The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 816: Intervention Possible, but Highly Challenging

The patient hasn't returned yet. Liu Banxia thought for a moment and decided to discuss it with Chen Xuehai first. If surgery intervention is really needed, the emergency center only has him available.

This is the price of fame and skill; Liu Banxia's first choice is also him. Perhaps the other cardiac surgeon, Wu Xiaoyue, could do it too, but she'd be second in line.

"How many patients are left?"

After Chen Xuehai finished diagnosing a patient, Liu Banxia asked.

"This is the last one, the rest are follow-ups, to be seen in the afternoon. What brings you here?" Chen Xuehai asked.

"Perfect timing, I accepted a patient for you, almost certainly esophageal cancer, went for an esophagoscopy." Liu Banxia said.

Chen Xuehai gave him a look of helplessness.

"What can I do? This is my first day officially diagnosing, and I encountered such a cross-disciplinary case. The problem is quite serious, the health indicators are bad, check it out." Liu Banxia said as he pulled up the patient's examination data on Chen Xuehai's computer.

"This is a headache. Everything is high, making surgery very difficult. Wow, the blood pressure is so high too, it'll take several days to adjust these indicators to normal." Chen Xuehai frowned after reviewing it.

"Well, if there's no challenge at all, would it justify your skills? However, judging from the X-ray, even if it's esophageal cancer, it should be at an early stage, right?" Liu Banxia asked.

"More or less, let's wait and see what the esophagoscopy shows." Chen Xuehai nodded.

"But given the patient's current health indicators, the surgical risk is very high. It's not just the risk of the surgery itself, his overall physical condition is quite poor."

"Let's wait for the results then, I'll go outside to check, should be back by now." After saying this, Liu Banxia stepped outside the consultation room.

He didn't know a thing about this kind of surgery. However, he did understand the general situation, the patient's health was indeed too poor, and without good health indicators, it invisibly adds a lot of risk to the surgery.

Unless it's an emergency patient needing immediate operation, normally, a detailed physical examination is required before surgery. It's also to avoid liability, as being less thorough may lead to unexpected mistakes.

After waiting for about ten more minutes, the patient returned with heavy steps. Liu Banxia sighed in his heart and waved him over.

"Doctor, the doctor who did the esophagoscopy said my esophagus is in bad shape," the patient said.

"I've arranged for the director doctor in our emergency chest surgery to take a look at your condition." Liu Banxia said.

The patient nodded and followed Liu Banxia to Chen Xuehai's consultation room.

Chen Xuehai first looked at the images captured over there, then pulled up the whole examination record on the computer. Seeing the images displayed on the screen, even Liu Banxia frowned.

The esophagoscopy images are more direct and show a much more severe condition than what the X-ray revealed.

"Did you come by yourself? Didn't your family accompany you?" Chen Xuehai asked.

The patient nodded, "Doctor, just tell me directly, is it cancer?"

Chen Xuehai gave him a look, "The chance of malignancy is very high, but judging by the current presentation, it should be in the early stages without metastasis."

"Doctor, can it still be treated?" The patient asked nervously.

Even though he had mentally prepared himself somewhat, hearing the diagnosis from Chen Xuehai still made him panic. This concerns his life, and next comes the judgment from this doctor.

Chen Xuehai didn't answer immediately but instead took a careful look at the images on the computer.

"How long have you experienced this acid reflux?" Chen Xuehai asked.

"Over three years, it wasn't that severe at first. Just over this past half-year, it's gotten worse. Sometimes it even chokes me awake at night, with a strange taste in my mouth." The patient said.

"I saw a doctor before for the acid reflux and was prescribed omeprazole. At first, it was somewhat effective, but later on, it didn't work as much anymore, so I stopped taking it."

"It's not that it didn't work, but you can't control what you eat, consuming too many high-fat foods. Your stomach is overburdened every day and can't digest what's consumed." Chen Xuehai said.

"No matter how effective the medicine is, if you don't control your diet, what use is the medicine? It's equivalent to extinguishing a fire while pouring oil on it."

"Doctor, if I change now, can it be treated?" The patient asked hopefully.

Chen Xuehai nodded, "It can be treated. But I need to be clear with you, undergoing this surgery carries much higher risks than normal patients." 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

"Regarding your situation, I'll tell you directly. Currently, there's a surgical indication, and surgical treatment can eradicate the lesion on your esophagus, this area."

"However, your actual condition isn't limited to this. Look here, this is the healthy esophagus of another patient, he just got a fish bone stuck, but when you compare his esophageal wall to yours, isn't it quite obvious?"

"I see you're only 33, but judging by the state of your esophagus, it seems more like that of someone in their sixties."

"One reason is your binge eating has placed a considerable burden on your esophagus, and another is your acid reflux. The gastric contents have long been irritating the esophagus, accelerating its aging."

"So if we're looking to perform surgery, a regular esophageal tumor resection won't achieve the best results anymore. The affected area is quite large, and the esophagus' condition is quite poor. If we want to proceed with surgery, we need to perform a right colon interposition for esophageal replacement."

"This means we'll use your own right colon to replace the esophagus. Although this will have some impact on your future lifestyle, it would provide a more thorough treatment."

"The surgery is very risky, and even if I don't say it, you should understand. It's a major surgery, and your physical indicators are not ideal yet."

"However, surgical intervention is currently the most secure method. Otherwise, if esophageal cancer progresses to the mid to late stage, no matter how hard we try, it will be very challenging."

"This isn't a trivial matter. You must explain this clearly to your family, because the risks of surgery are very high, yet it's our only option right now."

Ding! Patient consultation complete.

Gained 50 experience points.

The patient sat across silently staring at the examination report, both Chen Xuehai and Liu Banxia understood his feelings and remained silent.

Often it's a decision only one can make, especially when it involves a decision crucial to one's life.

Even though the task reward wasn't much, Liu Banxia wasn't picky. After all, while the disease is severe, it doesn't count as a difficult case.

The diagnosis was clear just through the standard set of examinations.

"Doctor, I think I'll head home first." After thinking for a while, the patient spoke.

Chen Xuehai nodded, "Did you drive here or come by public transport? If you drove, consider getting someone to drive you back, or simply take a taxi home."

"The surgery is major, you need to be mentally prepared. But I do have experience with such surgeries, and the chances of success are high. I can't guarantee there won't be any mishaps, but I will do my best."

In TV shows, those who boast about success, patting their chest and saying, "I can do it," need to consider what surgery it is. For such a major operation, even if Li Mingwu were here, he'd be cautious with his claims.

The patient's physical indicators are poor, which adds significant risks to the surgery.

Don't assume that boosting the patient's confidence by glossing over things is a good idea. If you do, and mishaps occur during the surgery, you're in deep trouble.

It's not over after a pre-surgery explanation and signing disclosure agreements. If during any part of the consultation you guaranteed results and something goes wrong, the responsibility is yours.

Because you are the professional, and the patient is an ordinary person without your level of expertise.

"It's about time, should we grab some lunch? What do you think about the success rate of this operation?" Liu Banxia asked curiously.

"Hard to say, we'd need to thoroughly examine his body before getting a clearer picture." Chen Xuehai replied.

"Given his condition, with triglycerides so high, blood pressure elevated, and potential diabetes, too many complications could arise."

"Moreover, we also need to carefully assess his coronary arteries, there's bound to be signs of atherosclerosis, just have to see how severe it is."

"For other patients, pre-surgery adjustments might take a day or two and they're ready. But for him, it'll take more days of adjustment. And you, crossing fields and accepting jobs, picked such a big one? Lunch is on you today."

"What a miser, fine, lunch is on me." Liu Banxia muttered under his breath.

He also felt a sense of relief, knowing that Chen Xuehai's words mean he's seriously considered it, and the success rate of the surgery is still quite high.

"Young people these days really don't take care of themselves, even if the food's delicious, you shouldn't eat like this." Chen Xuehai said.

"Sometimes it's just about lacking rational control, people know drugs are bad for them too. Some start from curiosity, then fall into a trap." Liu Banxia said.

"At least eating and drinking's not against the law, and it satisfies a craving. This young fellow might have developed these eating habits over time. Otherwise, if it were us, we wouldn't stomach it."

"Oh, you can't handle it either? In the entire Second Hospital, there's no one who can eat as much as you, right?" Chen Xuehai asked curiously.

Liu Banxia rolled his eyes, "I eat a lot because I burn a lot of energy, and my diet is balanced. Give me a pile of fried skewers now, I wouldn't be able to eat them."

"Some barbecue is okay. What, want to treat me to a meal? No problem. By the way, I've resigned, have plenty of free time now; whenever you're available, let's go for a meal together. I owe you all lunch, have to make it up."

"Don't worry, we definitely will." Chen Xuehai chuckled.