Chapter 268 - 176: Severe Acute Pancreatitis (2)

Chapter 268: Chapter 176: Severe Acute Pancreatitis (2)

Jiang He thought for a moment. ’Chubby and honest-looking.’

’Wang Bo seems to fit the bill.’

He said, "I do have a roommate, Wang Bo, but I was planning on introducing him to Teacher Yan Tong."

Yan Tong said, "Huh? Am I supposed to be dating, too?"

The playful chaos on the other end of the line finally died down.

Shen Yu snatched the phone back, panting. "Dr. Jiang, don’t listen to their nonsense... I didn’t write a full page, just... just half a page."

"Alright, half a page," Jiang He placated her. "When I come to the Capital City at the end of the month, I’ll check your notebook."

"I’ll hide it when you get here."

"Heh heh, I won’t let you."

"..."

After hanging up, Jiang He slipped his phone back into his white coat pocket.

The wind in the hallway was still cold, but his heart felt warm and fuzzy.

’I miss her so much.’

It felt like he hadn’t seen her in years.

Jiang He turned and walked back to the department office.

This was also why he loved performing surgery so much.

Because during surgery and research, he had to remain completely focused. And when he was focused, time seemed to fly by.

If time passed just a little faster, the wait to see her in the Capital City at the end of the month would feel that much shorter.

「That evening.」

Jiang He had just finished checking the last patient room when the phone in his pocket suddenly started vibrating.

The caller ID read: Chen Hao.

"Hey, Haozi, what’s up?"

"Old Jiang! Are you in the ER or your department office?" Chen Hao’s voice sounded anxious.

"In the office. Just finished my rounds. What happened?"

"Something happened with Jiahao and his friends. You know how they went to Qian Gui Karaoke downtown today? Well, one of the girls with them is having unbearable stomach pains. Jiahao said she’s been complaining about her stomach for the past few days and hasn’t been resting well. A little while ago, in the karaoke room, she had a cold drink and immediately broke out in a cold sweat from the pain. She can’t even stand up."

"Where is she now?"

"Jiahao and Li Qiuyue are taking a cab to your hospital, Affiliated Hospital No. 1, right now. They should be there in about ten minutes. Old Jiang, can you meet them? We’re all classmates, and Jiahao is scared out of his wits."

"Okay, get her to the hospital as fast as you can. I’m on my way down."

Jiang He hung up and hurried toward the elevators.

「Ten minutes later, outside the emergency entrance of Affiliated Hospital No. 1.」

A taxi screeched to a halt at the entrance, braving the heavy downpour.

Chen Jiahao threw open the door, not even bothering with an umbrella. He and Li Qiuyue flanked a girl, helping her out of the back seat.

Jiang He was already waiting at the entrance with a gurney.

"Get her on the gurney."

Chen Jiahao looked up and saw Jiang He, as if he’d just seen his savior. "Teacher Jiang! You have to help her. She’s in so much pain she can’t even speak."

Jiang He looked down at the patient on the gurney.

The girl was clutching her upper abdomen, her body curled into a ball. Her face was ashen.

Jiang He’s brow furrowed after just one glance.

’This doesn’t look good.’

The gurney was quickly wheeled into an emergency observation room.

"Jiahao, you go handle the registration and paperwork. Qiyue, you, tell me what she ate before this started and how long she’s been in pain."

Jiang He asked rapidly as he pulled on a pair of disposable gloves.

Li Qiuyue’s voice trembled. "She... she just hasn’t slept well the last few days, been out partying every night. A little while ago at the karaoke place, she had half a glass of iced Coke, then suddenly clutched her stomach and said it hurt. She’d mentioned stomach aches before, but she just took a couple of ibuprofen and didn’t think anything of it."

Jiang He nodded and lifted the hem of the girl’s shirt to expose her abdomen.

"Where does it hurt the most? Show me."

The girl managed to open her eyes and weakly pointed to a spot just below her sternum, slightly to the left.

Jiang He pressed his fingers together and gently pressed on the spot.

"HSSS—"

The girl sucked in a sharp breath, her body instinctively recoiling from the touch.

"Right here? Does the pain radiate? Does your back hurt?"

"My back... my back hurts, too..." the girl answered with difficulty.

Jiang He’s fingers moved quickly, palpating several key points on her abdomen.

Her abdomen was soft, with no obvious muscle guarding, but there was clear tenderness in her upper abdomen, accompanied by radiating pain to her back.

Considering her recent history of pulling all-nighters, irregular eating habits, and drinking cold beverages,

Jiang He already had a preliminary diagnosis in mind.

"Based on the physical exam, there are no obvious signs of perforation or an acute abdomen, so we can rule out appendicitis and cholecystitis for now. But I can’t be sure of the specifics yet. We’ll need to draw blood to check her amylase levels, then get an abdominal ultrasound and a CT scan to confirm the diagnosis."

"She’s going to be okay, right, Teacher Jiang?"

"It’s probably nothing too serious."

"Okay! That’s great!"

A nurse quickly arrived to draw blood, then wheeled the girl away for her scans.

Jiang He stood by the emergency triage desk, writing up the patient’s chart while he waited for the results.

A few minutes later, the door was thrown open.

A frantic-looking Zhang Sui rushed in.

His chest was heaving, his eyes darting anxiously around the emergency room.

The normally stern and meticulous vice dean now had eyes filled with pure panic.

"Dean Zhang?" The nurse at the triage desk shot up in surprise.

Zhang Sui spotted Jiang He standing nearby and ran over to him.

"Jiang He, Jiaqi... Zhang Jiaqi, the girl they just brought in! Where is she? How is she? Is it serious?"

Looking at the utterly distraught Zhang Sui, and recalling the rebellious-looking girl on the gurney with her heavy eyeliner,

Jiang He finally put two and two together.

’Oh.’

’Fuck.’

’That girl was Vice Dean Zhang Sui’s daughter.’

Jiang He’s brow suddenly furrowed.

Recalling his earlier knowledge that Zhang Sui’s daughter was supposed to have already passed away, he suddenly realized things weren’t so simple.

’Wait a minute.’

’Considering her symptoms, could it be...?’

A sense of dread washed over Jiang He.

’I just examined her. Her abdomen was soft, with no obvious muscle guarding.’

’Based on the twenty years of clinical experience from my past life, I made the preliminary diagnosis that "it’s probably nothing too serious."’

’But what if it isn’t a simple case of gastric mucosal damage? What if it’s Severe Acute Pancreatitis, or SAP?’

’This disease is incredibly deceptive in the first few hours. The abdominal signs are minimal, a standard serum amylase test might not have had time to show an increase, and an early CT scan might only reveal mild edema!’

’If we follow the standard ER protocol, she’ll just be put on an IV drip in an observation room.’

’Then, the cytokine storm hiding beneath this calm facade will erupt, triggering systemic multi-organ failure. We’ll miss the golden window for ICU intervention!’

"Jiang He, just tell me how she is!"

Faced with Zhang Sui’s panicked state, Jiang He took a sharp breath, forcing himself to remain calm.

’If I’m right about this...’

’Then that thing Feng Ye just finished will come in handy.’

"She’s fine."

After offering a word of comfort to the vice dean, Jiang He spun around and rushed to the ER nurses’ station.

"That patient, Zhang Jiaqi! For her blood work, in addition to the routine amylase, immediately add tests for Interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein, and procalcitonin! And mark it stat!"