CHAPTER 173: 173, DIFFERENT PROFESSIONS ARE LIKE DIFFERENT MOUNTAINS

Everyone enjoyed the teppanyaki, especially the ladies. However, Wang Xiaoyan had some regrets after eating too much meat, realizing she’d have to exercise more to burn the extra calories.

After dropping off Qiaoqiao and Wang Xiaoyan at Linyu Villa, they joined the Qiu family and headed to the Second Hospital again.

"Regret coming, don’t you? This trip seems wasteful," Shi Lei teased when he saw Liu Banxia.

Liu Banxia rolled his eyes. "I’m just concerned about you," he retorted. "Why else would I hurry back? Are there any patients that need attention? You should head home and rest."

"No, Chief Director Xu already called me. I’ll go over tomorrow afternoon," Shi Lei replied.

"Well, you’re lucky. Had you done the intestinal preparation, I would have operated today. Has your appointment with Director Hu been scheduled?" asked Liu Banxia.

Shi Lei nodded. "Yes, it’s booked. My plan is for you to go to Director Hu after your examination here. No need for him to come over."

"Understood. Who did you consult at the Otorhinolaryngology department?" Liu Banxia continued to ask.

"Du Fancheng. You should head over directly. I’ve already taken care of the registration procedures," Shi Lei said.

Liu Banxia patted his arm appreciatively. This would save quite some time.

They led the Qiu family straight to the Otorhinolaryngology department, where Du Fancheng was examining a patient, so they had to wait a short while.

"Brother Qiu, this is Doctor Du from our hospital. He is very competent," Liu Banxia introduced once inside the consulting room.

"Doctor Du, thank you for your hard work," Qiu Huaili said.

"It’s no problem. Let me first take a look at the baby. Anything instructed by Dr. Liu must be done well," Du Fancheng said. He had consulted with Liu Banxia on a dangerous case before and felt he owed him a favor.

The baby was so small and restless. Even for Du Fancheng, with his many years of experience, it was hard to manage such a tiny patient. Anesthesia couldn’t be administered, and for examinations and interventions on such a young baby, the more minimal, the better.

"Dr. Liu, I just don’t know how to keep her still," Wang Jingxian said, tears welling in her eyes.

"Let me try. This little one seems to be quite fond of me," said Liu Banxia.

Once the baby was in his arms, her little hands and feet were lively, kicking and wiggling. Liu Banxia didn’t have any special tricks; he just continuously massaged the baby’s arms and legs. Massaging a baby is not an easy task. Babies have very fragile bones, so one mustn’t apply too much pressure to avoid injury. And applying too little pressure wouldn’t work either, as the baby would think it was playtime and become even more energetic.

Even for Liu Banxia, it took over ten minutes before the baby yawned, pursed her lips, tilted her head, and fell asleep in his arms.

"Phew! Luckily you were here, or we might not have been able to complete the examination," Du Fancheng finally exhaled.

Liu Banxia had only performed a simple cleaning of the ear canal the day before. Today, Du Fancheng needed to do a detailed examination, so his cleaning was more meticulous, which also helped speed up the examination.

Liu Banxia sat there holding the baby, ensuring she continued to sleep and stayed still. He had to keep her head secure and continue massaging her to keep her relaxed.

"Dr. Liu, Mr. Qiu, the issue with the ear fistula isn’t significant. The infection isn’t coming from the fistula but is triggered by otitis media," Du Fancheng said after the examination.

"Otitis media? But we’ve been careful. Even when bathing her, we always use earplugs. How did she get otitis media?" Wang Jingxian asked worriedly.

"Please don’t worry yet. Otitis media can be caused by many factors. I’m not sure how you normally feed her—does she ever lie flat while feeding?" Du Fancheng asked with a smile.

Qiu Huaili nodded. "She’s started eating more and is stronger now. Sometimes she even holds her own bottle."

"That’s likely the reason," Du Fancheng said, nodding. "The baby’s middle ear is still underdeveloped. The eustachian tube is shorter, its isthmus is wider, and the lumen is larger. Combined with weaker muscle contractions in the eustachian tube and a lower opening in the nasopharynx, fluids can easily flow into the middle ear," he explained.

"In fact, over the past few years, we’ve seen many babies with similar cases. Your baby’s symptoms aren’t very severe and are easily manageable. Her hearing won’t be affected. It was the otitis media that caused the fistula opening to become infected, and we can treat both issues now. However, since the fistula site has become infected, it’s best to carry out further examinations to determine exactly how deep this fistula is, whether it’s simple or complex. After the examination, you’ll feel more at ease."

"Alright, you arrange it as you think best," Qiu Huaili said.

Though Du Fancheng hadn’t described the condition as particularly horrifying, Qiu Huaili knew things could have been far worse for his beloved daughter if Liu Banxia hadn’t discovered the issue.

They used to think it was a good sign when the baby lay in bed holding her own bottle, a sign of her strength and robustness. But this incorrect feeding method had nearly ruined her ear. Their precious daughter, potentially facing hearing loss due to their oversight—how would they cope?

Truth be told, it wasn’t just Qiu Huaili; even Liu Banxia was learning about this for the first time. Despite being a doctor, he wasn’t omnipotent; it’s impossible to be an expert in every department. This truly showed that ’one trade knows little of another.’ He didn’t have children and had never specialized in otolaryngology.

Du Fancheng carefully cleaned the baby’s ear canal with a medicinal solution. The baby slept soundly, not waking despite all the activity.

"The detailed examination of the fistula will require a CT and X-ray contrast," Du Fancheng said after the cleaning was done. "That means we need to inject a contrast fluid into the fistula, which will reveal the length of the fistula under the X-ray. Then, by comparing it with the CT scan, we’ll understand the full situation."

"Brother, what do you think?" Qiu Huaili asked, hesitating again.

"Brother Qiu, I believe it would be better to deal with it as soon as possible," Liu Banxia said. "Once the inflammation of the ear fistula really erupts, the child will suffer even more. We need to incise it to drain the fluids first, and then perform the surgery after the inflammation subsides. Although the baby is very small, the current fistula is also tiny. The incision won’t be large and will be inside the ear canal, so the prognosis for her recovery and overall outcome will be much better."

"Dr. Liu, didn’t Shi Lei tell you that you also scheduled an appointment with Director Hu of plastic surgery? This operation is a piece of cake for him," Du Fancheng said with a smile. "Once an ear fistula is infected, it will have recurrent episodes of flare-ups. It all depends on the frequency of the episodes and the severity of the infection. Last month we had a fifteen-month-old baby with a preauricular fistula which had suppurated, and Director Hu easily handled it. My feeling is that our baby has a simple fistula, which should not be too deep. But we need to pay attention to changing the dressing after the surgery. Let Dr. Liu do it; he’s skillful, so the child won’t suffer so much. The minor distress now is to save the baby from major trouble in the future."

"Brother, the baby is so young, is there a significant risk in doing the surgery?" Wang Jingxian asked.

"Sister-in-law, it would be false to say there’s no risk at all. There is always a risk in any surgery. But for a fistula—whether it’s a congenital ear fistula or an acquired anal or intestinal fistula—surgery is the only way of getting rid of it. It’s like a fruit that has been pierced by a worm. No matter how hardy the fruit is, it can’t possibly heal the necrotic tissues around it."

"Xian, let’s listen to our brother. Let’s go for the surgery," Qiu Huaili made the decision.

Although he doted on his child, he knew Liu Banxia wouldn’t mislead him about something this important.

The next step was radiology. Although Liu Banxia had a good relationship with the radiology staff, he couldn’t help much during the actual examination.

After the complete set of tests, he breathed a sigh of relief when the results came out. The baby indeed had a simple fistula, only 0.5 centimeters deep.

"Brother Liu, how is it?" Qiu Mingyuan asked anxiously.

"A simple fistula that is only 0.5 centimeters deep is easy to handle," Liu Banxia said with a smile. "Let’s go directly to the plastic surgery department now and meet with Director Hu. We need to look at his schedule to determine the date of the operation."

"Thank goodness! My heart..." Qiu Huaili wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Brother Qiu, as we agreed, once the baby has had the surgery and the wound has healed, I should be free by then. I’ll come to your house for that meal, and I finally want to taste what Maotai is like," Liu Banxia joked.

"Absolutely, that’s no problem at all," Qiu Huaili said. "When the time comes, your sister-in-law will cook personally. Xian doesn’t care about business matters, but her cooking is delicious. If it wasn’t for..."

"What nonsense are you spouting? Showing off again? Are you proud of stealing food from the employees? Hurry up, let’s go find Director Hu," Wang Jingxian shot him a look.

"Haha, Brother Liu, you are not used to it, are you?" Qiu Mingyuan laughed.

Liu Banxia nodded with a smile. "It seems there’s a story behind it. I’ll have to listen to it next time we have a meal."

"Brother, you are not young anymore; let your big brother teach you a few tricks. If there’s a girl you like, you really can’t worry about losing face," Qiu Huaili said.

Now that the baby’s condition was confirmed to be not as serious as they had imagined, with only mild symptoms, everyone felt much more relaxed.

Sometimes, that’s just how it is. When you first learn about an illness, you worry and fear. But when you find out the condition isn’t severe, you feel a profound sense of relief.

Liu Banxia’s suggestion to have dinner at their home next time wasn’t truly about tasting Maotai; it was to help alleviate the family’s tension.

If Qiu Mingyuan had an ear fistula, Liu Banxia wouldn’t even bother comforting him; he might even tease him a bit. But this was a baby, and a baby is always the cherished center of a family.

It wasn’t just about needing surgery; even if the baby merely sneezed a few extra times, the parents would break out in a sweat.