CHAPTER 105: 105 RESCUE YANG AND STEM DESERTION

Wei Kaida knew Du Heng was busy. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have called in half the Health Clinic staff to work.

So the two teased each other for a while, then said goodbye and left, not wanting to hold Du Heng up too much.

After messing around with Wei Kaida, Du Heng felt much better.

When he returned to the computer, he saw that Li Qiuhua’s information had already appeared in the system, so he filled in all her details. However, this didn’t take much time at all. At this point, waiting had become the most frustrating thing.

If he couldn’t stay in the office, he would go to the ward. But he couldn’t stay long in the ward either. If he stayed even a little too long, the patient’s family would assume the patient was about to die, and then various problems and negative emotions would be directed at him.

In this way, he went back and forth three or four times, and it wasn’t until the fifth time he went up that the patient’s condition began to improve.

The data on the monitor began to slowly change. High readings started to fall, and low readings began to rise; everything was moving in a positive direction.

Even at this point, Du Heng did not let down his vigilance.

The term "terminal lucidity" was certainly no fabrication.

Until he saw a substantial change, Du Heng dared not relax.

It wasn’t until the family administered the medicine for the seventh time that the patient’s coughing and severe wheezing gradually subsided. When Du Heng touched her wrist and palm, he found they also had a faint warmth. Only then did he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Her yang had returned! She had pulled through.

The family members were so emotional they almost cried.

Although they didn’t understand medicine, they knew that the numbers on the monitor changing from red to yellow meant improvement.

The patient’s two sons, tears and snot streaming down their faces, approached Du Heng and thanked him profusely.

"Everyone, the patient has just come out of danger, and we cannot let our guard down yet," Du Heng said.

"Doctor Du, just tell us. Whatever you say, we’ll do."

"Don’t stop giving her medicine, but you can now increase the time between doses. Give her 100 milliliters every half-hour."

The family members looked a bit dumbfounded and asked timidly, "Doctor Du, how much is 100 milliliters?"

This question stumped Du Heng as well; it wasn’t easy to demonstrate the amount.

His gaze swept around the hospital room twice, but he couldn’t find anything suitable. He then asked the family, "Do you have any drinking cups?"

Li Qiuhua’s daughter quickly produced some disposable paper cups from a bag on the floor. "Doctor Du, will these do?"

"Yes, these will do. Fill it up to this level each time." He then used his fingers to indicate the height on one of the cups.

The family members, being meticulous, quickly went out to borrow a pen from Wang Lili and drew a line on the cup.

After returning to the office this time, Du Heng felt much more relaxed.

Wu Buwei followed behind him, looking at Du Heng with stars in his eyes.

He was simply amazing! My senior actually saved a patient whom the Municipal First Hospital couldn’t save! What was this? This was a Divine Doctor!

However, Wu Buwei didn’t dare say it out loud. He knew that Du Heng was particularly averse to the term "Divine Doctor."

"Senior, is she considered saved now?"

"Yes, she is considered saved."

Wu Buwei secretly clenched his fist. Although he wasn’t the one who performed the treatment, he was the one who decocted and delivered the medicine. He deserved some of the credit for this.

"What are the next steps?"

"The first step—’warming yang and stemming counterflow,’ and ’breathing returning to kidneys’—is initially completed. But we’ll have to wait and see when the patient can eat and talk. If the patient can’t eat or talk, everything that’s happening now is just an illusion. So we must ensure the patient keeps taking the medicine without interruption."

"I understand."

"As for the second step," Du Heng paused, "I need to ’open the door and drive out the thief.’"

Wu Buwei was stunned, not quite following Du Heng’s rhythm, and stared back blankly.

"Didn’t you notice that the patient has always been wearing thick clothes and covered with thick blankets, but has no sign of sweating?"

Wu Buwei nodded, seemingly starting to grasp Du Heng’s line of reasoning. "Senior, do you mean that for all conditions, we should first relieve the exterior syndrome?"

Du Heng nodded, very satisfied with Wu Buwei’s response. "The *Inner Canon* states, ’A skillful physician treats the skin and hair.’ The skin and hair are the body’s first line of defense against external pathogenic factors. They are both the entry path for these factors and must also be their exit path."

He paused after speaking, giving Wu Buwei some time to think. Such cases were not easy to come by.

Wu Buwei pondered for a moment. "Medical texts state: ’Even if pathogenic factors have penetrated deep into the interior for a hundred days, they must still be guided out from the interior to the exterior. If one only attempts to eliminate them from within, the struggle will be relentless and likely fatal!’"

"Beautifully said. It seems you’ve been reading well lately. That’s exactly what I mean."

Du Heng gave Wu Buwei a thumbs-up. "For all syndromes of deep-seated, stubborn cold, where external pathogenic factors have penetrated deep into the interior, becoming frozen and hidden, making them difficult to expel, only the perspiration method can break this deadlock. So, the next step is to induce sweating in the patient and then clear out the static blood."

Wu Buwei roughly understood Du Heng’s diagnosis and treatment ideas and excitedly slapped his palm.

"Senior, what prescription do you plan to use?"

"You tell me first."

Wu Buwei seemed well-prepared. As soon as Du Heng finished speaking, he said, "We could use Four Inverse Decoction to warm the middle and dispel cold, cover yang, and rescue counterflow."

Du Heng remained noncommittal. "The patient is suffering from yin exhaustion and yang demise. Four Inverse Decoction primarily treats yang deficiency with impending desertion. It’s close, but not quite right. Continue."

Wu Buwei thought for a moment. "I don’t know."

"It’s not that you don’t know; you’re just afraid to say it, afraid to use it," Du Heng said, directly seeing through Wu Buwei’s hesitation. "Undergraduates in traditional Chinese medicine who haven’t even memorized the commonly used famous prescriptions wouldn’t qualify for graduation."

"The patient has a blockage of construction (ying) and defense (wei), with cold evil frozen deep within. This is concurrent with shaoyin yang demise and taiyang exterior excess syndrome. This is the critical deadlock of her condition. I’ve already pointed out the most difficult part. Think carefully, and then tell me: if it were you, what prescription would you use?"

Wu Buwei once again sank into deep thought. He hadn’t had to do this since Ma Zichen arrived. But now, here he was again.

Soon after, Wu Buwei spoke up, "Major Blue Dragon Decoction."

"It induces sweating to relieve the surface and concurrently clears heat depression. Almost there, but not quite."

Wu Buwei became less confident. "Minor Green-Blue Dragon Decoction?"

"It relieves the surface and dispels cold, warms the lungs, and transforms retained fluids. That sounds very appropriate for the symptoms. But, as I just said, the patient has concurrent shaoyin yang demise and taiyang exterior excess. Using this formula would harm the healthy qi."

"Then what should we do?" Wu Buwei gave up. If this didn’t work, he was out of ideas.

Du Heng chuckled. "Ephedra, Aconite, and Asarum Decoction."

Wu Buwei’s eyes widened. "Senior, you’ve already used 200 grams of aconite. Do you dare to prescribe more?"

"Two hundred grams? Judging from my observation of the patient, it’ll probably take another two doses of the Extraordinary Heart-saving Decoction."

"Are you crazy? Six hundred grams? Senior, that’s incredibly bold!"

"The patient is already showing signs of impending death. Without a large dose of aconite to warm the meridians and support yang, do you think we could pull her back?"

Wu Buwei stuck out his tongue. Although Du Heng’s reasoning made sense, if it were him prescribing, he wouldn’t dare use such a large dose.