Chapter 769: Basking in the Sun

The middle-aged man’s left foot was wrapped in thick medical gauze.

Despite the gauze, Li Xu could clearly see that the skin on the man’s exposed lower leg—from the knee down to the ankle—had taken on an unhealthy, dark blackish hue. It looked like necrosis caused by prolonged oxygen deprivation.

Ren Hongbo was busy dealing with other medical orders at the time. With the emergency department bustling with people, he didn’t pay any special attention to Li Xu, who was following behind Gao Jingyun. He simply gave Gao Jingyun a brief rundown of the patient’s condition and hurried off to attend to other wards.

Gao Jingyun went to the nurses’ station to check the bed availability system, quickly handled the patient’s admission procedures, and arranged for him to be placed in a quiet ward at the end of the corridor.

Once the patient was settled in his bed, Li Xu finally approached the bedside with Gao Jingyun in tow.

“Sir, could you let me see your wound?” Li Xu asked gently.

“Oh, sure, please go ahead, Doctor.”

Although the patient was worn out by the pain and in low spirits, he was still very cooperative. A nurse carefully unwound the layers of gauze from the patient’s foot.

“Hmm?”

Seeing the reality beneath the gauze, even the experienced and knowledgeable Li Xu couldn’t help but be slightly startled.

The entire instep and toes of the patient’s left foot were severely ulcerated. The flesh on several toes had turned completely black and shriveled, emitting a nauseating, putrid stench. The ulcers were so deep that bone was visible, constantly oozing yellow-green pus. ℯ

Even though the wound had just been re-disinfected and cleaned in the outpatient clinic, it still looked quite horrifying. This was a classic case of diabetic foot, and it had already progressed to the late stage of mixed dry and wet gangrene.

“If this condition is allowed to develop, this foot, and perhaps even this lower leg, will be completely ruined. Amputation would be inevitable.” Li Xu frowned and turned to Gao Jingyun, asking, “What did Director Ren say about the treatment plan just now?”

“Director Ren said… my diabetes is a chronic, years-long issue, and the blood vessels are completely blocked. Wound healing is inherently extremely difficult, so I need to be hospitalized to first use the highest-grade antibiotics to reduce the inflammation. Then, they’ll control my blood sugar and see how it responds after a period of treatment.”

Before Gao Jingyun could speak, the patient lying on the bed chimed in with a bitter smile. His tone was tinged with despair. “He also said… if they still can’t control the infection and the flesh on this foot doesn’t heal, then to save my life, I might not be able to keep this half of my foot. It will have to be sawed off…”

“Hmm.”

Li Xu nodded, his expression solemn. From the perspective of Western surgery, Ren Hongbo’s judgment was not wrong. When severe infection could not be controlled and vascular occlusion could not be reconstructed, amputation was the last resort to save a life.

He sat down on the high stool by the bed, preparing to conduct a further examination on the patient, and asked, “Sir, where did you have this foot treated before? How did it drag on until it became this severe?”

“Sigh, don’t bring it up. I’ve been to hospitals all over Feng City, big and small. I’ve seen doctors at several top-tier hospitals, and it’s been almost half a year overall.” The patient sighed while recounting his bitter history of seeking medical help over the past six months to Li Xu. “I’ve used the best anti-inflammatory drugs and imported dressings. I’ve also applied plenty of traditional Chinese medicine lotions and plasters… At first, it looked like it was getting a bit better, but within a few days, it would fester again, rotting deeper and deeper…”

The patient recalled the medications he had used before. He could remember some drug names accurately, but couldn’t recall some complex chemical names, only managing a vague description of what they were like.

“President Gao, could you help me pull up the patient’s referral records and medication history from other hospitals in the system?” After listening for a while, Li Xu turned to Gao Jingyun, wanting to grasp the condition more accurately.

“Of course, please wait a moment, Dean Li.”

As the Chief Resident, Gao Jingyun had significant authorization. Moreover, having received orders from Zeng Yunjun, he was naturally extremely cooperative with Li Xu’s requests and didn’t dare to show the slightest neglect.

Li Xu followed Gao Jingyun to the doctors’ on-call room. Gao Jingyun pulled up the patient’s electronic medical records and previous consultation histories on the intranet system, and Li Xu sat in front of the computer, carefully reading through them page by page.

“For diabetic patients, especially those with a disease course lasting as long as ten years, the microvessels and nerves in their lower limbs have already suffered severe pathological changes. Wound healing is inherently a world-class medical challenge.” Standing to the side and looking at the densely packed treatment records, Gao Jingyun said helplessly, “Before coming to our hospital, the patient received systematic treatment in the endocrinology and burn departments of the City People’s Hospital. But there hasn’t been much improvement for so long; instead, the wound surface is still expanding. When Director Ren admitted him just now, his brows were tightly knit, and he was agonizing over finding a solution. I estimate there’s a high probability it will still end in amputation.”

“Hmm.” Li Xu nodded and closed the electronic medical records on the computer screen.

He returned to the diabetic foot patient’s bedside.

“Sir, over this past half a year—such a long time—what have you been doing at home?” Li Xu asked.

“Sigh, with my foot rotting like this, it hurts so much I can’t sleep at night, and I can’t walk during the day. I can’t do any work at all.” The man sighed, his eyes hollow. “I spend almost every day just lying at home, resting. My wife still has to go out and work odd jobs to make money, and my son and daughter are both busy with work. So during the day, I’m the only one at home.”

“Have you hardly left the house?” Li Xu asked again.

“I rarely go out.” The man smiled bitterly. “This foot shouldn’t be exposed to the wind, and I’m afraid of bumping it. Besides, looking like some half-human, half-ghost freak, I’m afraid the neighbors would be disgusted if they saw me. I basically just stay in bed in the bedroom.”

“You shouldn’t wrap this wound so tightly normally. If it’s suffocated, the pus and necrotic tissue inside can’t drain out, which actually makes it easier for anaerobic bacteria to breed, causing it to rot deeper and deeper. Just wrap it in a thin layer of sterile gauze—enough to block the dust.” Li Xu pondered for a moment before solemnly instructing, “Also, and this is the most important point: when you have nothing to do, you must go outside and get more sunlight.”

“Get sunlight?” The man was stunned, his face full of confusion.

He had been to so many large hospitals, and the doctors had all instructed him to move less, stay in bed, rest more, and take his anti-inflammatory drugs on time. He had never heard any doctor prescribe “getting sunlight” as a medical treatment.

“Yes, sunlight is the supreme medicine for healing all physical and mental wounds,” Li Xu explained in detail to the patient and his family. “On one hand, your condition is indeed caused by over a decade of diabetes, which has led to vascular occlusion and nerve necrosis in your lower limbs.

“But on the other hand, it also has a great deal to do with your state of mind and your living environment.

“With your foot failing to heal, your mood has surely been stuck at rock bottom, filled with anxiety and despair. This extremely depressed state of mind will severely hinder the circulation of your qi and blood, which directly affects the healing speed of your wound.”