Chapter 2277 - 1474: The Dao Is Simple

Chapter 2277: Chapter 1474: The Dao Is Simple

When Yang Ping received the call, he was discussing the design pathway for monoclonal antibodies of receptor X with Weber in the laboratory. The phone vibrated on the lab bench, and he didn’t pick it up immediately. He waited until the third buzz before grabbing it. The screen displayed Lu Xiaolu’s name. He pressed the answer key and wedged the phone between his ear and shoulder, as the pen in his hand continued sketching the antibody structure diagram on paper.

"Professor, Lin Xiaoyu has a fever."

Yang Ping’s actions halted. He set down the pen, adjusted the phone properly against his ear, "How high is it?"

"Thirty-eight point seven degrees. The nurse measured it during the rounds ten minutes ago. I went and measured again to confirm twice. It’s still thirty-eight point seven."

"Is she feeling unwell? Headache? Nausea? Does her neck feel stiff? Is there anything unusual about her eyes?"

"She said her head feels a bit dizzy, no nausea, no vomiting, neck moves freely, and her eyes respond normally to light with pupils equal and round. Xu Zhiliang ran a nervous system exam and found no positive signs."

"I’ll come over immediately to check."

Yang Ping hung up the phone, tucked it into his pocket, and turned to leave the laboratory. Weber called out to him from behind, but he didn’t look back, only raised his hand to signal that he heard. The corridor wasn’t long, and it took him less than a minute to walk from the cell laboratory to the elevator. He pressed the elevator button, waited a few seconds, and the elevator arrived, the doors opening. He walked in and pressed three; the third floor was the clinical department.

The elevator arrived at the third floor, and the doors opened. He walked to Lin Xiaoyu’s ward door, paused for a moment, and then pushed the door open. Lin Xiaoyu was leaning against the bed, her face slightly flushed, but her gaze was alert. She even smiled a little seeing him come in. Xu Zhiliang and Lu Xiaolu were standing by the bed. Xu Zhiliang held a thermometer and a stethoscope, and when he saw Yang Ping enter, he moved aside.

"Professor Yang, measured again, still thirty-eight point seven," Lu Xiaolu said.

Yang Ping approached, reached out and felt Lin Xiaoyu’s forehead. It was indeed hot. He then flipped open her eyelids to check her pupils, asked her to stick out her tongue to check the coating, held her wrist to count her pulse, then took the stethoscope from Lu Xiaolu to listen to her heart sounds, lung sounds, and abdominal bowel sounds. Everything was normal.

"When did the fever start?"

"About an hour ago. When the nurse on her rounds touched her forehead, it felt a bit hot, and when measured, it was thirty-eight point five. After twenty minutes, it measured thirty-eight point seven. After I came over, I did a full-body exam and found no infection loci."

"Any chills? Shivering?"

"No, just says she feels dizzy and doesn’t want to move."

"How’s her appetite?"

"Had half a bowl of congee for breakfast, hasn’t eaten lunch yet."

Sisi once almost died because of a high fever, so Yang Ping is very sensitive to high fevers over thirty-eight point five degrees.

He straightened up, went to the bed, raised the head of the bed a bit higher for Lin Xiaoyu to sit more comfortably, then picked up the medical record folder at the bedside to review recent test records. Complete blood count, CRP, PCT, yesterday’s data, all normal.

"Draw blood first," he said to Lu Xiaolu, "Urgently check complete blood count, CRP, PCT, blood culture, procalcitonin, IL-6, TNF-α. Check all inflammatory and infectious markers. Also check liver and kidney function, electrolytes, and the four coagulation tests. Go draw blood now and send it through the emergency channel. Tell me the results as soon as they come out, and closely monitor neurological symptoms."

Lu Xiaolu nodded, took the lab orders, and turned to leave. Yang Ping sat by the bed, watching Lin Xiaoyu, noticing the fine layer of sweat on her forehead glistening faintly under the light. "Does anywhere hurt?"

"No, just dizzy, and no strength in my body."

"Dizziness is normal. When you have a fever, the body is in battle, the immune system is working, consuming energy, so you feel tired. For now, just lie down. After the blood is drawn and results come out, we’ll decide the next step."

Lin Xiaoyu nodded and closed her eyes.

Yang Ping stood up and walked to the window. The sunlight outside was lovely. The bare branches of ginkgo trees drew black lines against the blue sky. People were moving downstairs in the inpatient block, an orderly pushing a wheelchair, family members carrying fruit, doctors and nurses in white gowns. Everything looked no different from usual.

Yang Ping’s mind raced. The new K Therapy was Lin Xiaoyu’s seventh treatment. The first six treatments had excellent results, with necrotic lesions growing from 3.2 millimeters to 11.2 millimeters, tumors shrinking, and symptoms improving. However, all effective treatments share a common risk—immune activation. As the activated immune system attacks necrotic tumors, it might also attack normal tissues. High fever, inflammatory response, cytokine storm, autoimmune-like reactions—these are known side effects of K Therapy.

Lin Xiaoyu’s fever may be due to an infection or an immune response. If it’s the former, we need anti-infective treatment; if it’s the latter, adjust the immunosuppressive regimen.

He needed the lab results.

An hour and twenty minutes later, Lu Xiaolu entered with the lab results. His steps were slightly quicker than usual, the lab report rolled up in his hand, his knuckles turning white. He walked over to Yang Ping, spread out the lab report, and pointed to a line of data, speaking in a lowered voice: "White cells at thirteen thousand, neutrophils at eighty-nine percent, CRP at forty-five. PCT is normal."

White cells at thirteen thousand, elevated neutrophil proportion, increased CRP, normal PCT. It was an odd combination. The elevation of white and neutrophil cells suggests infection or inflammation, while a normal PCT doesn’t support severe bacterial infection. If it were an infection, PCT would typically rise, especially during early fever, as PCT’s sensitivity is high. Normal PCT suggests a viral infection or non-infectious inflammatory reaction, like immune activation.