Chapter 609: Chapter 257: The Wicked Have No Limits, Dr. Chi’s Plea for Help_3
Dr. Chi hesitated for a moment, then continued.
“Considering how young she is, only 17 this year, it would be such a pity if my misdiagnosis leads to a delay in her condition! Your diagnoses are always precise, so I wanted to ask you to double-check for me.”
Dr. Chi’s face flushed slightly as he said the words ‘double-check.’
An almost associate chief physician, asking an intern to double-check a patient’s diagnosis.
It’s like a teacher asking their student to help check if the answers to the questions are correct.
“I wouldn’t dare to presume to double-check, at most we can discuss it together and learn from each other.”
Zhou Can tried his best to spare Dr. Chi any embarrassment.
Seeing Zhou Can agree, Dr. Chi let out a sigh of relief and a happy smile appeared on his face.
“The patient’s information can be found in the computer, and her name is Tang Menghui.”
Zhou Can opened the department’s patient list. There were several hundred patients being treated and awaiting diagnosis. It’d be too time-consuming to search for each one individually, so he typed in the name to search.
Tang Menghui’s information popped up.
“Yes, yes, that’s her!”
Dr. Chi pointed to the patient’s name from behind.
Zhou Can clicked and reviewed each detail.
The patient’s record wasn’t very comprehensive, but the admission tests, initial consultation, and inquiries provided enough information for Zhou Can to make a full diagnosis for this female patient.
Just 17 years old, in the prime of youth.
It would indeed be a great pity if a misdiagnosis led to a delay in her treatment.
Zhou Can couldn’t be careless, reviewing each piece of information about the patient with the utmost caution.
“From the examination results and symptoms, it does seem very much like intestinal tuberculosis. She is still hospitalized, right?”
“Yes! She’s in bed 105.”
“I’ll go to the ward to see her, a face-to-face diagnosis will allow for a more direct assessment.”
When diagnosing such challenging and complex diseases, Zhou Can preferred to assess the patient’s complexion, body shape, and mental state, and then combine those observations with test information, medical history, and symptoms to make a direct comprehensive diagnosis.
Dr. Chi accompanied him to the ward.
On bed 105, a young girl with a pale complexion lay there. She had a lovely face, delicate features, but was extremely thin. She resembled the fragile and frail young ladies from ancient legends, weak and delicate.
“Do you vomit regularly? Like after eating or at a certain time?”
Zhou Can asked the patient.
The accompanying family member looked utterly confused. What’s going on?
A doctor in his forties asking such a young doctor, who seemed ridiculously young, to treat their sister and, moreover, Dr. Chi appeared to be deferring to the young doctor.
Could this young doctor be a doctoral graduate from a prestigious overseas university?
The family member was puzzled but typically kept their questions to themselves, not asking aloud.
There were, however, exceptions where more straightforward and less tactful family members would inquire about the background of the doctor brought by the attending physician.
“The vomiting isn’t at a fixed time, mostly occurring an hour or two after eating. But it’s not absolute. Sometimes I’d wake up in the middle of the night feeling terrible and then vomit.”
The girl answered weakly.
Zhou Can reached out with the back of his hand to feel her forehead.
It felt slightly warm, likely a low-grade fever.
Her vital signs collected earlier in the office also indicated a persistent low fever.
Such a continuous low fever could make a person feel exhausted and listless.
It could also be understood as the body burning stored energy, raising its temperature to enhance immunity and fight off viral infections.
Every one-degree rise in body temperature could significantly boost immunity.
A fever is a self-protection mechanism of the body’s immune system.
A fever can also indirectly provide information about an illness. For example, a high fever over a short period indicates a very aggressive disease, an emergency situation such as severe cold or viral infections.
If it’s a persistent low-grade fever, it often suggests the possibility of a chronic disease.
The most worrying is the intermittent low-grade fever, repeated fever; such diseases are generally more difficult to handle.
“Could you lift your shirt a bit so I can examine your abdomen?”
Zhou Can said as expressionless as possible.
When diagnosing female patients, especially performing examinations like palpation in private areas, one needs to be very careful. If the family member is moody, misunderstandings can easily occur, leading to unnecessary disputes.
Doctors are there to diagnose and treat patients; it’s a volunteer cooperative relationship with the patient.
If a patient does not cooperate with an examination, it certainly cannot be forced.
The girl was somewhat embarrassed, but under her mother’s encouragement, she eventually lifted her shirt, revealing her smooth and flat abdomen.
“That’s enough. Tell me if it hurts when I press down.”
Palpation helps the doctor more precisely locate the area of disease.