The Enhanced Doctor

Thanks to my good friend Hell's Tongue Demoner for the reward and encouragement.

Two days passed quickly. During these two days, Liu Banxia was the most striking figure in the Second Hospital. The emergency thoracotomy he performed that day, along with Li Mingwu's subsequent review, instantly put him in the limelight.

However, the initial skepticism had now turned into affirmation; after all, not everyone possessed the courage and technical skill to perform such a surgery.

The hospital's decision had indeed been correct; there was a valid reason for making an exception—Liu Banxia truly had such capabilities.

Liu Banxia had a pleasant couple of days. Who doesn't like to hear praise, after all? He saw no need to act reserved; whoever complimented him, he would join in with laughter and good humor.

Also, thanks to the daily tasks over the past two days, he had managed to level up to 23, and his dressing change skills had improved slightly. His other skills hadn't seen much improvement, as the past two days in the Emergency Department had been quite peaceful.

"Brother Xu, why the long face? Are you also worried about staff being transferred to the Emergency Department?" Liu Banxia asked curiously.

"Ah... well, that's also a concern." Xu Hui, an attending physician in the Department of Internal Medicine, sighed. "They say that moving to the ER can result in a salary increase, but it's certainly a lot more tiring than it is now."

"What I'm mainly worried about now is the case Director Qin just asked us to consult on. I feel something is off with it, but Director Qin thinks it's simpler to just proceed directly to surgery."

"My goodness, what kind of case has you this conflicted? Let me and my secretary take a look," Liu Banxia said earnestly.

Beside him, Liang Xiaolin rolled her eyes. So, I'm the 'secretary' now, huh?

Xu Hui pulled up the patient's test results on the computer. Liu Banxia quickly scanned them, his brow furrowing.

"Brother Xu, there seems to be nothing wrong. The wall of the ascending colon and the cecum are irregularly thickened, and the surrounding mesenteric lymph nodes are enlarged. The colonoscopy also revealed a malignant stenosis with a diameter of 5 centimeters in the ascending colon. That's a primary malignant tumor, isn't it?" Liu Banxia commented.

"Look at the biopsy results on the next page," Xu Hui said, clicking the mouse.

This piqued even Liang Xiaolin's curiosity. "Huh? The biopsy results didn't detect any malignant tumor cells?"

DING! Task Issued: Patient with Colonic Lesion.

Open-ended Task: Due to a conflict between imaging studies and biopsy results, the Host suspects the current diagnosis and needs to conduct further investigation to confirm it. Task rewards will be awarded or deducted based on the confirmed diagnosis.

"Exactly! Regardless of whether it's the CT scan or the colonoscopy, it looks like colon cancer, possibly even stage II. But the biopsy says it's fine, and it's unlikely that the wrong tissue was taken during the biopsy," Xu Hui said with a wry smile.

"Brother Xu, let me take a closer look." Liu Banxia promptly squeezed Xu Hui out of his seat.

Now that the system had issued a task, mere curiosity wasn't enough; he had to figure this out.

Xu Hui didn't mind. Although he was an attending physician and Liu Banxia had only recently finished his residency, what mattered in the diagnostic process was that flash of inspiration, not years of experience.

Furthermore, he himself was skeptical of Qin Hai's insistence on proceeding directly to surgery rather than conducting further diagnostic tests to confirm the cause of the illness.

"Brother Xu, is this patient the one who came in with abdominal pain three days ago, the one Director Qin attended to directly?" Liu Banxia asked after examining the files for a moment.

Xu Hui nodded. "Yes, that's the one. The biopsy results just came out today."

"Brother Xu, look at the preceding symptoms," Liu Banxia said, pointing at the computer screen. "Based on the CT scan and colonoscopy, we'd think it's colon cancer, but the biopsy doesn't support that."

"Moreover, the patient's blood tests and some other symptoms, like diarrhea and bloody stools, are also similar to those of colon cancer. But there's one thing: in the initial consultation record, the patient had cold sweats."

"We might assume it was caused by the abdominal pain—sweating due to severe pain. But if you look at the records for the second and third days, the patient still experienced cold sweats."

"I feel something is off. If it was really pain that made them sweat, and it persisted for such a long time, wouldn't the patient be rolling around in bed from the pain? What do you think?"

Xu Hui frowned. "That is indeed the case. The cold sweats should also be a symptom in itself, not a secondary manifestation of some other condition. Banxia, you don't think... No, it can't be, right?"

Liu Banxia shook his head. "I honestly don't know. All I know is, if we actually go ahead with the surgery, our hospital could be in serious trouble."

"What are you two talking about? I don't understand," Liang Xiaolin asked, confused.

Xu Hui took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. "Banxia and I both suspect the patient might have a rare case of intestinal tuberculosis. If it's truly intestinal tuberculosis, the first line of treatment should be anti-tuberculosis medication. If we opt for surgical treatment, the complication rate would be very high, and the complications themselves are all quite dangerous."

Hearing Xu Hui's words startled Liang Xiaolin. If such a situation were to occur, and if the patient decided to cause trouble after experiencing complications from the treatment, the Second Hospital would be in hot water.

"Then you should inform the operating room quickly! Tell them to stop the surgery!" Seeing that the two men weren't making a move, Liang Xiaolin grew anxious.

"Silly girl, right now, it's just a suspicion. What if we're wrong? Casually calling off a surgery, especially one performed by Old Qin, do you think I'd get off easily?" Liu Banxia said with a wry smile.

"But we can't just ignore it! What if complications arise after the resection? How would we feel about ourselves then? If you won't go, I will," Liang Xiaolin declared, turning to leave.

Quick as lightning, Liu Banxia grabbed her, spun her around, and placed her back in front of the computer.

"We two men are here; do we need a little girl like you to take the lead? Just stay here obediently. Brother Xu, wait for my good news," Liu Banxia said, then hurried out.

In theory, it would be best for Liang Xiaolin to intervene. Even if she were wrong, it wouldn't matter much. After all, Liang Xiaolin has connections, and Qin Hai wouldn't dare target her. But this wasn't the way to handle things; there was no need to use Liang Xiaolin as a shield. This was a reasonable suspicion, and even if they were mistaken, they had to be mistaken openly and honestly.

"Doctor Liang, you hold down the fort. I have to go help your Banxia out," Xu Hui said, also walking out.

Liang Xiaolin was a bit stunned, partly because Liu Banxia had just spun her in his arms, and partly because of what Xu Hui had just said. She felt there was a hidden meaning in his words, which made her a bit anxious.

Liu Banxia checked the surgery schedule; Qin Hai's operation was in Operating Room Number Four. He didn't dare delay and rushed over, pulling out his phone to call the operating room directly.

"Hello..."

"This is Liu Banxia! Stop the surgery immediately!" Liu Banxia yelled while running.

"Who? Liu Banxia? Hang up."

Qin Hai's voice came faintly through the phone, and then the line went dead.

Liu Banxia was truly frantic now; the surgery had already been underway for twenty minutes. They had probably already made the incision. He didn't know if the actual resection had begun.