Path of Medicine With a System

Zhang Fan was busy diagnosing patients at the proctology department’s outpatient services section while his assistant Wang Zipeng helped with the paperwork and maintaining order amongst the patients.

[Author’s note: There were many people complaining about how Chinese people didn’t have manners, and that waiting in line to get treated was like having a fistfight all around the doctor, with no etiquette or class, not even respecting basic privacy rights. But in this author’s opinion, such people have no right to complain. China’s population is incredibly large. China’s medical field only recently started developing. China’s current medical level with only such a short period of development and such tremendous population was something to be proud of! As for the issue of so many patients crowding around the doctor, that wasn’t the fault of Chinese people not having class. This is a problem with enforcing regulations, not the patients’ fault.]

The cardiology head nurse brought Chen Yan over to Zhang Fan’s outpatient services office. She waited for Zhang Fan to finish dealing with his current patient before saying, “Just look at what a scare you’ve given to our Little Yan. You didn’t even explain anything. Just what exactly is going on?”

Zhang Fan glanced at Chen Yan before also glancing over at Wang Zipeng. The latter was smart enough to know that he should immediately leave. In this type of situation, it was the norm to first tell the family, who would then discuss things with the doctor before deciding whether to tell the patient or not. There were some people who would immediately collapse upon receiving such bad news if they had a weak mentality, so that was also something to watch out for.

“The situation isn’t very good. I felt several bumpy and hard nodules. He’s currently getting a colonoscopy. I really hope that my diagnosis is wrong! Let’s wait for the colonoscopy results first, but Little Yan, I think that you should probably notify his family. You won’t be able to carry this responsibility by yourself.”

“I’ll notify my uncle and the others right now. Zhang Fan, is it really that bad?” In normal situations, the doctor wouldn’t say so much without seeing the actual results of the checkup first. This was because many cancer signs were actually quite similar to inflammation symptoms. However, Zhang Fan had practiced touching countless similar things in his System before. That was why he was absolutely certain that Chen Yan’s cousin Chen Yun had rectal cancer.

“Yes, it probably is that bad. Go wash your face now. Don’t let your cousin feel bad.”

“Okay.” Chen Yan went to the restroom to wash her face.

The head nurse watched Chen Yan leave before she asked, “You’re absolutely certain?”

“Yes, I’m quite certain! Let’s wait for the colonoscopy results.” Zhang Fan then checked the time on the cell phone, and remarked, “The results are probably almost out now. Let me call and ask the pathology department.

“I am Zhang Fan from the proctology department. Hello! Yes, I’d like to ask about a male patient who’s 43 years old. He had a colonoscopy about an hour ago. Have his results come out yet?”

“Yes, the results are out. He has rectal cancer caused by ulcerative colitis. This is only the result for a fast checkup. Absolutely ascertaining it will still require a few days.”

“Alright, thank you.”

Chen Yan returned from the restroom at this time. Zhang Fan nodded at her, and informed her, “The fast checkup results are out now. Your cousin has rectal cancer caused by ulcerative colitis. He should be hospitalized. After the detailed checkups are over, he should have surgery as quickly as possible.”

“Okay! Understood.”

“We’ll be leaving now, then,” the head nurse told Zhang Fan as she supported Chen Yan.

“Alright.”

For rectal cancer, there were theoretical as well as known causes. To explain simply, there were both uncertain as well as certain factors that might lead to rectal cancer.

The uncertain factor was that eating too much fat would elevate your chances of getting rectal cancer. To be really direct, basically, eating too much fatty meat might cause you to get rectal cancer. Although this sounded really strange and inconceivable, America, Europe, and Japan had already performed much research on this topic.

Maybe many Chinese people would look down on Japan for having a medical system that borrowed much from China’s, but Japan’s medical system had indeed truly absorbed the best essence from both China and the west, making the Japanese medical system truly their own and unique. The Japanese had already confirmed that there was a concrete link between too much fat intake and one’s chances of getting rectal cancer. Although there was a large amount of data to support this conclusion, even now, the exact cause and reason for this was still unknown. Just why would too much fat elevate your risk of getting rectal cancer? Doctors still didn’t know!

Still, it was currently known that lowering caloric intake, increasing fiber intake, and getting an appropriate number of vitamins and minerals would all be beneficial for your body. It would actually be especially important to avoid eating smoked meats. Humans really were such contradictory creatures. The best-tasting foods were all bad for you, while the foods that people disliked the most were always the most beneficial ones.

Meanwhile, the certain factor in rectal cancer was inherited genetics! This was something that science had determined was a major definite already. If you had a family history of rectal cancer, then you would have about a 95% chance of getting rectal cancer yourself because the gene for rectal cancer was a dominant gene! This really was quite scary indeed.

That was why in China, it was common for some older people to first ask about if the other party’s family had any history of illness or misfortune rather than ask about wealth when regarding their children’s marriage candidates! This was a simplified version of eugenics. The ancient Chinese people had such wisdom!

[Author’s note: this is something that we Chinese people should learn and preserve! European people were still naked and having sex out in the wild when our ancestors were already figuring out eugenics1!]

Chen Yun arrived with a rather downcast expression. He was a vice section chief who worked at the Quality Supervision Bureau. Although he hadn’t received the medical checkup report, he was already middle-aged and knew quite well how things worked in China. When the pathology department doctor told him that his family member should come pick up the report instead, Chen Yun was already able to guess that the result had to be quite bad for him.

“Doctor Zhang, I’m here. They won’t give me the medical checkup report. They insisted that a family member of mine pick it up instead.” Chen Yun was incredibly depressed right now. Who wouldn’t be afraid of death? It was normal to be afraid of death.

“Yeah. You probably drank too much alcohol and ate too much meat. You likely won’t have any chances to eat and drink as much as you like anymore. Let me take a look at the colonoscopy report,” Zhang Fan answered him in an intentionally lighthearted manner. Zhang Fan then commented, “Hmm, it shouldn’t be a big issue. Still, a small surgery will be required for this. You should hospitalize yourself and get all the necessary detailed checkups. Normally, you probably don’t pay much attention to your health. You can get some rest now during your hospitalization.”

“Hey! Doctor Zhang, I know that you have good intentions for me. However, I’m not young anymore, and I understand how things work. Please tell me the truth. I can accept it. If I know earlier, I can also better prepare. Rest assured, I’ll be fully cooperative. I have a good job and a beautiful family. I don’t want to die yet!” Tears were appearing in Chen Yun’s eyes now. Yet, he still had a bitter smile on his face. That was right, a smile! His smile represented his will to live on. Although this smile wasn’t pretty at all, it was still a smile! The smile represented life!

“Okay! You have rectal cancer caused by ulcerative colitis. It’s unknown whether the cancer will transfer or spread, which is why it’s best to perform detailed checkups and prepare for surgery as quickly as possible.” Zhang Fan thought things over slightly before deciding to tell Chen Yun the truth. There was no helping it. Chen Yun already knew how the medical society worked. If Zhang Fan didn’t explain things, that might only give the patient more pressure and stress, which was why he decided to tell Chen Yun the truth.

“Okay! Thank you for telling me. What should I do now? My son is still so young.” Chen Yun felt as if someone had given him a vicious blow when he heard this. However, this vicious blow didn’t succeed in knocking him over. He still remained standing with great difficulty because he still had his own hopes for the future!

“Hospitalize yourself and adjust your own mentality. Remain confident in yourself. Leave the rest to us. Rest assured, we’ll help you get through this difficult spot in your life,” Zhang Fan stated in an adamant tone. This was in order to give the patient as much support as he possibly could. Perhaps the doctor’s support could become the source of hope for a patient to live on.

“Alright, thank you.”

“Doctor Wang, take Chen Yun and help him with the hospitalization paperwork. Tell the head nurse to prepare a private patient room for him, and help him finish with all of the pre-surgery detailed checkups.”

“Okay!” Wang Zipeng nodded and took Chen Yun with him. Zhang Fan didn’t feel a single thing from this, as there were still countless patients waiting to be treated by him. Zhang Fan didn’t have the time to exclaim over a single patient.

This was how Chinese doctors were! They weren’t robots, but they had to have hearts of steel!

Chinese doctors couldn’t afford to exclaim over each and every patient’s circumstances!