you. When it involves children, even if you usually call the shots, you should still discuss it with him."

"Sigh... I just don’t know how to broach this subject with Old Wang," Zhou Li sighed.

"You have to talk about it, one way or another. Otherwise, this could create a rift between you. Haven’t we seen enough of that in our hospital?" Liu Banxia said.

"On this matter, if you’re asking for my opinion, that’s it. If you do become head nurse, it will definitely impact your plans to conceive."

"What’s the use of having you as my ’little brother’? You can’t help when it counts," Zhou Li said, exasperatedly swatting his arm.

Liu Banxia didn’t dare to make a sound. A little swat was nothing; he truly couldn’t side with her on this.

From a career perspective, this was a golden opportunity. But from a family perspective, this could potentially plant a landmine.

It’s one thing for a husband and wife to have occasional disagreements and discuss them, but many problems arise when one side makes unilateral decisions and the other is merely informed.

It was just like with him and Qiaoqiao; sometimes they had disagreements too. He’d try to rebel, of course, but getting suppressed was a different story.

And this highlighted the difficulties women face in the workplace. It wasn’t necessarily about employers discriminating against women; the head nurse’s job was just too important to be left vacant for long.

"What’s wrong? Why do you look so gloomy?" Shi Lei asked curiously, having just come out of the operating room.

"It’s Sister Li’s troubles," Liu Banxia said, briefly explaining the main points to him.

"Indeed, Old Wang has wanted a child for a long time," Shi Lei nodded after hearing the story.

"Before, it was about the house; now, it’s about work. It’s really tough. Can’t you think of a solution? You’re usually pretty sharp."

"What can I possibly think of? I’m drawing a blank," Liu Banxia said helplessly.

"Doctor, doctor, come and see my dad! He hit his head and it’s bleeding, and he’s really dizzy!" Several people rushed in from the entrance.

Liu Banxia paused for a moment; it was another familiar patient. "Huang Bo, take this case."

Huang Bo, who had rushed over, was also taken aback when he saw the patient. Wasn’t this the patient with Auto-brewery syndrome?

As soon as he reached the patient, Huang Bo smelled alcohol.

"Did he indulge in food at home?" Huang Bo frowned and asked.

"He just ate some dumplings and vegetables at noon, then took a nap on the sofa. After he got up, he felt dizzy and hit his head on the coffee table," the patient’s daughter anxiously explained.

"Let me take a look at the wound first," Huang Bo said.

He removed the tissue covering the wound. It wasn’t too severe, and the bleeding had already stopped during the journey here.

"First, get him registered, then a head CT scan, and then we’ll reassess his treatment," Huang Bo instructed.

"Doctor, did my dad’s condition flare up just from eating a few dumplings?" the patient’s daughter asked.

"Very possible," Huang Bo nodded.

"Actually, he’s still in an adjustment period, and dumpling wrappers contain a lot of starch. Even our regular diet contains some carbohydrates, all of which can be converted into alcohol."

"Usually, if he’s careful with his diet, it’s not a big problem. In his current state, he must have consumed too much recently, causing the fermentation process to start again in his intestines."

The patient’s family members were clearly worried, but there was nothing else to do for now except get the CT scan first.

"His condition relapsed, didn’t it?" Liu Banxia asked Huang Bo when he returned.

Huang Bo nodded. "There’s a strong smell of alcohol on him. He said he only ate a few dumplings. I suspect he must have slacked off on his diet a bit these past two days."

"But indeed, it’s hard to control a condition like his. We can only do our best and hope for a favorable outcome," Liu Banxia said.

It’s impossible to completely eliminate the intake of triggering foods, so it can only be controlled as much as possible.

He probably felt better recently and then let his guard down with his diet. Over three to five days, these foods accumulated and started causing trouble.

"And you’ve noticed, right? Many patients’ recurring illnesses are caused by their inability to control their diet," Liu Banxia continued.

"Today, we had three patients whose chronic cholecystitis turned into acute cholecystitis. They all thought a little indulgence wouldn’t matter and that they could just be more careful later."

"Diet-induced illnesses actually account for a large proportion. Food safety these days is also a factor. The ’illness’ in ’illness enters through the mouth’ doesn’t just refer to ingesting toxins."

"So what can be done for this patient? His gait seems unstable," Shi Lei said.

"He had some symptoms of brain fog during the last consultation, and we don’t know if it has gotten worse this time. This condition is so troublesome," Liu Banxia said with a bitter smile.

"Any relapsing condition will only get worse with each recurrence. And his condition isn’t easy to control, unlike cholecystitis, where you can just reduce fat and cholesterol intake."

"I hope he’ll be more careful in the future. No one can manage this for him; it all depends on his own self-control. Naturally, his days ahead will be very tough."

Having an illness that requires dietary restrictions is truly torturous. Among the basic necessities of life—clothing, food, shelter, and transportation—food ranks second. Many people are long past the stage of simply not starving; now, they want to eat "well."

After chatting for a little longer, the CT results came out.

He was fortunate; although he had hit the edge of the coffee table, his brain scan showed no immediate problems. He would be admitted to the hospital for now and continue with the same treatment regimen as last time.

For this condition, there really were no other options, no more advanced medical methods available. Even abroad, this condition was still in the exploratory and experimental treatment stages.

If this patient’s condition didn’t show better results after a few days of this treatment adjustment, it would mean his drug sensitivity had decreased, and they would have to consider changing his medication.