"Doctor, then what kind of endocrine disorder might I have?" the patient asked after pondering for a while.
"If we start discussing that, it would involve the entire system. Our bodies’ pituitary glands and other glands all secrete special substances to help maintain our health and various functions," Liu Banxia said with a smile.
"From what I see, you’re not elderly, so natural aging can be ruled out. You have regular eating habits and a consistent lifestyle, so it’s unlikely that the issue is related to your diet or lifestyle."
"We can also basically rule out intake issues because you’re very careful in that area. If that’s the case, the problem might be with the parathyroid glands."
"Thyroid? But I don’t have a goiter, and I’m not constantly hungry or eating like soone with thyroid disease. I eat regular als!" The patient was a bit worried.
Liu Banxia laughed. "It’s called the parathyroid gland not because it is the thyroid, but because it’s located next to the thyroid."
"Just like when we give an address, we often ntion a noticeable landmark building, then say it’s next to it. That’s the idea."
"Now when I ntion the parathyroid gland, you imdiately think of the thyroid gland. Even if you don’t know its function, you can already determine its approximate location, right?"
The patient nodded sheepishly. "It’s my first ti hearing about it; I got a little anxious."
"Don’t worry, it’s natural to be anxious about your health," Liu Banxia said.
"Actually, the function of the parathyroid gland has nothing to do with the thyroid’s function, which is to regulate tabolism, growth rate, and other body systems. The main function of the parathyroid gland is to regulate the calcium-phosphorus balance in the body."
"Interesting, right? Finally, we’ve co to sothing related to calcium. Because of the parathyroid gland’s function, it’s very likely the calcium in your bones is sneaking out and flowing into your bloodstream."
"Therefore, no matter how much you supplent, it’s not enough to make up for the calcium released from your bones, a condition commonly referred to as hypercalcemia. This condition actually serves a purpose. Otherwise, your bone could have fractured badly rather than just cracked."
"But all of this is purely speculative for now. We still need to see what your blood calcium concentration is. If it’s still that high, we can consider a CT scan to get a more detailed look."
"Is this disease serious?" asked the patient cautiously.
"Under normal circumstances, it’s not serious. We’ll see what’s going on. Usually, it’s managed via surgery," Liu Banxia said.
"Don’t worry about it for now. Let’s wait for the blood test results, and then we can reevaluate. Who knows, you might actually be fine," Liu Banxia said with a smile.
The patient nodded, feeling slightly more at ease. "What you said makes a lot of sense. Regardless of the outco, if soone else had the sa condition, I would be able to give them a heads-up."
"Not like so doctors, who speak in dical jargon all the ti, leaving us common folks in the dark. Whatever they say, we just have to comply; our main goal is to get treated."
Liu Banxia laughed. "As long as you don’t accuse of scaring you."
"Sotis it’s not that we purposely use jargon you can’t understand, but that explaining so things in simple terms takes a lot of effort and can easily be misunderstood."
"Another reason could be ti constraints. Today, there are no other patients waiting behind you, so I can spare so extra ti to chat. What if there were more than a dozen patients waiting in line? All we could do is write you an order for tests; otherwise, other patients might not get ho in ti for dinner."
"Let’s have mutual understanding. We’re all just trying to make a living; no one has it easy. As a patient, you don’t want to go to the hospital and get ripped off. But for us doctors, as soon as you co in, we have to charge for dical examinations. Otherwise, how are we supposed to diagnose and provide treatnt? See, that’s how it works."
The patient chuckled along; what was said may have been crude, but it made sense.
They continued to chat casually for a while, and then the patient’s blood test results arrived, indicating a high level of blood calcium. Without any hesitation, Liu Banxia ordered a CT scan.
Actually, if this were before he had perford the thyroid surgery on that old lady, he might not have thought of this possibility. It was only after that surgery that he developed a keen interest in understanding the thyroid and parathyroid glands.
Later, he handled Tang Feifei’s enuresis case, which also vaguely hinted at thyroid issues, leading him to pay extra attention to such matters.
The reason he didn’t palpate the patient’s neck was that tumors or cysts on the parathyroid gland are not so easy to feel. A direct CT scan would give a clearer view and save the effort of conducting an ultrasound.
He also inquired about the child from earlier. The child had just been taken to the operating room. The condition was rather serious, and Wei Yuan was responsible for first restoring blood flow.
During this ti, Wu Mingyu could amputate that patient’s toe and then switch to repairing the child’s comminuted fracture with internal fixation.
Liu Banxia wished he could go in and watch, as the internal fixation surgery for a comminuted fracture was complex and quite a test of skill. But he was stuck manning his post here and could only wait anxiously.
After a while, the patient ca running over joyfully. "Doctor, Doctor, they said it might be a small parathyroid adenoma."
"You’re quite sothing, still so cheerful even though you need surgery?" Liu Banxia joked.
"Doctor, compared to frequently fracturing bones, I’d much prefer a minor surgery to solve the issue," said the patient with a wry smile.
Liu Banxia took the CT scan, inserted it into the light box, and examined it carefully for a while.
"Great. Get admitted to the hospital later on. If all goes well in tomorrow’s check-up, we’ll operate imdiately. It’s not serious; these are typically benign. Also, you’ve had it for so long. If it had been malignant, it would have spread by now," Liu Banxia said.
"You can proceed to complete the hospital admission procedures shortly. Go over to the front desk; a nurse there will guide you and assign you a ward. Don’t worry, have your dinner early, then fast and stop drinking water; otherwise, we can’t perform the surgery."
"Okay," the patient cheerfully agreed and then ran out joyfully.
DING! Consultation task completed.
Earned 300 experience points, 100 diagnostic proficiency points, 100 orthopedic skill proficiency points, and 3 Glory Points.
That’s a good patient, at least that’s what Liu Banxia thought. A parathyroid tumor the size of a soybean won’t cause any complications.
His shift lasted until after six in the evening when Wu Mingyu returned, looking tired.
"All set. You go have your al first; I need to rest a bit before I eat," Wu Mingyu said.
"Was the child’s fracture severe?" Liu Banxia asked.
Wu Mingyu nodded. "He was sitting on the back of an electric scooter, then he fell off and was run over by the car behind. He was lucky that only his leg was injured; otherwise, he wouldn’t have survived."
"The patient who had his big toe amputated—I checked on him in the operating room. The chances of infection spreading are low, but we still need to watch him closely tonight. I’ve told the nurse too; the next twenty-four hours are crucial."
"You’ve worked hard. I’ll wait and eat with you," Liu Banxia said.
"I’m just hoping Director Xu will hurry up and transfer people over here, but he seems a little reluctant," Wu Mingyu said.
"You might want to nag him a bit more about it. We’re really getting overwheld right now, especially with the number of patients from car accidents, most of whom have fractures. Even if these patients can delay their fracture treatnt, I can’t handle all of this by myself."
"It’s no use if I say it. Director Xu has actually been very supportive of our departnt. Last ti I overheard, it seems we’ll have to wait until they’ve properly handed over all the patients they’re currently managing."
"There’s a young guy with a fracture and a parathyroid adenoma that I admitted to the surgical ward this afternoon; he’ll have surgery tomorrow. Other than that, nothing much has been happening. Shall we go for dinner now?"
Wu Mingyu glanced at him. "I was hoping to catch my breath. Let’s go. I hope no more ergencies co in, or we might not even be able to eat."
His intern, Ma Zhiguo, chuckled, rembering his ntor complaining quite a bit about Teacher Liu during the surgery.
He was actually contemplating how to get Teacher Liu to work more often in orthopedics; his presence honestly brought peace of mind. He had even diagnosed a parathyroid adenoma in a fracture patient, which was indeed impressive.
"Ah, Teacher Liu is finally out! Let’s go for dinner," Xu Yino cheerfully shouted when she saw Liu Banxia and Wu Mingyu erge.
"Why are you waiting for ?" Liu Banxia asked curiously.
"Of course, we have to wait for Teacher Liu! You said that patient’s infection was only in his toe and there’s no life-threatening danger. Isn’t that great news?" Xu Yino asked seriously.
"What are you trying to say?" Liu Banxia asked cautiously.
"Good news should be celebrated! We took a vote and decided to have twice-cooked pork," Xu Yino said.
"Huh? Such good news? Are you insisting on treating to twice-cooked pork? Agreed," Liu Banxia said and walked off.
Xu Yino was stupefied. The script wasn’t supposed to go like this; Great Demon Liu should be treating them!
The other interns giggled as they glanced at her, thinking she had ssed up by scheming against Great Demon Liu.
"Teacher Liu, Teacher Liu, you have to feel for us! Where do we get the money to treat you?" Xu Yino hurried to catch up.
"Feeling peckish?" Liu Banxia asked.
Xu Yino quickly nodded.
"Alright then, I’ll share half the plate with you when the ti cos," Liu Banxia said, then casually strolled on.
Xu Yino was in despair. Is this really a teacher? He doesn’t care about his students at all!
"Ah? I think there’s a parathyroidectomy scheduled for tomorrow," Liu Banxia, who hadn’t walked far, called out.
"HAHAHA, Teacher Liu, the twice-cooked pork is on !" Xu Yino quickly replied delightedly, not caring about anything else.
Wu Mingyu shook his head in resignation. Liu Banxia was always joking around with the interns like this. But watching them, it seed quite cheerful. He had no idea how Liu Banxia managed to get all these interns in line.
As for himself, just leading one intern already felt like a daunting task.
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