CLANG! A dull sound pulled Du Heng from his immersion in the ocean of knowledge, and the pale blue screen before his eyes vanished.
Looking at the wide-open office door and the frantic nurse, Du Heng was a bit stunned.
"Doctor Du, don't just stand there! Fan Yuxiang can't catch his breath!" Seeing Du Heng still dazed, Nurse Wang Lili couldn't help but urge him again.
Fan Yuxiang? Upon hearing the name, Du Heng immediately snapped to attention.
Fan Yuxiang was a 52-year-old male, admitted on February 23rd. Dr. Zhang Jinlian of the Internal Medicine Department had diagnosed him with a cold and an upper respiratory tract infection. He had been receiving treatment for six days, but his condition kept worsening without any sign of improvement.
As Fan Yuxiang was the only inpatient at the Health Clinic in recent days, Du Heng was somewhat familiar with his case.
If a cold is treated for six days without any improvement, there must be some other issue, he thought. Either Dr. Zhang made an incorrect diagnosis, or there's a problem with the medication.
However, the patient is under Dr. Zhang's care, and that woman is rather domineering and strong-willed. Du Heng didn't want to stick his nose in and invite trouble.
"Shouldn't you find Dr. Zhang? Why come to me?"
Wang Lili was frantic. She rushed in, grabbed Du Heng's arm, and pulled him outside. "Dr. Zhang said she was stepping out for a bit. Now she's nowhere to be found, and her phone is unreachable!"
Du Heng, being pulled along, still managed to ask, "Where's Director Li?"
"He went to a meeting in town. Oh, stop asking questions! Let's hurry and see the patient!"
The Health Clinic had only four doctors in total. Director Li Qingde specialized in surgery and was usually busy, so he didn't see many patients. The Chinese Medicine Department had two people: Du Heng and Wu Buwei, a recent graduate awaiting his professional practice exam. Effectively, Du Heng was the only one readily available from that department. The Internal Medicine Department also had two doctors. One was due to retire in April and had already stopped coming to work, just waiting for the official date. The other was Zhang Jinlian, a 43-year-old attending physician known for her domineering and overbearing nature. Unless a patient specifically requested another doctor, she wouldn't let a single one slip through her fingers.
Therefore, Du Heng genuinely wanted no dealings with this woman.
But now, with her missing and the patient in danger, he could only sigh and hurry to the hospital room.
The moment he rushed into the hospital room, Du Heng's heart lurched.
The patient's face was visibly turning a bluish-gray, his lips were cyanotic, and his breathing was rapid yet shallow. He was coughing severely and in imminent danger of suffocation.
His junior, Wu Buwei, and another new nurse, Li Nating, were standing by, panicking, having taken no emergency measures.
"Stop standing around! Get the oxygen tank over here, quickly! Hook him up!"
Du Heng had no time to get angry. He barked the order and immediately began examining the patient.
Approaching the bed, he saw the patient was too breathless to speak and could hear a distinct rattling sound of phlegm in his throat.
"Senior Brother, the oxygen is here. Should I connect it now?"
"No. Get the suction device first."
Wu Buwei hurried to the adjacent equipment room, grabbed the suction device, and rushed back.
Du Heng used the suction device to clear the sputum from the patient's throat. After a quick look at the patient's tongue, he said, "Alright, now hook him up to the oxygen."
Wang Lili, still flustered, asked, "Doctor Du, is he going to be okay now?"
"Not yet."
Although oxygen was being administered, the patient's severe coughing and shortness of breath showed no signs of improving.
However, with the phlegm cleared from his throat and the oxygen connected, the immediate danger of suffocation had passed.
"Buwei, go get my needle tool kit." With that, Du Heng began to take the patient's pulse.
But the patient was coughing so severely he couldn't stop. Each cough made his arm tremble, rendering an accurate pulse diagnosis impossible.
The medical equipment at the Health Clinic was very basic. Unlike larger hospitals, even administering oxygen involved wheeling around a standalone oxygen tank.
Wu Buwei left and returned quickly, handing the needle tool kit to Du Heng.
"Fan Yuxiang, please bear with this for a moment. Try not to cough too forcefully. I'm going to insert a few acupuncture needles." Turning his head, Du Heng looked at Wang Lili and said, "Unbutton his clothes."
Du Heng began sterilizing the needles, asking Wu Buwei directly, "Buwei, which acupoint should we needle now?"
Wu Buwei was taken aback. He was learning from Du Heng, but he'd never imagined being questioned under such critical circumstances. After hesitating for several seconds, he ventured, "Tiantu?"
"Be more certain. Can you afford to hesitate when treating a patient?" Du Heng admonished, steadily inserting a needle. "Tiantu. It's primarily used for asthma, cough, and similar symptoms."
While speaking, Du Heng glanced at Fan Yuxiang's chest and paused for a fraction of a second. He then continued the treatment without missing a beat, still instructing Wu Buwei, "The patient's cough is severe. When needling, we can add the EX-B1 acupoint for a more pronounced effect."
Wu Buwei nodded quickly, observing Du Heng's technique with intense focus.
Still, a sliver of doubt remained in Wu Buwei's mind. Du Heng had performed acupuncture before, but mostly for general wellness, not to treat acute conditions like this. This was the first time he'd seen Du Heng use acupuncture to treat an illness directly. Moreover, Du Heng's technique today was far steadier and more practiced than he remembered.
Most importantly, the results were astonishingly good.
Two minutes later, Fan Yuxiang's complexion had markedly improved. His coughing gradually subsided, and his breathing became much more stable.
Seeing Fan Yuxiang improve, Du Heng's expression remained serious. While removing the needles, he asked, "How do you feel now?"
Fan Yuxiang's voice was weak, but he could speak. "Much better. I can breathe now. It's just... my heart feels uncomfortable, like it's being squeezed or constricted."
Du Heng nodded. After checking the pulse again, he instructed, "Buwei, take this down: The patient presents with shortness of breath, palpitations, a red tongue with little coating, and a thready pulse. This indicates Lung Qi Deficiency causing shortness of breath. The treatment principle is to astringe the Lungs and downbear Qi. Prescribe: flos farfarae, schisandra, licorice, radix stemonae, and fructus perillae... also, crush five ginkgo nuts and prepare a single dose decoction."
"Noted, Senior Brother."
"Go prepare the decoction of medicine immediately."
After instructing Wu Buwei, Du Heng looked at Fan Yuxiang's chest, pondered for a moment, then said, "I need to do one more check-up."
Seeing Du Heng's serious expression, Fan Yuxiang feared he had a major illness. A wave of panic hit him, and he quickly nodded.
Difficulty breathing, cyanotic fingers and lips, barrel chest, dry rales audible in both lungs.
After this examination, Du Heng was 80 to 90 percent certain.
He now understood why Dr. Zhang Jinlian's six days of treatment hadn't worked and why the patient's condition had repeatedly worsened. Simply put, she hadn't identified the correct cause of the illness, so the prescribed medicine was wrong.
"Fan Yuxiang, after you drink this medicine, I strongly advise you to transfer to Jinzhou Pulmonary Hospital for a comprehensive examination."
Fan Yuxiang, alarmed by Du Heng's gravity, turned pale. "Doctor, what... what illness do I have?"
"I suspect it's emphysema. However, without detailed tests, I can't give you a definitive diagnosis. That's why it's best to go to a specialized hospital for a proper check-up."
"Is it... serious?" Fan Yuxiang's voice trembled as he asked.
Du Heng offered a reassuring smile. "It's not life-threatening, so don't worry too much. If it is confirmed as emphysema, it mainly means you'll have to avoid smoking, catching colds, and strenuous labor in the future. Your normal life won't be too greatly affected."
Du Heng packed up his needle tool kit, reminded Fan Yuxiang to take the medicine once it was ready, and then left the hospital room.
Meanwhile, Wang Lili and Li Nating, who had witnessed everything, looked at Du Heng with stars in their eyes.
As nurses at the Health Clinic, they had never witnessed such a dramatic rescue. With just two simple actions—suctioning phlegm and applying acupuncture—he had saved a patient who was struggling to breathe and on the verge of suffocation.
"Doctor Du is incredible! I never would have guessed," Li Nating murmured, her eyes sparkling as she watched Du Heng's retreating figure.
Wang Lili felt much the same, though being older, her admiration was tinged with more respect. "You'd better make your move then," she said to Li Nating. "Doctor Du doesn't have a girlfriend, and he has a stable job. He's quite a catch."
At this, Li Nating shook her head vehemently. "No, thanks. So what if he's actually skilled? He's still at the Health Clinic on a fixed salary. Just over four thousand yuan a month—what good is that?"
With that, she immediately started clearing away the supplies used for the suction near the bed, as if the earlier sparkle in her eyes had been an illusion.
Wang Lili chuckled. "So pragmatic." She then began to help clean up, and the topic was dropped.