Great Doctor Ling Ran

Chapter 886: Humanism

In a hospital, doctors often did not care much about whether poop was soft, hard, dry, or watery; they cared more about the color.

In the doctors’ eyes, feces usually had seven colors, which were just about as many colors as the rainbow.

Normal feces were yellow and brown in color. They looked normal and would not catch the attention of the public. People with normal feces would not actually be subject to various questions. Bleeding feces had a whole range of colors from bright red to dark red. The brighter the color was, the closer the bleeding point was to the an*s, meanwhile, if the color was dark, it meant that it was further away from the an*s. Therefore, bright red feces often indicated rectal-bleeding-related problems such as hemorrhoids, while dark red or maroon-colored feces often indicated gastrointestinal bleeding.

The most beautiful and healthy feces were green in color. Generally speaking, they meant that you ate too many vegetables, or digested your food really fast. To solve this, one just had to eat less healthily.

In contrast, black feces indicated constipation or other gastrointestinal diseases, which could be considered as normal to doctors.

The color of feces one did not want to see was gray-white or clay-colored. It often meant that the intestine was blocked, and bile could not enter. This was what Yu Yuan saw in the lunch box. Combined with what she saw in the report, the possibility of intestinal cancer was very high.

“Your name is Xue Guiren, isn’t it? Sixty-six years old?” Yu Yuan looked down at the old man’s test report again as she checked his name and age habitually.

At that moment, the old man pursed his lips. “Xue Guiren is my brother. My name is Xue Guixiao.”

The corner of Yu Yuan’s eye twitched for a moment, she then asked, “How old are you?”

“Just turned sixty-eight.” Old Man Xue Guixiao sighed with a myriad of emotions welling in his heart. Then, in a casual tone, he said, “At my age, it’s normal for me to be sick. In the previous examination, they made a big fuss out of it yet could not diagnose me. I was thinking that since you are also one of the doctors from Yun Hua, can you reexamine me? The skills from those at the county hospitals are really bad…”

Yu Yuan forced a smile. She could guess that the doctors from the county hospital would be extra careful when they encountered elderly patients suspected to have cancer. They could not be too firm with their words. After all, the gold standard for cancer detection was still a biopsy. Therefore, before colonoscopy was used, they could not be certain that a person truly had colon cancer, after all.

In a big hospital, everyone could be straightforward in their words, but since county hospitals deployed the humanism philosophy, it was difficult for them to say those words. They might possibly even be too tactful in their words toward the elderly.

As Yu Yuan thought of this, she pointed at the name and age on the examination slip again as she said, “The name and age on here are your brother’s, but you are doing the examination, right?”

Xue Guixiao said, “Well, my brother can apply for reimbursement. I have always been using his name to see a doctor. It won’t matter much, right? This is how we do it. If you allow it, I’ll do two more examinations. If you don’t allow it, I’ll just do fewer examinations. Money doesn’t grow on trees, after all.”

“We can’t examine a person with someone else’s name,” Yu Yuan replied stiffly.

Using other people’s names and medical insurance to see a doctor was no longer feasible in tertiary Grade A hospitals, but it still existed in town hospitals with imperfect systems, especially in those township hospitals that could not use up their medical insurance quota. These hospitals did not have the incentive to improve their system.

Xue Guixiao snorted, feeling unsatisfied, and he said, “What’s the difference? It’s just an examination, and you’ll receive the money. Reimbursement is my own business.”

“The leaders of my hospital have requirements.” Yu Yuan did not really explain the problems of medical insurance ratio and reimbursement, let alone the risks.

However, Xue Guixiao understood something. “The current leaders sure are causing a lot of trouble even if they don’t understand the situation. It’s not their families’ money that is used for reimbursement, why are they butting in into this matter?”

Yu Yuan avoided the topic and asked, “Did the previous hospital ask you to be hospitalized?”

Xue Guixiao said, “Don’t need to. I’m fine. Besides, they can’t use my brother’s name to hospitalize me, so I can’t live there. It’s 100 RMB a day…”

“Well, let’s just wait a moment. We will go through the result of this examination.” Yu Yuan may have said those words, but she could already predict the results of the examination.

Yu Yuan got Xue Guixiao to sit by the window with a cup of tea. He was basically satisfied. He also commented, “Your service is great. That’s why I said that appearance is not important, what is important is the heart!”

Yu Yuan, who had just come to Ling Ran and was ready to give a report, stepped on Zuo Cidian’s foot really hard.

Zuo Cidian only felt as if his feet were stepped on by a cat’s paw. He could not help smiling as his wrinkles became more obvious, just like Old Monster of Black Mountain [1] when it came down for food.

“Doctor Ling, this patient has been examined once before, and I suspect that he has colon cancer. Is it necessary to transfer him to the General Surgery Department for a colonoscopy?” Yu Yuan still followed her initial plan. Colon cancer was a cancer type with a high survival rate. If the surgery was done in time and the patient was lucky enough, the probability of living for another five years was still very high.

Although the Emergency Department could also perform its own colonoscopy, Yu Yuan thought that for patients suspected of cancer, they should be handed over to the General Surgery Department for diagnosis.

Ling Ran looked at the report and agreed. “Okay, which General Surgery Department do you want him to be transferred to?”

Yu Yuan could not help but be stunned. Right now, in the Bazhaixiang hospital branch, most of the doctors who came were mostly from the field of general surgery, the only exception was Yun Hua Hospital. She really had no idea where to transfer the patient to and needed to think about it.

Yu Yuan looked back at the old man who was seated by the window, sighed a little, and said, “It seems that the patient’s financial status is not very good. Why don’t I ask which General Surgery Department is able to reduce some expenses and transfer him to that one?”

Ling Ran ate a piece of skinless pomelo, nodded, and said, “Okay, but ask the patient first. Zuo Cidian, please make a few calls…”

Zuo Cidian immediately answered

At the same time, the system also popped out.

[Mission: Cure the Patient]

[Mission Details: Cure Xue Guixiao, retain his self-care skills, and let him live with dignity.]

[Reward: Left hemicolectomy or right hemicolectomy.]

Ling Ran looked up a little. It was his first time being issued a reward with choices.

However, compared with other missions, this mission was more meaningful.

“Ask the patient what he does for a living?” Ling Ran was still talking to Zuo Cidian. He was not good at chatting and exchanging heart-to-heart conversations with another person, Besides, he did not want to try to break the wall either, preventing him from being good at conversations.

Zuo Cidian did not agree immediately this time. He only whispered, “Doctor Ling, when it comes to a patient’s daily life, it is often very complicated.”

“Hmm?” Ling Ran looked up in puzzlement.

“Keeping a person alive is expensive, but keeping a patient alive is even more expensive.” Zuo Cidian could guess what Ling Ran was thinking. He whispered in a tone hoping that he could advise Ling Ran against whatever he was thinking of doing. “Think about it, when you receive surgery, there are all kinds of expenses you need to pay for, and among them are the surgical fee as well as the fees for perioperative care. Even if we can reduce more than half of them, the family will still not be able to cover up the remaining costs with just a few ten thousand RMB. If we consider the patient and his family’s living expenses as well as charges for the loss of working time, all that will amount to a bottomless pit.”

Ling Ran’s said in a neither approving nor disapproving tone, “Ask the patient first.”

Zuo Cidian sighed. “I’m afraid that once we get involved, we won’t be able to get out of it. I’ll try to ask.”

“Consult the doctors who can do the surgery as well,” Ling Ran added.

“Okay.” Zuo Cidian no longer said anything. He shook his head and went to work.