CHAPTER 125: THE CONDITION OF THE 125 PATIENTS IS NOT OPTIMISTIC

Everyone remembered that Liu Banxia could reset bones but not apply casts. This piece of information was stored away like a black mark. It might not come up in the future, but it was essential to keep it on record.

While taking the patient for a head CT scan, Liu Banxia also slipped into the adjacent operating room.

"Dr. Chen, how is the patient?" Liu Banxia asked.

"We just finished repairing the heart and lungs. The steering wheel broke his ribs and pierced right through. What about your patient?" Chen Jianxin replied.

"Her spleen is ruptured. We’re taking her for a head CT now. Dr. Zhang from Neurosurgery said the situation doesn’t look good. The patient is already on a ventilator with 60% oxygen. It’s estimated her lungs also sustained some damage," Liu Banxia said. "Given the patient’s current condition, even if there’s a head injury, it must be carefully evaluated. If we have to perform a craniotomy, she might not make it off the operating table."

"She’s already on 60% oxygen? Her breathing is really that bad. Okay, I’m done here too. Thank you, Dr. Chen; if you hadn’t arrived in time, it would have been really dangerous," said Chen Jianxin.

"Don’t mention it; it’s what we’re supposed to do. Let’s have the patient observed in the ICU. When she’s out of the ICU, should she be transferred to Cardiology or General Surgery?" Chen Xuehai asked.

"Let’s transfer her to Cardiology. Beds in General Surgery are a bit tight right now," Chen Jianxin replied.

Chen Xuehai nodded, removed his gloves, and walked out, completely ignoring Liu Banxia as if he were air.

"My patient also needs a CT scan. Shall we head over together?" Chen Jianxin asked.

Liu Banxia nodded, somewhat curious. "What’s that guy like in surgery?"

"He’s definitely not weak, and we chatted a bit. He’ll probably be transferring to the Emergency Department around that time. Just a heads-up, he asked me a lot about you," Chen Jianxin winked.

"Damn it, why is he asking about me? Why is he so petty? Why is my life so tough? I finally managed to deal with Qin Hai, that mini-boss, and now the Chief Director’s grandson, a major boss, shows up," Liu Banxia said with a wry face.

He was genuinely upset.

He wasn’t afraid of clashing with Qin Hai. It wasn’t that he only knew how to bully the elderly and was afraid of the young and strong. However, Chen Xuehai was the Chief Director’s grandson. They’d be seeing each other all the time in the Emergency Department; Liu Banxia predicted his days would be tough.

"So, the situation isn’t optimistic?" Liu Banxia asked upon arriving at Radiology.

"See for yourself. The head hematoma isn’t the major issue; the main problem is a subarachnoid hemorrhage. We can only send her to the ICU and see how she does," Zhang Xiao said.

DING! Daily task completed (20/20).

Obtained 300 experience points and 5 Glory Points.

Patient consultation completed. Obtained 300 experience points, 100 Diagnostics skill proficiency points, 500 Splenectomy skill proficiency points, 300 Suturing skill proficiency points, and 200 Bone Setting skill proficiency points.

This consultation is rated: Flawless. Obtained 500 experience points, 300 Diagnostics skill proficiency points, 700 Splenectomy skill proficiency points, 400 Suturing skill proficiency points, 400 Bone Setting skill proficiency points, and 1 Glory Point.

Congratulations to the Host for advancing to Level 30 (48,587/50,040 XP). Obtained 1 attribute point and 5 Glory Points.

Liu Banxia sighed inwardly. It was truly a case of ’whatever you fear most is sure to happen.’

The arachnoid mater is the membrane enveloping the brain tissue, with many blood vessels beneath it. A subarachnoid hemorrhage is never good news for any patient.

It generally results in two types of fatal outcomes. One is acute, caused by profuse bleeding that induces vascular spasms, leading to acute cerebral ischemia. The other is chronic, where the bleeding causes cerebral edema and increased intracranial pressure, compressing the brain tissue and leading to paralysis of various functions.

Moreover, because the cranial cavity is so tightly packed, bleeding of even tens of milliliters is invariably fatal. The current bleeding volume might not seem large, but it has already begun to compress the brain tissue.

After sending the patient to the ICU, Liu Banxia returned to the emergency department.

"Dr. Liu, the police officers, the insurance company people, and the families of both parties have arrived," Shen Lin said.

Liu Banxia nodded, then looked at Chen Jianxin. "Let’s speak to them separately. It will definitely be chaotic if they’re all together."

"Alright, we’ll each handle our own patient," Chen Jianxin said.

Among them, a young man was the son of the patient Liu Banxia had treated. Accompanied by a police officer, Liu Banxia led him into an internal medicine consultation room.

"The patient is temporarily stable now, but her prognosis is very poor," Liu Banxia said. "Her ruptured spleen has been surgically removed, and her fractured tibia has been cast. The most serious issue is a subarachnoid hemorrhage. We’ve induced a coma to protect her brain tissue."

"Doctor, when will my mother wake up?" the patient’s son asked anxiously.

"It’s hard to say; I can’t give you an exact timeline. If the patient’s vital signs stabilize, we will reverse the induced coma. However, the current hematoma is already pressing on her brain tissue, and her vital signs are very poor. We need to monitor her constantly."

"It might be three to five days, or you might need to prepare for the long term. The patient has only temporarily passed the critical stage. We can only wait for her body to repair itself."

Hearing Liu Banxia’s words, the patient’s son swayed. If Liu Banxia hadn’t been quick to react, he might have fallen to the ground.

"It’s my fault, all my fault! I knew she wasn’t herself lately. I should have come over to keep an eye on her!" the patient’s son cried out, clutching his head in agony.

Liu Banxia patted his shoulder but said nothing. Any words of comfort would be hollow at this moment. Unless you’re in their shoes, you can never truly understand what real pain is.

"Officer, what exactly happened? How did the old lady end up on the street in the middle of the night?" Liu Banxia asked after they left the room.

"The old lady was scammed by a pyramid scheme; she invested more than a hundred thousand yuan, and it was all lost. She probably felt she’d let her son down and just couldn’t get over it." The police officer shook his head, looking quite helpless.

"This is so damn messed up. Given the old lady’s current condition, the medical expenses are going to be substantial," Liu Banxia said.

This was also a very realistic problem; the situation was now clear. The old lady had been distraught and likely at fault, so the car owner’s insurance company probably wouldn’t provide much compensation.

And how much would it cost for the old lady to stay in the ICU for an extra day? That was assuming her condition didn’t worsen and she didn’t require further emergency surgery.

"Sigh, such decent families. How did they end up in such a situation?" Shen Lin sighed, leaning against the triage desk.

"These two families are really nice. If this had happened to another family, they probably would have started fighting long ago," Wang Huan added. "The driver’s child is only five years old; thankfully, he was rescued. Otherwise, the family’s breadwinner would be gone, and who knows how they would survive. Even so, their future lives will require a lot of caution."

"Alright, let’s not dwell on these things for now. It’s already dawn. I’ll keep an eye on things here. Anyone who can should try to get some sleep," Liu Banxia said.

"I can’t sleep now. Might as well stay up until the shift change. What do you guys want for breakfast? I’ll go grab some and clear my head a bit," Wang Huan asked.

Everyone shook their heads in unison; they really had no appetite right now. Even though it wasn’t their own affair, their hearts ached for these two families.

Medical personnel are human too. These patients’ cases were different from typical illnesses; this was an unforeseen disaster. Two originally happy families had suddenly plunged into an abyss.

The Second Affiliated Hospital’s emergency department wasn’t that well-equipped; they really didn’t encounter patients like these very often.