Zhou Can nodded, the timing matched the disease he suspected very closely.
From four o’clock in the afternoon to seven o’clock this morning, roughly 15 hours. Just after seven in the morning, when he came to check on the patient in bed 71, he found the patient in bed 73 humming in discomfort.
It indicated that severe symptoms had already started to manifest at that time.
"Is the restaurant where you bought the chicken soup a small one?" Zhou Can asked the family members again.
"Yes, it’s a small restaurant that specializes in fast food."
"He underwent a pancreatic duct stone removal surgery, which is considered a major surgery. According to medical advice, he should not eat for three to five days. Didn’t the nurse tell you that?"
Zhou Can was speechless towards such family members.
They completely disregarded the doctor’s instructions.
Many family members believe that after just having surgery, the patient is weak and needs a large amount of nutrition to recover quickly.
Little do they know, there’s a saying in traditional Chinese medicine: a weak body should not be nourished.
It is very wrong to take large nutritional supplements immediately after recovering from a serious illness.
Right after surgery, the patient needs to eat food that is mild and easy to digest. Spicy food, smoking, and alcohol should be avoided.
This patient just had pancreatic duct stone removal surgery, and could drink water after five or six hours post-surgery, but could not eat.
Doctors also provide the patient with some necessary nutritional support.
Actually, family members don’t need to worry at all.
"You said water was okay, right? I just thought, drinking chicken soup should be no different from drinking water... Is my husband suffering these severe adverse reactions because he drank the chicken soup?"
The family member, upon hearing Zhou Can’s words tinged with blame, was immediately filled with self-reproach and regret.
It was meant to be a kind gesture, but ended up harming her husband instead.
"Drinking chicken soup itself wouldn’t cause so many problems; it’s likely that the chicken soup you provided had issues," Zhou Can said seriously.
Yu Xin had no part but to watch and listen throughout the entire diagnosis process.
She had no ability to lead the questioning like Zhou Can and extrapolate the things the patient did behind the doctor and nurse’s back from mere hints.
Truth be told, even she, the attending doctor, didn’t know that the patient had secretly drunk chicken soup yesterday.
She had consistently emphasized to the family members that the patient should not eat anything for a week post-surgery.
She deliberately extended the fasting period by two or three days as a precaution.
But the family members, thinking they knew better, went outside and snuck in some chicken soup for the patient.
Some young women, after watching video clips on the internet, demand this and that from their boyfriends or husbands. They desperately wish their husbands could be as outstanding as the male idols in the videos, causing unrest at home.
Netizens call this phenomenon ’toxic chicken soup’ from the internet.
Now, the chicken soup provided to the patient by the family members is literal toxic chicken soup.
"There’s a problem with the chicken soup? That shouldn’t be possible! I personally selected the live chicken and asked them to kill and prepare it on the spot!"
The family member rebutted.
"Judging from the patient’s various symptoms, it doesn’t seem like postoperative complications but rather food poisoning. In the future, you must strictly follow medical advice. If you have any ideas or doubts, you can always ask doctors or nurses in time. You must believe that doctors and nurses are not the enemies of patients. We exert our utmost effort, with the same goal as family members - we all hope for the patient’s speedy recovery. Patients are not allowed to eat because their physical condition does not permit it, not because doctors want to mistreat them."
Zhou Can was earnestly doing the ideological work with the family member, hoping she would learn from this experience.
"To make an inappropriate analogy, it’s like when you don’t allow your child to eat junk food. To you, it’s for their health, as many cases of leukemia and tumors come from eating junk food. But your child doesn’t think so; they only think that mom won’t let them enjoy the tasty snack and that they can’t indulge their cravings anymore."
Zhou Can even gave an example to educate the family member.
As soon as he finished speaking, patients from the other beds spontaneously applauded Zhou Can.
"Dr. Zhou is absolutely right! Doctors have the heart of a parent. We will definitely try to understand the doctor’s intentions more in the future," said the daughter of the patient in bed 71, who stayed in the room to care for the patient.
She had always had a good impression of Zhou Can and trusted him highly.
She was the first to speak up in support of Zhou Can.
"Thank you all for your recognition. As doctors, we are not enemies of patients and their families; we are comrades-in-arms, fighting together to eliminate the disease. The greatest trust and understanding from families, and seeing patients recover and leave the hospital, are the most gratifying things for us."
Zhou Can spoke to the family members and patients in the ward.
This incident could lead to more understanding from family members and patients towards doctors, which would be a good thing.
"Dr. Zhou, what kind of food poisoning does this patient have?"
At this moment, the look in Yu Xin’s eyes towards Zhou Can was filled with sincere admiration.
Both his medical skills and ethics deeply touched her.
All her previous pride, compared to Zhou Can, was like the faint light of a firefly vying with the moon. The two were worlds apart.
"If I’m not mistaken, it’s likely due to Salmonella. Chicken is the most common carrier of Salmonella, and if the bacteria within the chicken meat isn’t killed by high temperatures during cooking, consuming it can cause an infection."
Zhou Can expressed his diagnosis.
Whether this result is accurate would still need to be confirmed with further tests.