The Enhanced Doctor

Chapter 1261: Chapter 1261: Phantom Limb Pain, Terrifying Pain

New Year’s Eve night was really busy, but busy as it was, it wasn’t nearly as tense as last year.

We really have the fireworks and firecrackers ban to thank—just more patients with acute abdominal pain. Mostly appendicitis, kidney stones, and cholecystitis.

Those are simple enough cases, standard package of orders and you’re done. If you can treat conservatively, you do; if not, straight to the OR or extracorporeal lithotripsy.

"How was the second half of the night yesterday?" Wang Chao walked over and asked.

"Not bad. I went to sleep a little after three. I think they saw four more patients after that." Liu Banxia said with a smile.

"So now I dare say it: this New Year has actually been pretty comfortable. Anyway it’s over, I’m just telling the truth, not thinking about anything else."

Wang Chao laughed too. Looked like the "gag order" had quite an impact on Liu Banxia.

"Just banning fireworks and firecrackers has saved us a ton of trouble. I checked with the other hospitals—the municipal hospital, First Hospital, they’re the same as us, all taking it easy." Liu Banxia continued.

"That just proves there are way too many accidents when people are setting off fireworks and firecrackers." Wang Chao said, smiling.

"Anyway it’s pretty good. Even though it makes the holiday less lively than in past years, a lot more people stay safe. Otherwise you get another one lighting firecrackers down by a sewer in an old neighborhood—how nerve‑racking is that."

"Exactly. Let’s eat first. After we finish, we’ll rotate them out. The lithotripsy team probably needs a good sleep today, they were firing all the way till dawn." Liu Banxia said.

"These few days there’s plenty of work. For them, holidays like this basically mean working overtime." Wang Chao said with a grin.

Normally people are moving around a lot, so kidney stones tend to sit there quietly.

But now it’s New Year, everybody’s on holiday, eating and drinking well and then just flopping down, and that’s when the stones start messing with you.

This is also a very common condition. Pretty much everyone has a few stones in their kidneys—depends on whether they behave. If they don’t, you’re in for it.

When they got to the canteen, everyone was laughing and joking, wishing each other a happy New Year. It was the first day of the lunar year after all; even if you’re spending it in the hospital, you still have to do the New Year greetings.

"Manager Zhou, this year’s been pretty good, right? You must have made a decent profit." Liu Banxia said.

"Director Liu, if I told you I made barely half of what I usually do, would you believe it?" Zhou Qiang said with a wry smile.

"No way. Weren’t there lots of people ordering decent dishes?" Liu Banxia asked curiously.

"I still have to give everyone bonuses. Otherwise who’d want to stay here over the New Year? Everyone wants to go home for the holiday, don’t they." Zhou Qiang said.

"Honestly, our whole family is just earning the goodwill. When it’s New Year, people would rather make a bit less money and spend time at home together."

"The good thing is we got through it. Next year I’ll plan it better. It’s tiring, sure, but if everyone can have a good New Year, that’s worth more than anything."

"Haha, next year it’ll be time to sign a new contract for the canteen, you’ve got your eye on that." Liu Banxia said, squinting with a smile.

"Well yeah. Since we’ve taken on this business, we’ve got to stick with it and do it well." Zhou Qiang said.

"If my son doesn’t do well in school in the future, I’ll just have him learn to be a chef. Whatever you do, you’re just living—if you can live happily, that’s enough."

"If you don’t have the brains, then don’t go into research. Cooking is fine—if you’re willing to work hard, spinning around the stove, you can still live a good life."

"That’s really true. No matter what line of work you’re in, you’re just living. There’s no such thing as all that ’high’ or ’low’, ’noble’ or ’cheap’. Whoever lives well, that’s the person who’s successful." Liu Banxia nodded.

"I like hearing that. I’ll give you two more tea eggs." Zhou Qiang joked.

"Manager Zhou, you can’t just give them to him." Wang Chao chimed in, playing along.

"Of course not. Our medical staff all get two tea eggs today as standard, free of charge." Zhou Qiang said.

"Oh come on, why didn’t you say so earlier? I just paid for two myself." Liu Banxia started complaining.

"Quit it. With the way you eat, two tea eggs aren’t nearly enough. Other people, maybe; you, definitely not." Zhou Qiang said.

Hearing Zhou Qiang, the people nearby all burst out laughing.

Everyone knew how much Liu Banxia could eat. Every day at mealtimes he’d pile up a whole plate from upstairs and downstairs—you’d have a hard time not noticing.

This counted as a little perk from Zhou Qiang. Two tea eggs per person doesn’t cost much, and it makes everyone that much happier.

After breakfast, back at the emergency center, Liu Banxia led everyone on ward rounds.

The families of yesterday’s accident patients would arrive this morning, and then the nursing workload would ease a lot. Last night, caring for these people had taken a huge amount of effort.

Just as he walked out of one ward, Liu Banxia saw an elderly couple he found somewhat familiar standing in the corridor.

"Are you here for me?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Director Liu, please finish your work first. We can talk after you’re done," the old man said.

"It’s nothing urgent. Xu Yino, take everyone around for a quick tour," Liu Banxia said casually.

"Ah... sorry to trouble you, Director Liu, and to hold up your work," the old man said hurriedly.

"I remember now, you’re the family of the patient we brought in with that helicopter rescue. Has something happened with him?" Liu Banxia asked.

"He’s still in the ICU right now. So far he’s recovering very well; in a few days he should be able to come out of ICU," the patient’s father said.

"I just wanted to ask you: when’s the best time for him to get a prosthesis made? He’ll be relying on it for the rest of his life—are there things we should pay attention to?"

"In this situation, why don’t you come to my office first? I’ll call over an orthopedic doctor; they’re the real experts on this," Liu Banxia said with a smile.

"We’re really grateful. We’ve looked up a lot of information ourselves. Even though there are ones sold outside, we still feel more reassured getting it done in a public hospital," the patient’s mother said.

"Honestly, it’s also because the price range is pretty big. Depending on different materials and functions, the cost varies a lot," Liu Banxia said.

Then he led the elderly couple to the office and dialed a call to Wu Mingyu.

Wu Mingyu came quickly. This was also the surgery he had performed, and it was one of their department’s ongoing projects.

"About installing the prosthesis—personally, I’d say there’s no need to rush," Wu Mingyu said after thinking for a moment.

"Normally, once his leg has fully recovered, we can take measurements and have the prosthesis custom-made. But people often overlook one issue: psychological acceptance of the prosthesis."

"Many patients aren’t mentally prepared. Even after they’ve chosen and fitted a prosthesis, wearing it feels uncomfortable no matter what, and then they become very resistant during rehab training."

"Your son went through such a major accident. I think it’s best to first help him prepare psychologically, and then we can see what he himself thinks when the time comes."

"From my experience, if the patient can face it proactively, even participate in the whole process, it greatly helps his future adaptation to the prosthesis."

"Doctor Wu, so you mean we don’t have to hurry?" the patient’s father asked.

"We can start preparing on that front in advance, but from my own experience, there’s hardly any patient who, after recovery, can immediately respond in a very positive way," Wu Mingyu said.

"It depends on the patient’s tolerance. Some need a month or two; some need even longer. And we also have to deal with phantom limb pain after amputation, which is a very tricky problem."

"The incidence of phantom limb pain is quite high. Although the data aren’t completely precise, roughly 30% of amputee patients feel pain, and about 5% experience extreme pain."

"Right now, whether in Western medicine or traditional Chinese medicine, there’s no truly effective treatment. What we can do is psychological intervention, and try to reduce all kinds of stimulation to the stump."

"So my suggestion is, let’s not rush the prosthesis. Phantom limb pain has to be our priority. I’ve had patients who originally had no phantom limb pain, but developed it after the prosthesis was fitted."

The elderly couple nodded, genuinely grateful to both Wu Mingyu and Liu Banxia.

If they’d gone somewhere else, who would care this much? You say you want a prosthesis, they’ll just arrange it. Once the swelling goes down, they’ll take measurements and schedule production.

As for whether you’re in pain or whether you can adapt—that’s none of their concern. That’s your own business.

"When you visit him each day, spend more time talking with him. Don’t let him carry too much psychological burden," Liu Banxia said.

"And his last injury really was quite severe. Even after he comes out of ICU, he’ll need a period of recovery. We can decide about the prosthesis later; there’s no rush," he added.

"Thank you, thank you, Director Liu, thank you, Doctor Wu," the patient’s father said.

"No need to be so polite. Our goal is the same. Coming here for treatment isn’t just about fixing the disease and calling it done," Liu Banxia said.

"We also have to think about prognostic issues. His case is relatively special, and you yourselves need to give yourselves more patience and confidence," he said.

The elderly couple nodded; they felt much more at ease inside.

For many patient families, they really don’t ask for much. Even a light, simple word of comfort can have a big effect.

"I honestly didn’t expect the incidence of phantom limb pain to be that high," Liu Banxia said after the couple left.

"It’s actually much higher than we tend to imagine," Wu Mingyu said.

"I was planning to talk with them after the patient comes out of ICU anyway. He loves sports, so the psychological gap is bound to be huge."

Liu Banxia nodded. "Just keep it in mind. I’m not very familiar with this field, but I do know phantom limb pain is terrifying."

Phantom limb pain really is quite frightening. Even though Liu Banxia hasn’t formally dealt with a case himself, he knows how terrible that kind of pain is—because it’s a pain with no cure.

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