However, it took Du Heng a full twenty minutes to make this child utter his first cry. The tube lodged in the child's mouth and deep in his throat had been an obstacle, preventing him from crying out.
Seeing this, Du Heng imdiately stopped the acupuncture and carefully, yet quickly, removed the feeding tube from the child's mouth.
As the child's normal cry finally sounded, the young doctor standing behind clenched his fist and exclaid, "YES!"
It was exactly the sa as in the video; this President Du really could cure this disease!
The two won standing at the very back, though also looking astonished, whispered, "The child cried before, so what's there to be proud of? He's just crying a bit louder; the fundantal problem hasn't been solved."
Their voices were very low this ti, but the young doctor still heard them.
This ti, however, he didn't argue. Instead, he turned his head, smiled faintly, and then resud watching Du Heng's treatnt.
i Dong was also very happy, but he was more composed than the young doctor. "Doctor Du, what's next?" he asked.
"I need to write a prescription for so dicine."
"Alright, President Du. You write it, and I'll sign."
Du Heng arched an eyebrow slightly but said nothing. Once pen and paper were brought, he began writing the prescription. The task of running the errand fell to the young doctor once more.
With the previous child, the first phase of Du Heng's work would have been complete.
But for this child, it was not.
After the young doctor left with the prescription, Du Heng began to massage the child, working to relax the muscles all over his body.
This child, it should be noted, had already endured four days of abnormal muscle tone and convulsions, leaving his muscles and ridians in a constant state of tension.
As Du Heng continued the massage, the child gradually stopped crying. His small, pink mouth even began to make sucking motions.
This sucking motion from the child made i Dong's face break into a wide smile.
Then it was ti to feed the child, followed by administering the dicine.
The doctors here were all practitioners of Western dicine, and this was the first ti they had all cooperated on such a case. To be honest, Du Heng didn't fully trust them.
Furthermore, Du Heng intended to collect data during this treatnt, so he handled every step personally.
i Dong was unaware of Du Heng's intentions. He didn't dare suggest Du Heng step back at this critical juncture, so he allowed him to remain with the child.
The subsequent developnts were much like those with the previous child.
However, there were still so differences. After this child had a bowel movent, the expelled substance was not the purely white, jelly-like material seen before. Instead, it was a jelly-like substance that was white with a faint yellowish tinge.
Seeing this faintly yellow, jelly-like substance, Du Heng paused, slightly lost in thought.
He had anticipated that different children would exhibit varying symptoms and reactions to the illness.
Yet, when these anticipated variations truly manifested, and with slight deviations from his predictions, he was still montarily taken aback.
As the Director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, i Dong was exceptionally busy.
But today, he couldn't bring himself to leave, not even for a mont.
What Du Heng was doing now was like witnessing a revival of the glorious achievents of their hospital's esteed predecessors, and i Dong didn't want to miss this historic mont.
At the sa ti, the thought Director Sun from the dical Affairs Office had voiced echoed in his mind: How could such a talented individual be left to languish in a backwater like the Municipal Maternal and Child Health Hospital? He belongs in an elite team, like the one at the Provincial Won and Children's Hospital, making a real difference for patients, for children.
He wanted nothing more than to continue observing Du Heng's treatnt and not deal with other matters. However, the other doctors wouldn't leave him be; certain decisions required his approval as the Director.
So, just as he was engrossed in watching, a middle-aged female doctor approached his side, interrupting his concentration. "Director," she said, "there's a child who needs you to take a look."
Without turning his head, his eyes still fixed on the child Du Heng was treating, i Dong asked, "What's the situation? Can't you handle it?"
"It's the baby girl with jaundice, the one admitted three days ago."
"Oh, I recall. What's her condition now?"
"She's had three days of blue light therapy, and we've used conventional treatnts and dication, but the jaundice isn't subsiding." The middle-aged female doctor frowned, her gaze, however, drifted towards the busy Du Heng.
That man looks sowhat familiar, she thought.
She didn't dwell on it and continued, "This morning, we wanted the father to take a sample to the Blood Center, but he refused. I spoke with him again just after lunch when I ca on duty, and he still wouldn't agree."
i Dong's interest in watching Du Heng waned, his eyebrows knitting tightly together.
This father, i Dong thought, is the most infuriating kind of family mber. Uncooperative with this, complaining about the cost of that, and when problems inevitably arise, they resort to the most contemptible behavior.
"Why does he refuse?"
The middle-aged female doctor hesitated for a mont before replying, "The baby was diagnosed with an enlarged liver and spleen, and hepatitis."
"Hepatitis?"
"Yes." The female doctor glanced at i Dong cautiously, worried he might reprimand her sharply.
Jaundice is common in newborns. So babies have mild cases with faint yellowing that resolves on its own. However, other infants can have significantly higher levels of jaundice that require treatnt to subside.
Infant hepatitis is one of the most problematic causes. Besides inducing jaundice, it can impair liver function and lead to tabolic disorders. It's a critical condition with a high mortality rate.
The female doctor felt uneasy, knowing such a serious condition hadn't been imdiately reported to the director.
But i Dong understood his doctors.
They had encountered and treated infant hepatitis before. Although these hadn't been the most severe cases, they did have experience. And they undoubtedly had their reasons for not escalating it imdiately.
"Continue," i Dong prompted.
"Conventional dication is no longer controlling it. We suspect the baby might have other underlying conditions in addition to hepatitis, which is why we wanted to run a blood test.
However, the father heard from sowhere that even if infant hepatitis is cured, there can be severe long-term complications, essentially leaving the child disabled. So now, he's not being cooperative; it's as if he's resigned to letting the baby live or die on its own."
The middle-aged female doctor sounded sowhat helpless. "If the mother hadn't insisted so strongly on treatnt, the father might have already taken the baby ho to die."
i Dong's expression turned exceedingly grim.
In their departnt, they had long grown accustod to matters of life and death concerning children.
This didn't an they were cold-blooded; they had simply learned to compartntalize certain negative emotions and regulate their feelings quickly.
But hearing about a parent like this still filled them with a sense of heartbreak and helplessness.
But is the father truly wrong? i Dong pondered. Infant hepatitis for this many days... it's likely already caused liver damage. Even if the baby survives, the father's fears might very well co true. His concern about the child being disabled isn't unfounded. If the liver damage is particularly severe, the family and the child would indeed face a lifeti of suffering. Yet, for a father to simply let his child wait for death... As the doctor responsible for the child's treatnt, i Dong found it unacceptable.
"What treatnt thods have you employed so far?" i Dong asked, his voice heavy.
The female doctor began to list the various treatnts they had tried. The more she spoke, the tighter i Dong's brow furrowed, and the darker his expression grew.
The treatnts she described were all thods he himself would have considered.
So, if the father continued to refuse the blood test, they would be left with no better options.
i Dong took a deep breath. "Alright, take to see the child." He had to make one last effort.
Du Heng had kept his head down throughout their conversation, continuing to massage the child in his care.
He reminded himself that he was an outsider here and shouldn't interfere or voice an opinion. Yet, hearing about the father's decision, he found it deeply unsettling.
Just as Du Heng was hesitating about whether to say sothing, i Dong, who had already taken a few steps, paused. "President Du," he said, turning back, "can things here be left for a mont?"
"Of course," Du Heng nodded imdiately. "The child is stable now. It's fine as long as soone keeps an eye on him."
"In that case... President Du, would you perhaps co with to see this other child?" i Dong extended his most earnest invitation.
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