This Doctor Is Too Wealthy

But after saving the number, he had never called it. The last time they mentioned compensation, it was their Medical Affairs Department that had called. He had no idea why they were suddenly calling today.

”Hello, Director Zhou.”

”Hello, President Du.”

Then, instead of making small talk with Du Heng, Zhou Yixian got straight to the point.

”President Du, we’ve done the necessary work with the patient’s family. They have agreed to have you come for the consultation, and as for the cost, it’s already been discussed with them. They’re willing to bear any amount.”

Du Heng fell silent; he hadn’t expected such a matter.

To go meant dealing with a patient who had essentially received a death sentence from Municipal First Hospital. He couldn’t always be lucky enough to get patients like Li Qiuhua. A Class A hospital didn’t often make mistakes.

But if he didn’t go, he couldn’t shake the itch of curiosity.

A Class A hospital might make few mistakes, but they weren’t infallible.

Moreover, the medication combination he had developed from Li Qiuhua’s case also needed verification.

Otherwise, even if Du Heng were excellent, no critically ill patients would be running to the Health Clinic given its current state.

”Alright, I will go now.” After a moment’s thought, Du Heng gave his answer. He didn’t mention a word about the fee.

Let them decide.

If they offered too little, even if it wasn’t the market rate, he’d accept it. After all, he wasn’t a saint, and there was no need to disrupt the market and have people cursing him behind his back.

If they offered too much, he’d just take the standard market rate and return the rest. That way, he might even earn a good reputation.

Of course, all this was predicated on saving the patient. If he couldn’t save them, he frankly wouldn’t have the gall to accept any payment.

After changing his clothes and informing Wang Zhenzhen, he hailed a taxi to Municipal First Hospital.

At that moment, Du Heng suddenly had the thought of buying a car again.

The Emergency Department of a Class A hospital, whether crowded or not, always looked chaotic and disorderly.

There were people crying to the heavens, shrieking in tears, or quietly bowing their heads, waiting for the doctor’s ”judgment.”

Some say that if you want to see people’s true nature, go to the Emergency Department of a big hospital.

There, you’ll witness all worldly emotions, the full spectrum of human nature, and all of life’s joys and sorrows, partings and reunions.

So, to be an Emergency Doctor, you need not only excellent skills but also a steadfast heart, unaffected by wind and rain. You must be compassionate, yet strong-hearted.

Soft-hearted people can’t be good doctors, let alone good Emergency Doctors.

”Doctor Du?!”

A surprised voice rang out behind Du Heng.

Du Heng turned around and saw a woman with a smile on her face walking towards him. It was Deng Jia.

”It really is you, Doctor Du! What brings you here? Bringing in a patient?”

”Dr. Deng, hello. I was called by Director Zhou Yixian. He said there’s a patient with pulmonale who needs a consultation.”

Deng Jia’s eyes lit up. After organizing the records of the woman in childbirth that noon, she had no doubt whatsoever about Du Heng’s ability to handle a consultation.

As for the patient with pulmonale Du Heng mentioned, she was also well-aware of the situation.

Just moments ago, this patient had entered a critical condition for the ninth time, and the interval was much shorter than the previous few days.

Director Zhou Yixian and the other male doctor were still in the hospital room, resuscitating the patient.

”Doctor Du, this way. The Director and the others are trying to save this patient right now.”

As they passed by an office, she also grabbed a white gown for Du Heng.

Just as they reached the door of the hospital room, Zhou Yixian and the male doctor emerged, drenched in sweat and looking utterly exhausted.

No one could be in a better state than them after performing two high-intensity rescues in such a short period.

Meeting face-to-face, both Du Heng and Zhou Yixian were a little caught off guard. However, as they were all individuals of standing and knew the purpose of the visit, they both quickly regained their composure after a fleeting moment of surprise.

Du Heng took the initiative to speak, ”Director Zhou, I’m here.”

Zhou Yixian also responded proactively, ”Welcome, Doctor Du. You’ve arrived just in time. We’ve just finished resuscitating the patient, and their condition has temporarily stabilized. However, the patient is in a very bad state. How about you take a look now while you’re here?”

”Alright, let’s take a look together and discuss the case.”

”Come on in.”

Standing by the sick bed, Du Heng didn’t rush to examine the patient. Instead, he accepted the patient’s medical record from the male doctor who had followed him in. The record detailed the patient’s condition and the multiple resuscitation attempts.

The primary cause, like Li Qiuhua’s, was heart failure caused by pulmonale, but there were significant differences.

The root of Li Qiuhua’s illness was in her lungs, a crisis caused by respiratory failure.

However, this patient was suffering from acute kidney failure.

After carefully reviewing the medical record, Du Heng began examining the patient.

The patient was still unconscious after the resuscitation attempt, covered in various tubes and wires—looking like a spider web and quite intimidating.

Looking at the patient, their face was cyanotic black, lips purple, and the fingernails visible outside the covers were also a purplish color.

Moreover, even without stepping closer, Du Heng could hear the rattling of phlegm in the patient’s throat—a long, drawn-out sawing sound.

Du Heng took a deep breath, bent down, and felt the patient’s neck, finding the carotid artery pulse to be extremely intense.

These three signs indicated that the patient’s cardiopulmonary function was extremely poor.

Prying open the mouth revealed a thick, white, greasy tongue coating.

Upon palpating the pulse, all six pulse positions were chaotic and scattered, failing to form a coherent pulse pattern. However, palpating the lower three positions revealed them to be deep, solid, and forceful.

Du Heng’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. The resuscitation record Zhou Yixian had shown him was merely a reference. He needed to perform his own syndrome differentiation to determine the patient’s actual condition—deficiency or excess, cold or heat, Yin or Yang, internal or external factors.

If he couldn’t differentiate clearly and mistook a heat syndrome for a cold syndrome, even one incorrectly prescribed medicine could lead to complete failure.

This was a life-threatening condition, a Critical Illness that allowed no room for trial and error.

With other diseases, after administering medication, he could still monitor system statistics to see if the medicine was effective. But in this situation, once the medicine was administered, there would be no opportunity to correct an error, or rather, the chance would be exceedingly small.

Knowledge flashed and integrated rapidly in his mind. His eyes scanned the patient’s entire body again. When he saw the abdomen, his eyes narrowed slightly, and he reached out to pull open the patient’s hospital gown.

The abdomen was swollen like a drum, with the navel protruding and the chest flat.

Du Heng took another step forward and lifted the blanket covering the patient’s legs. A pair of purplish color, swollen feet were revealed. Du Heng let out a soft breath and also pulled up the patient’s trouser leg, revealing what looked like two thick pillars.

The entire lower limbs were grotesquely swollen, almost to the point of appearing rotten.

Zhou Yixian’s record had mentioned this, but it had stated ”edema in the lower limbs.”

Was this just edema? Du Heng silently criticized. Both legs and feet were a purplish color, and the swelling was so severe that the skin on the entire lower limbs had become taut and shiny.

Did they think the acute kidney failure was already under control?

Or perhaps their understanding of the term ’edema’ deviated from his own.

Taking another deep breath, Du Heng slowly straightened up, his gaze shifting to Zhou Yixian. ”Director Zhou, could you describe in detail the patient’s condition before admission? And what was the reason for their hospitalization?”

Zhou Yixian couldn’t clearly answer Du Heng’s questions, so he turned to the male doctor beside him, thinking that as the patient’s attending doctor, he should know.

However, when the male doctor met Zhou Yixian’s and Du Heng’s gazes, he decisively shook his head. ”I’ll go find the family right now. They’re just outside the door; they’ll be able to provide more details.”

With that, he turned and trotted out the door.

Zhou Yixian asked Du Heng, ”Doctor Du, what’s your opinion right now?”

Du Heng folded his arms across his chest, stroking his chin with one hand. After pondering for a moment, he said, ”The purplish color of the lips and fingertips indicates that heart failure is certain. However, based on the pulse and physical signs, the patient has coldness both internally and externally, and the yin cold is particularly severe. This is unlikely to be a natural progression of the disease; there must be an external cause. That’s why I need to ask for more details.”

There was something else Du Heng didn’t say.

If the patient’s yin cold was indeed due to an external cause, then given the current situation, despite how alarming each resuscitation attempt looked, they could definitely endure another four or five, perhaps even seven or eight more times.

As long as resuscitation was timely, this patient wouldn’t succumb so easily.

But by the same token, if the root cause wasn’t found and they continued to resuscitate like this, heart failure would eventually claim her life. Moreover, the patient also had severe kidney failure, meaning she could only withstand so many resuscitation attempts.