The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 692: Is anemia a related disease?

"President Liu, go take care of your things first," Wang Chao, who had just returned from lunch, said.

"I have to wait a bit longer. I just admitted a patient who seems a bit complicated. Now I’m waiting for the results of the complete blood count and CT scan before I head over to the inpatient department," Liu Banxia said.

"Then I won’t bother you. Handle things at your discretion. Qi Wentai is off today. Should I continue to assist Director Fang with their interview?" Wang Chao asked.

"That’s fine. Most reception tasks like this will fall on you from now on. Compared to you, our skills are a bit lacking," Liu Banxia said.

"I’ll take that as a compliment. What else can I say?" Wang Chao replied, raising his eyebrows good-naturedly.

Liu Yiqing, who was sitting beside him, couldn’t help but chuckle.

No matter what, she felt the atmosphere in the emergency center was quite harmonious. She’d spoken to other young colleagues, and they’d mentioned that all sorts of minor issues frequently occurred in the hospital. They might not have legendary, distinguished service records like Teacher Liu was rumored to have had in the past, but petty squabbles were incredibly common. However, the emergency center was genuinely good these days. Everyone helped each other, and that felt great.

"Banxia, how about this?" Shi Lei said. "You handle surgeries for two consecutive days, and then you can take a day off the day after tomorrow."

"Qiaoqiao just got pregnant. It wouldn’t be right if you don’t go home often. If you can’t guarantee four days off a month, three days should be manageable, right?"

Liu Banxia nodded. "Then I won’t stand on ceremony. If there are surgeries that can’t be managed, just send them my way. Liu Yiqing, help me tally them up and schedule two full days of surgery."

"Hmm... it’s fine even if the workload is a bit heavier. As long as the operating room can schedule them and the anesthesiology department can cooperate, I’ll have no problem at all."

Liu Yiqing rolled her eyes. She had also scrubbed in on those marathon surgery sessions. What was the intensity like back then? Everyone else was utterly exhausted, but Liu the Big Devil was completely unfazed. What he just said was incredibly irritating. If anyone else said it, it would be bragging, but when Liu the Big Devil said it, it was merely stating a fact.

After a short while, the child’s CT scan results came back negative.

For the child’s parents, this was good news. But for Liu Banxia, the unease in his heart grew heavier.

If it’s a neurological issue and the brain is clear, then the problem might be in the spine. Sudden compression at a specific point could be affecting the leg nerves.

However, he didn’t dare voice this thought now, similar to his earlier hesitation about suggesting the CT scan. He was afraid the parents would think he was fabricating reasons to order more tests.

The child’s headache also concerned him. Pain anywhere in the body indicates some form of pathological change.

"Currently, it appears there’s no problem with the brain. Let’s wait for the complete blood count results," Liu Banxia said.

"Doctor, what do you think the cause is?" the child’s mother asked.

"I can’t say for sure right now. We need to rely on the test results. Many things could cause this current situation, and random speculation would only add to your anxiety," Liu Banxia replied.

"Yufen, try not to worry for now. Didn’t the doctor in the CT room say that Dr. Liu is very skilled? Let’s just trust Dr. Liu," the child’s father comforted her.

"No matter their age, children are always precious to their parents. Please rest assured, I will do my absolute best to determine what’s wrong with your child," Liu Banxia said.

"Even if I can’t figure it out, I can call in other specialists for a consultation. In our hospital, we are dedicated to doing our utmost for every single patient."

"Thank you, Dr. Liu," the child’s father said.

Just then, a nurse brought over the child’s complete blood count report. It had taken a bit longer because the patient wasn’t an urgent case, so the sample was processed in a batch with others. After reviewing the blood test report, Liu Banxia’s brow furrowed even more. The report showed an elevated white blood cell count and some anemia.

"Doctor, my vision seems to be getting a bit blurry," the child, sitting on the examination bed, said while Liu Banxia was still deep in thought.

Liu Banxia quickly took out his penlight and shone it into the child’s pupils. "Follow the light with your eyes. Does the light feel too bright now?"

"No, things just look blurry... Hmm, it seems better now. The light is a bit dazzling," the child replied.

"That might have been a temporary dysfunction. Wait a moment, I’ll get another doctor. Liu Yiqing, see who’s available in Neurology and ask them to come for a consultation," Liu Banxia said.

"Okay." Liu Yiqing immediately hurried off to the neurology department.

He’s already calling a neurologist for a consultation? This could be meningitis. Meningitis doesn’t show up on a CT scan, which would explain the negative result.

"Dr. Liu, what is it? Is it really serious?" the child’s mother asked, her voice filled with worry.

"I’m not entirely sure at this point, so I’ve asked another doctor to take a look. Please try not to worry too much," Liu Banxia said.

Despite Liu Banxia’s reassurance, the parents’ faces grew even more anxious. They had personally witnessed their child’s momentary loss of vision and naturally knew this wasn’t normal.

"President Liu, what’s the patient’s situation?" Peng Bo from Neurology asked as he arrived.

"The initial report was dizziness followed by fainting, but it felt more like syncope to me," Liu Banxia explained. "A physical exam showed a slightly elevated temperature and the cranial CT was negative. The complete blood count just came back showing mild anemia and a somewhat high white blood cell count. Other symptoms include a headache and, just recently, temporary visual impairment."

Hearing Liu Banxia’s summary, Peng Bo also frowned. "Let’s do a lumbar puncture. The indications are clear enough."

Liu Banxia nodded and turned to the child’s parents. "This is Doctor Peng from Neurology. We both suspect the child might have something like meningitis or encephalitis. Meningitis doesn’t show up on a CT scan, and if encephalitis is very mild, it might not be visible on a CT either. That’s why we recommend a lumbar puncture to examine the cerebrospinal fluid. The current indicators are the child’s elevated temperature, headache, and the temporary functional impairments—not just the recent vision problem, but also when his legs gave out earlier."

"Do it, Dr. Liu, please do it quickly! If you find out what it is, it can be treated, right?" the child’s father urged anxiously.

"That will depend on the child’s specific condition. He is somewhat anemic, but we can’t yet determine if that’s a related symptom," Liu Banxia explained. "If the anemia isn’t a related symptom, then today’s episode might have been dizziness from the anemia causing him to feel faint. And if, coincidentally, he’s also affected by encephalitis or meningitis, that would explain the weakness in his legs and the brief loss of consciousness. Let’s wait for the lumbar puncture results. If the anemia *is* a related symptom, there might be other underlying problems. We can’t make a definitive diagnosis right now; everything depends on the results."

DING!

Mission Issued: Is the Anemia a Related Symptom?

Open-Ended Task: Following initial assessment, it remains undetermined if the patient’s anemia is a related symptom. The host is required to conduct further examinations to provide a definitive diagnosis for the patient’s condition. Reward will be contingent upon the diagnostic outcome.

Liu Banxia frowned slightly as he looked at the mission details, but his expression quickly smoothed over.

The previous mission was triggered by his own thoughts, but this one isn’t very clear. It seems to encompass two aspects: the child’s anemia and the current manifestation of his illness.

However, he couldn’t dwell on it now. The child’s lumbar puncture was the priority.

The person chosen to perform the procedure was, naturally, Liu Yiqing. For them, a lumbar puncture was now a routine task, unlike when they first joined the emergency center and would get excited about such opportunities.

"Teacher Liu, the intracranial pressure is a bit high," Liu Yiqing remarked during the procedure.

"Tell the lab to process it urgently when you send it over," Liu Banxia said.

"Dr. Liu, can the diagnosis be confirmed now?" the child’s mother asked.

"We still can’t be certain. Many things can cause increased intracranial pressure. Let’s wait a little longer; the lab results should be back soon," Liu Banxia replied. "Try to recall, has your child had any cold symptoms recently? Did he have measles when he was younger? Or any other unusual occurrences lately?"

The couple shook their heads; their child had been perfectly normal recently.

Liu Banxia paused in thought, then nodded. "Then let’s wait patiently. Perhaps our initial assessment was off, and it’s not what we think."

For now, he could only offer these words of reassurance to the parents. Inwardly, however, both he and Peng Bo were quite certain the child had either encephalitis or meningitis. The indications were just too clear: temporary functional impairments, elevated white blood cell count, headache, fever, and a negative cranial CT scan—it all pointed too strongly in that direction.

Even so, he couldn’t give a definitive diagnosis yet; that depended on the lab results. There are countless diseases, and this was merely an inference based on experience. What concerned him more was the anemia. While it could be a coincidence, it felt too coincidental. It was quite possible the anemia was genuinely related to the child’s current illness.

The child’s parents knew that worrying wouldn’t help, so they returned to their child’s bedside.

Liu Banxia rubbed his face. The lab results would still take some time. Waiting around idly wouldn’t do any good. I should head to the proctology department first. Time was truly tight for him now. To secure that extra day off, he had to utilize every spare moment.