This Doctor Is Too Wealthy Chapter 125 Lung heat leads to abscess

When Pei Jihua heard Du Heng say that, he knew Du Heng rembered him.

Sitting in front of Du Heng’s desk, he said sincerely, "Thank you, Doctor Du. My wife has had her surgery, and she’s doing very well now. If it weren’t for your reminder, she might have had to have her uterus removed."

Du Heng smiled modestly. "Even if I hadn’t said anything, you would have taken your wife to the hospital. I just gave you a heads-up."

"Still, I have to thank you. If you hadn’t reminded us, we might have just bought so painkillers and gone ho that day."

"Your wife has had her surgery, but have you been for a check-up yourself?" Du Heng quickly steered the conversation away from the gratuitous praise. While it was pleasant to hear and made him happy, it served no real purpose.

"I went to the Provincial Oncology Hospital yesterday and had scans done. It’s confird; there’s a tumor about one centiter in size in my left lung," Pei Jihua said quickly.

Du Heng looked at Pei Jihua with so surprise. He went to the tumor hospital for a check-up but didn’t get treatnt there, and ca to instead? "Why didn’t you get treatnt there? Is it because it’s too small, or because you don’t have any symptoms?"

Pei Jihua genuinely admired Du Heng; he was amazed Du Heng had guessed correctly. "It’s both. The doctor there told to wait and see, to co back when symptoms appear."

As expected, doctors nowadays are different. Unlike before, whether it’s dication or surgery, there are strict standards that must be t before treatnt can be administered. In cases like Pei Jihua’s, with no outward symptoms and a small tumor, it certainly doesn’t et the criteria for surgical intervention. Furthermore, since the nature of the tumor is unknown, doctors won’t—and dare not—prescribe dicine indiscriminately. They can only wait for the tumor to grow larger and for the patient to develop clear symptoms. Only then will the doctor implent the appropriate treatnt. Actually, you can’t bla the doctors or the hospitals for this. For instance, if a patient has no symptoms, a doctor might prescribe dicine. The patient takes it, but the tumor worsens. Alternatively, a doctor might perform surgery, only to discover the tumor was benign and the surgery unnecessary. If the family mbers are reasonable, it’s usually fine, as everyone wants what’s best for the patient. However, if they encounter difficult ones, even a single troubleso case can keep a doctor bogged down for years. So, it’s understandable that everyone is cautious.

Pei Jihua held up the envelope with the scans. "Doctor Du, these are the scans from yesterday. Would you like to take a look?"

"Okay, let see."

Interpreting scans is a basic skill now. Any doctor, whether they practice Western or traditional Chinese dicine, proficient or not, must know how to interpret scans relevant to their specialty. Moreover, so dical colleges with Chinese dicine majors have a peculiar requirent: TCM students must first study Western dicine. Proficiency isn’t required, but they need a general understanding of everything. Does this have benefits? Certainly. However, it also puts imnse pressure on TCM students. They effectively have only four years to complete the standard five-year Chinese dicine curriculum. Simply put, traditional Chinese dicine lacks significant influence, both in the professional sphere and among the general public.

Du Heng took the scans to the window, tilted his head, and examined them for a mont. "It’s here. Not too big. Looking at the surrounding area, there are no apparent changes. It should be benign."

He then handed the scans back to Pei Jihua.

At this mont, Pei Jihua was particularly curious. He wanted to know how Du Heng knew he had a tumor just by feeling his pulse.

"Doctor Du, how did you determine that I have a tumor?"

Du Heng chuckled. Chinese dicine syndro differentiation has its pros and cons. It’s good because it employs the simplest and most cost-effective thods to determine the cause of a patient’s illness, thereby saving money, ti, and effort. The downside is that this examination thod offers no objective reference for the patient. Whatever the doctor performing the pulse diagnosis says, goes. The subjective elent is too pronounced. Consequently, in society, one often sees TCM practitioners masquerading as Divine Doctors to defraud people. However, you rarely, if ever, see anyone attempting to scam people by impersonating a Western dicine expert.

"Do you rember when I took your pulse that day?"

"I do. You knew I had a tumor in my lung just from feeling my pulse. It’s amazing!"

Du Heng shook his head. "It’s not amazing at all. That day, when I checked your pulse, it was a rapid pulse, and it was strong and forceful. The ’Binhu Sphygmology’ already states: ’A rapid cun pulse indicates sores in the throat or mouth, spitting blood, coughing, and abscesses forming in the lung.’"

Pei Jihua listened intently, understanding so words and guessing others, exceptionally focused.

"Moreover, that day, hearing you argue with your wife, I gathered you had just left ho. Yet, I observed your dry mouth and chapped lips, clear signs of ’fire toxin’ manifesting orally. Therefore, I deduced it was likely lung heat causing an abscess."

"Of course, there are other contributing factors, such as liver yin deficiency with effulgent fire, an unnourished liver ridian, or consequently, an obstructed lung ridian, among others. I won’t list them all for you."

Pei Jihua felt as if he understood, but upon closer reflection, it seed he understood nothing at all.

Is traditional Chinese dicine always so vague?

After a mont’s pause, he asked, "Doctor Du, the tumor hospital told to wait and see, to wait until this thing grows bigger and I have symptoms. But I’m a little scared. Do you have a way to treat it here?"

"What? You want to be treated here instead of going to the Provincial Oncology Hospital?"

"If you have a way, I’ll definitely get treated here."

Instead of answering, Du Heng extended his hand and said, "Let feel your pulse again, just to confirm."

Pei Jihua quickly extended his hand and placed it on the pulse pillow on the desk.

"Do you usually smoke?"

"I used to, heavily. I do a lot of writing and reading for my job, and I felt I couldn’t manage without smoking. At my worst, I smoked three packs a day. However, I quit four years ago when my wife was pregnant with our daughter."

"Three packs a day, and you quit just like that? Your self-control is truly strong."

Pei Jihua smiled proudly. "My self-control is what I’m most proud of."

Du Heng chuckled. "I witnessed that at the clinic last ti. However, you quit smoking too abruptly. You should have consulted a doctor to prescribe so dicine to help you ease off."

What does he an? Did my tumor develop because I quit smoking? Should I not have quit?

"Doctor Du, what do you an by that?"

"When you smoked, nicotine entered your lungs. Your lungs would then marshal their strength to resist this invasion. But when you suddenly quit, the nicotine supply was cut off, abruptly disrupting this balance of power. The lungs’ defensive forces, now unopposed, grew excessively strong. With no ’enemy’ left to fight, this accumulated lung heat eventually congealed into an abscess."

Although Du Heng hadn’t conducted any experints on this, he felt his own wild explanation was surprisingly plausible. Otherwise, why would so many smokers who quit suddenly be diagnosed with lung cancer within a few years, with their conditions often deteriorating faster than average?

"Of course, quitting smoking is definitely a good thing. However, you should have gone to a hospital and quit under a doctor’s guidance. Many hospitals have smoking cessation clinics these days. Why didn’t you go to one?"

"I did go, and I consulted with them. However, their approach primarily focuses on behavioral and psychological interventions, targeting the addiction itself."

"Really? I wasn’t aware of that. I assud they would also provide so form of pulmonary intervention while helping people quit."

Seeing Pei Jihua’s confused expression, as if he feared he’d quit smoking the wrong way, Du Heng quickly added, "Everything I’ve just said is purely my personal speculation, lacking any theoretical basis or experintal data. So, please don’t take it too seriously or let it weigh on your mind."