When the Doctor Uses A Hack

Chapter 426: Chapter 426: Not So Simple!

At nine o’clock in the morning, a mother and daughter walked into the emergency room!

The daughter, in her forties and of slight build, was supporting the elderly woman, constantly complaining to her: “I told you not to eat it, but you just had to, didn’t you? Now look at what’s happened, vomiting and diarrhea! At your age, you should know better!”

The woman seemed to have a quick and sharp tongue, incessantly nagging the elderly woman without stopping.

“You can’t eat cold things, and now it’s upset your stomach and landed you in the hospital! Do you realize you’re causing me trouble? I have to leave work and rush back to take you to the hospital! Can’t you be less of a worry for me?”

The elderly woman was meek and silent, only managing to say after a long while, “I thought… it would be wasteful to throw it out, the jelly was still good and not spoiled!”

The old mother was eighty years old, her face lined with wrinkles and her hair white with age. Though she was thin, her frame was larger than her daughter’s, making it seem burdensome for her to support her.

After they entered the emergency room, the woman was out of breath, but she still carefully supported the old lady, worried about causing her any harm.

Chen Cang and Xu Dongdong had just finished their rounds and saw them, quickly calling out, “Xiao Lin, bring a bed out here.”

Upon seeing the situation, Xiao Lin nodded her head quickly, her actions adept, and she soon ran out.

Chen Cang and Xu Dongdong helped move the elderly woman onto the bed, and the slight woman finally caught her breath, but before she could rest, she hurriedly registered for emergency treatment.

Chen Cang quickly asked, “What’s wrong with the elderly lady?”

The elderly lady, with her eyes closed and not making a sound, lay on the bed, seemingly too exhausted to move.

The slight woman replied, “I think she might be in shock from diarrhea? This morning after I went to work, my father called me and said that my mother had been having diarrhea since the morning, vomiting and suffering from diarrhea, several times already.”

“When I asked in detail, I found out she ate the jelly from last night! It must have upset her stomach.”

After hearing this, Chen Cang nodded and said, “Ah! Did she have any chronic diseases in the past?”

The woman thought for a moment, “She has diabetes and high blood pressure, but she’s been taking her medication for that. For her high blood pressure, she’s been taking nifedipine sustained-release tablets, one tablet each day, and for her diabetes, she’s been on… 8 units of insulin in the morning…”

The woman was very detailed, which made Chen Cang look at her askance: “Are you in the medical field?”

The woman shook her head and sighed, “No, my mother has been sick for so many years, and she’s always been with me. She doesn’t take her medication properly because she always complains about the cost, so I make sure to give her her medication on time every day.”

Chen Cang couldn’t help but take a few more glances at the woman; after all… there aren’t many children who can do that for their parents.

The constant chatter just now must have been like a mother nagging her child when they were young.

Tireless.

When people grow old, their roles sometimes reverse.

However, even so, Chen Cang didn’t fully believe her story.

He habitually picked up the stethoscope and listened to the stomach, noting that the bowel sounds were indeed a bit hyperactive.

At this moment, the elderly woman opened her eyes.

Chen Cang asked, “Madam, where do you feel uncomfortable, tell me.”

The elderly woman’s voice was very low, seemingly weak and tired, and she said, “My stomach feels uncomfortable, and I feel weak all over, everywhere hurts, oh… and my heart feels fluttery too.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Cang hesitated for a moment.

Electrolyte imbalance?

Low potassium can cause a series of symptoms like general weakness, arrhythmia, or other neurological diseases similar to muscle weakness.

Thinking this, Chen Cang turned to the nurse and said, “Xiao Lin, do a blood glucose test, and also run a complete blood count and electrolyte panel.”

Care must be taken when replenishing electrolytes for the elderly.

They are much more sensitive than younger people.

While they were talking, the elderly woman was wheeled into the observation room.

Normally, such symptoms are common; an older person with food poisoning may experience electrolyte disturbances, so these symptoms are not unusual.

Xu Dongdong, standing by, watched Chen Cang perform a check-up and asked, “Professor Chen, could this be an electrolyte disorder, leading to low sodium and low potassium? Just replenishing fluids should do the trick, right?”

Chen Cang looked at Xu Dongdong and couldn’t help shaking his head, “Replenishing fluids shouldn’t be done carelessly, especially with elderly patients. Without the results from the serum electrolyte test, replenishing sodium or potassium could be criminal!”

Several young people who shared a dormitory with Xu Dongdong came over to see the patient.

Having heard what Chen Cang said, they all had their thoughts.

Chen Cang entered the observation room, and the man smiled at Xu Dongdong, “Making things mysterious, as if it’s so complicated. I’ve seen many such patients when I was at the hospital! Just giving some glucose-saline solution would suffice!”

Although Xu Dongdong felt the man’s words were unreasonable, he did not argue and stood up to enter the observation room.

The man couldn’t help but laugh, looking at Xu Dongdong and Chen Cang, shaking his head, “Ah… young people, always making things seem so mysterious, as if it’s that mysterious!”

The blood sugar check was quick, and it wasn’t long before the results came out, “16.4!”

Seeing the blood sugar level, Chen Cang immediately frowned!

According to what the patient and the family members described, it should have been the blood sugar level one hour after a meal, but… it was still a bit high.

Chen Cang looked at the woman and said, “The elderly’s blood sugar control isn’t very good, 16.4 millimoles.”

The woman’s face flushed upon hearing this, “I’m sorry, doctor, our home glucometer isn’t accurate and hasn’t been adjusted. We also haven’t measured it for some time, but insulin has still been administered daily.”

At this moment, the elderly man suddenly began to have difficulty breathing, gasping for air with his mouth open.

This immediately caught Chen Cang’s attention.

Chen Cang quickly asked, “Has the elderly had any history of heart disease, lung disease, or kidney disease?”

Seeing the elderly man like this, the woman was startled and somewhat panicked, quickly shaking her head, “No, definitely not!”

Seeing this, Chen Cang swiftly connected the patient to oxygen.

Then Chen Cang picked up a stethoscope and listened to the lungs and heart areas.

He heard very weak breathing sounds, and, moreover, the heart was beating very slowly!

This puzzled Chen Cang.

“Put on the electrocardiogram monitor!”

At this time, the old man’s breathing was still difficult. It seemed that the oxygen wasn’t helping much; he was still gasping for air.

This made Chen Cang nervous!

Xiaolin skillfully connected the electrocardiogram monitor, and Chen Cang said to Xu Dongdong, “The family should wait outside.”

Seeing this, Xu Dongdong gestured for the woman to leave the observation room.

Chen Cang soon saw the values on the monitor!

The blood pressure was dropping lower and lower!

70/40mmHg!

The heart rate was slowing down too!

43 beats per minute!

Breathing was rapid!

Huffing and puffing, the atmosphere became very serious.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Seeing this, Chen Cang hastily said, “Electrocardiogram!”

Then he quickly started to fumble with the elderly man’s clothes in a fluster.

At this moment, Chen Cang had realized that things were not as simple as they appeared!