CHAPTER 122: 122 WHOLE BODY ACHES AND BONE PAIN

"Shou Tian, not bad! I even saw your news on TV at home," Chen Jianxin teased Liu Banxia when he came to take over the night shift.

"Stop teasing me. How do you like my new haircut? Does it make me look more energetic than before?" Liu Banxia asked with a smile.

"Not bad. You do look much more energetic. By the way, are there any patients we need to pay special attention to?" asked Chen Jianxin.

"No, not on our side. There was a case of gastric perforation complicated with diffuse peritonitis; he was transferred to the General Surgery ICU after the operation. Now there are only three patients on the second floor, covering both internal medicine and surgery. It should be a quiet night tonight," Liu Banxia said casually.

"Well, if there’s nothing much to deal with, I could use a break. Keeping an eye on the home renovations today nearly killed me," Chen Jianxin said, stretching and yawning.

"That’s true. It’s only tiring for a short while, but after that, you can move in comfortably. I have a dorm room now, but I haven’t spent a single night in it yet," Liu Banxia said with a bitter smile.

Wang Chao laughed. He used to be genuinely envious of Liu Banxia. Chief Resident—that was a real leadership position. But seeing how exhausted Liu Banxia was now, he felt quite relieved. Although he knew his turn would come eventually, it would be better if it came later. This kind of suffering was truly hard to endure.

"Eh? President Liu, are you still practicing tying knots?" Wang Chao asked curiously, noticing the thread hanging on Liu Banxia’s lab coat.

"Just training manual dexterity. Speed isn’t the main focus anymore," Liu Banxia replied with a smile.

Wang Chao gave him a thumbs-up. "This leading role is truly yours, President Liu. I would’ve abandoned that practice long ago."

"You kid, even if you manage to stay in our hospital, you’ll have to put in more effort. Ponder things more deeply and read more books. Look at how many books Banxia has here," Chen Jianxin added.

Wang Chao nodded seriously, genuinely admiring Liu Banxia in his heart. He used to just think Liu Banxia was really skilled and very observant. That was the extent of it; he never delved deeper. Lately, he often saw Liu Banxia reading in the emergency department. That was him recharging, improving himself. If it were him, he definitely couldn’t do it. Whenever he had free time, he just wanted to sleep more.

"Oh, everyone’s chatting? I bought some grapes, let’s all have some," Wang Huan said, walking in from outside.

"What’s the good news?" Liu Banxia asked with a smile.

"What good things could happen to me? Nothing as good as what’s happening with you. I’m going to change first," Wang Huan joked, then turned to leave.

"Dr. Liu, this patient has a fever and also has pain in his cervical and lumbar spine. Should I call the orthopedics department?" Shen Lin, who was on duty at the triage desk, ran over.

Liu Banxia glanced over. It was a young man, but he looked to be in terrible shape. He was listless, and his forehead was beaded with sweat.

"Doctor Wang, it seems you’ll have to wait a little. Take a look at this patient first," Liu Banxia called out to Wang Huan.

Wang Huan turned back. "President Liu, help me with a bone palpation too, see if there’s any problem."

Liu Banxia didn’t overthink it. Although, observing the young man’s gait, he felt there probably wasn’t any issue with his cervical or lumbar spine. However, since Wang Huan had invited him, he might as well take a look.

First, he used a temperature gun to check the young man’s temperature. It wasn’t low: 38.7 degrees Celsius.

"How long have you been like this? Do you have diarrhea?" Wang Huan asked as he sat down.

"For almost twenty days. At first, I thought it was just a cold. I didn’t have diarrhea; instead, I was constipated. I’ve been taking cold medicine, and I’d get better then worse. It’s gotten worse these past few days, especially the fever—it’s severe, and I can’t sleep well," the patient explained.

"Let me listen first. How does the pain in your cervical and lumbar spine feel?" Wang Huan asked after taking out his stethoscope.

"It’s a persistent, dull ache. And not just in the cervical and lumbar spine. It feels like all my joints are stubbornly aching, just like when you get that full-body ache from a bad cold. My whole body is sore," said the patient.

Liu Banxia had initially wanted to palpate his cervical spine, but after hearing the patient’s description, he decided against it. This fever definitely wasn’t caused by any cervical or lumbar spine issues. The patient just hadn’t described it clearly at first.

"What do you do for a living?" Wang Huan asked after auscultation.

"I work in marketing for a company, but because of this illness, I’ve already taken many days of sick leave," said the patient.

"Alright, I listened to your lungs, and they sound fine. Let’s get a complete blood count and a urinalysis done," Wang Huan suggested.

"Doctor, can’t you just put me on an IV? I think it’s just a cold, right?" the patient asked.

"Let’s wait for the test results first. If we don’t need to use an IV, we won’t," Wang Huan replied with a smile.

This is common with patients in the emergency or outpatient departments. Nowadays, the use of IV infusions is more strictly controlled. But in the public’s mind, IVs are still seen as the most effective treatment. So, many people come to the hospital primarily because they can get an IV here.

"Brother Wang, what do you think this illness is?" Liu Banxia asked when the patient left for the urinalysis.

"It’s hard to say yet. I have a feeling it’s not a cold; auscultation was clear. If it were a cold, there would usually be some signs in the lungs or respiratory tract. And it doesn’t seem to be stomach flu either. We need to investigate thoroughly," Wang Huan replied.

"From his current presentation, it feels a bit like neurosis. I don’t know if you noticed, but when I told him to get a CBC, he seemed a bit anxious, though he managed to control it."

Liu Banxia nodded; he had noticed that too. However, he had simply assumed the patient didn’t want to spend money on a CBC and just wanted a simple IV. Although he had studied some pathology and understood the symptomatic presentations of various diseases, his expertise in this area was still somewhat lacking compared to Wang Huan’s.

"Young man, have you been feeling irritable or agitated lately?" Wang Huan continued to ask when the patient returned.

The patient nodded. "How could I not be? My pay is definitely going to be docked a lot this month."

"Before you fell ill, did you have any particular experiences? Like any major emotional ups and downs, or perhaps a fright?" Wang Huan continued his questions.

"No, everything was fine. I just finished a project at work, and the company even gave us a holiday. I even went back to my hometown to go fishing. I started feeling this way on the third day after I got back, but it wasn’t as severe at first," the patient replied.

"You can still fish in your hometown?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Sure! There’s a small river behind my old home. I can set up my umbrella and fish there all day without moving an inch," the young man answered, visibly becoming more excited.

"Sounds like you’re quite the expert angler. I used to enjoy fishing, but I’m too busy now. How were the results?" Wang Huan asked playfully.

"Not bad luck. Caught eight fish in one afternoon. The smallest was over three liang, and they tasted much better than store-bought fish. Once you’ve baited the fishing spot well, it’s like just scooping them up," the patient said gleefully, his expression becoming even more animated.

"If that shepherd hadn’t come by, I could’ve caught a few more. No one keeps them in check. They just let their dogs and sheep run wild everywhere."

Liu Banxia’s admiration for Wang Huan grew even deeper. The patient’s mood was incredibly unstable. One moment he was thrilled, the next, furious. This might very well be neurosis; someone with a cold wouldn’t display such rich emotional expressions.