Chapter 1457: Liver and Kidney Failure

Chapter 1457: Chapter 1457: Liver and Kidney Failure

"Director Liu, I’d like to know more about my father’s illness."

Liu Banxia had just returned to the second department, and the son of the patient he had consulted yesterday came over.

"Could you wait a bit? About half an hour, I need to do rounds with them, and then we can talk," Liu Banxia said.

"Of course, please go ahead," the patient’s son hurriedly replied.

"Sorry, I was just at a consultation, so it took some time," Liu Banxia said.

He was quite satisfied with the son’s attitude now, as it was better than yesterday when everything was questioned.

Perhaps it was because his father’s symptoms had alleviated, which improved his mood.

After greeting the people upstairs, Liu Banxia started the rounds.

For patients who were recovering, rounds were quite relaxed. Liu Banxia’s principle was to offer encouragement, the more the better.

Patients are already distressed about their illnesses, making them feel their symptoms are improving can very much affect their mood, and can also impact their recovery.

Even if some patients showed no apparent change, he would still praise them.

It’s a benevolent lie, but the aim is to build the patients’ confidence.

After finishing the rounds, praising when needed and advising when necessary, the morning’s work was considered done.

Seeing the patient’s son in the corridor, Liu Banxia waved him over.

"Director Liu, you’re done with your rounds," the patient’s son said as he walked over.

"Finished, what else would you like to know?" Liu Banxia asked.

"I’m still very worried. Yesterday, I checked some information on cholangiocarcinoma. It seems even surgery often doesn’t help much," the patient’s son said.

Liu Banxia nodded, "That’s true, because the location of the bile duct is quite unique, often it depends on the specific situation."

"Whether the tumor is benign or malignant, its invasion into the surrounding tissues and organs can greatly affect the outcome."

"If it’s cholangitis caused by stones, it’s relatively simple to deal with. But the CT and MRI done yesterday didn’t show any stones."

"So regardless of the opinions from the radiology department or ours, we can’t exclude the possibility of cholangiocarcinoma. We can’t say everything is fine just because there’s no stone visible."

"Director Liu, I must apologize for my poor attitude yesterday," the patient’s son said, embarrassed.

"When my mother told me the news, I felt like the sky was falling. I got into the car and forgot to start it, ended up taking a taxi."

"We can understand that, no one wants their family to be sick," Liu Banxia nodded.

"But looking at the current situation, drainage is working quite well. Our plan is to stabilize a bit more, then proceed with endoscopic ultrasound."

"This way we can observe more closely, at least the inflammation on the bile duct can be reduced a bit, preventing complications during examination."

"Director Liu, do you think it’s highly probable that my father has cholangiocarcinoma?" the patient’s son asked.

This was his most pressing concern.

Yesterday he consulted other friends, but their advice was also to use endoscopic ultrasound to see what’s going on.

But his heart was still unsettled, as if hanging in midair.

"This matter, not just me, even other doctors couldn’t give you an exact answer now," Liu Banxia thought for a moment and said.

"We can’t give you an uncertain diagnosis or uncertain possibility; it’s not like other areas where sometimes there’s a clear mass visible, even palpable during examination."

"For now, it’s crucial to ease your father’s mood. We didn’t tell him yesterday, but he’s a clever man, constantly asking during the biopsy."

"Director Liu, is there really no way to even suggest probability?" the patient’s son asked.

"It’s really hard to say," Liu Banxia replied.

"If your father doesn’t have cholangiocarcinoma and I say he does, imagine the impact on your family? If he has it and I say he doesn’t, what’s the impact then?"

"Illnesses are different from other things. It’s either yes or no, there’s no in-between. Can you understand that?"

The patient’s son nodded, "Director Liu, thank you, we’ll depend on you to keep an eye on the upcoming checks."

"Rest assured, everyone who comes here receives our earnest and responsible care," Liu Banxia said.

That was all he could say, even if he had thoughts, he didn’t dare voice them.

He had to be accountable for his words; even if he prefixed them as possibilities, the patient’s son might selectively ignore that.

As he watched the patient’s son leave, Li Hao hurried over, "Teacher Liu, the pediatric Director Chen is calling you over to the small conference room for consultancy."

"Okay, contact me if anything comes up in the department," Liu Banxia nodded.

It seemed Chen Hongyang had completed the testing, though he wasn’t sure of the child’s condition.

"Take a look, there’s nothing apparent. Motor incoordination is also hard to judge. Peng Bo’s guess is it might be some condition affecting the central nervous system," Chen Hongyang said when Liu Banxia arrived at the small conference room.

"This is troublesome. Doctor Peng, any diagnostic inclinations?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Not at the moment, so we had to call everyone over for a consult," Peng Bo replied.

"The main issue is the rapid progress of the child’s symptoms. After experiencing diarrhea, it quickly developed into this state. But I suspect the child might have had some symptoms before, just unnoticed by the parents."

"For such conditions, unless it’s toxin invasion. But the child’s only symptoms are diarrhea and motor incoordination, which don’t quite fit food or drug poisoning."

"Moreover, Director Chen conducted toxin tests too, which haven’t shown positive results yet. This child is constantly with family and other kids, so neither food nor drug poisoning is likely a chance occurrence."

"During our discussion, we considered your assumption; it might be resulting from endocrine system disorder," Wang Huan continued.

"But checking the endocrine system is very difficult, involves too many factors, we can only probe bit by bit."

"How’s the child’s condition now?" Liu Banxia asked.

"No significant improvement observed. For now, we’re only managing diarrhea, hydrating, and balancing electrolytes. It’s just partial relief, and no other interventions can be taken lightly," Chen Hongyang said.

Liu Banxia also felt overwhelmed, endocrine system diseases are truly challenging and tedious to diagnose completely.

Especially with children; they struggle to describe symptoms.

Presently, if we call someone from the inpatient endocrine department for consultation, it might be a bit premature.

The endocrine disorder remains speculative; rushing to involve others now might waste their valuable time.

Morning work at hospitals is usually heavy, everyone’s busy.

"Should we continue to observe?" Liu Banxia asked.

"For now, we can only observe, but we need a strategy at hand," Chen Hongyang responded with a wry smile.

"Could it be a lymphatic system issue?" Wang Huan asked.

"The child is very young; although the parents are willing for any examination, we must be cautious. If we conduct excessive checks, once they lose confidence, we bear the brunt," Liu Banxia responded with a wry smile.

"Which endocrine disorder do you suspect?" Chen Hongyang asked.

"It’s hard to guess; let’s try to expand our thinking—is there possibly another condition causing temporary central nervous system impairment due to diarrhea?" Liu Banxia speculated.

"Actually, after returning, I did explore the books. But didn’t find any matching cases, so I agree with Doctor Peng’s assessment," Wang Huan said.

"The child must have had different signs before, only missed by the parents. This recent diarrhea seemed to unlock an issue, dismantling the child’s central nervous system."

"However, the impact’s mechanism is puzzling; indeed, the symptoms being too atypical is challenging," he added.

There’s some helplessness in saying this, but it’s the current reality.

Unlike adults, children are inherently frail. Excessive examinations could exhaust them further.

The parents’ emotions could deteriorate when faced with fruitless examinations. It’s a frequent scenario, not as simple as just saying so.

"Teacher Chen, the recent examination results of the young patient reveal liver and kidney failure,"

Just then, a pediatric intern came rushing in.

Hearing this, everyone’s hearts skipped a beat.

The symptoms had progressed further, now targeting the liver and kidneys, indicating a potential full-body outbreak.

Without further delay, all four rushed to pediatrics.

Even initial stages of liver and kidney failure signal critical danger for children. If severe, ICU admission might be necessary, alongside issuing a critical condition notice to the parents.