Chapter 187 - 186: Dr. Yu, How Is Your Luck?

Chapter 187: Chapter 186: Dr. Yu, How Is Your Luck?

After Yu Zhiming went to the neurosurgery department to perform a tissue biopsy on a brain tumor patient, it was time for lunch.

By the time work resumed at one in the afternoon, the physical examination and lab results for the patient from Capital City, Qin Yuan, were ready.

The results didn’t support the theory put forward by Qi Yue and the others.

Qin Yuan was brought to the examination room again for another check-up with Yu Zhiming.

"Dr. Yu, I have to remind you, it’s already been a full day."

Yu Zhiming nodded. "I know you’re on a tight schedule."

He then explained, "Due to time constraints yesterday, I only examined your internal organs. This time, I’ll be doing a full-body examination."

"We should have a result today."

Yu Zhiming pulled on a pair of surgical gloves and asked casually, "Mr. Qin, besides eating and drinking, is there anything else you’re particularly eager to do?"

As he was helped onto the examination table, Qin Yuan answered without a second thought. "Dr. Yu, for over twenty years, it’s been ’don’t eat this, don’t eat that.’ I’ve had to avoid so many foods."

"Now, before I die, all I want is to travel and eat all the great food the world has to offer. I don’t care about anything else."

"It all depends on how much time heaven grants me."

Yu Zhiming gently placed his hands on Qin Yuan’s head and began the examination.

Qi Yue, Xie Jianmin, and Qin Yuan’s family members all left the examination room to avoid distracting Yu Zhiming.

Qiao Lei stood guard at the examination room door like a bouncer, keeping everyone away and ensuring silence...

’Cerebral blood vessels... no obstructions.’

’Though some vessels are nearly fifty percent stenosed, given Qin Yuan’s current condition, that’s the least of his worries...’

After finishing with Qin Yuan’s head, Yu Zhiming moved down to his neck.

’Neck vessels are clear, too. Besides the swollen lymph nodes, no other tissue abnormalities...’

’Arms... no abnormalities...’

’Legs and feet... there’s significant muscle atrophy. And at the joints, especially in his feet, I’m finding many tiny crystals.’

Yu Zhiming knew what they were: uric acid crystals, commonly known as gouty tophi—a byproduct of Qin Yuan’s recent indulgence.

For Qin Yuan in his current state, this was also a non-issue...

Finding little while examining Qin Yuan’s front, Yu Zhiming called Qiao Lei back in, and together they turned the patient over.

Yu Zhiming began his examination of Qin Yuan’s spine.

He started at the cervical spine, his left hand slowly tracing its way down while his right hand tapped rhythmically...

As he reached the thoracic vertebrae—his primary area of focus—Yu Zhiming slowed the movement of his left hand, the force of his right hand’s tapping unconsciously increasing...

With each tap and the resulting vibrations, the three-dimensional image of the spine in Yu Zhiming’s mind grew sharper.

The details became especially clear, like the inner wall of the spinal canal, which was no longer smooth but uneven...

’Uneven?!’

Yu Zhiming’s focus sharpened. He pushed himself to delve deeper into the examination, to refine the details even further...

At 1:47 PM, Qi Yue, Han Shuo, Xie Jianmin, Wang Zhijin, Wang Zejia, and the others gathered in the main office to hear Yu Zhiming report his findings.

"The inner wall of the spinal canal, between the T2 and T3 vertebrae, is densely covered with a layer of gouty tophi crystals."

"I believe these crystals are irritating the spinal neurons connected to the intervertebral nerves, which is causing the patient’s persistent chest pain."

Wang Zhijin stared at the simple diagram Yu Zhiming had drawn on the whiteboard, showing a layer resembling mussels coating the inner wall of the spinal canal.

"Dr. Yu, are you sure it’s gouty tophi?"

"And not some other type of growth?"

"You have to understand, tophi forming inside the spinal canal is extremely rare, especially in the thoracic region."

Xie Jianmin answered for Yu Zhiming, "It’s rare, but not unheard of. I’ve seen a similar case myself."

Yu Zhiming added his own explanation. "I believe it’s tophi because what I’m sensing feels identical to the tophi I found elsewhere on the patient’s body."

Wang Zejia spoke up as well. "There’s one problem. We don’t seem to have any way to confirm if this issue with the spinal canal wall is actually the cause of the patient’s chest pain."

"The only way to be sure is to see if he recovers after surgery."

"But the patient might not agree to it."

"This is a procedure to clear the inner wall of the spinal canal. It carries a certain amount of risk, not to mention recovery would take at least two weeks."

Yu Zhiming had to admit that was a valid point.

Looking at just the thin layer of tophi crystals, it would take a long time—several years, at least—for them to grow enough to cause significant impingement on the spinal cord.

Several years. Given Qin Yuan’s current condition, he definitely wouldn’t last that long.

Yu Zhiming estimated that in six months, at most, Qin Yuan’s body would begin to deteriorate rapidly.

Would Qin Yuan be willing to gamble two weeks of his relatively good health for such an uncertain possibility?

Yu Zhiming instinctively looked toward Qi Yue.

Seeing that no one else had any comments, Qi Yue spoke slowly. "As things stand, I personally believe there’s a high probability that Zhiming’s discovery is the cause of the patient’s chest pain."

"We’ll present our findings and recommendations to the patient. The final decision is his to make..."

Together, Qi Yue and Yu Zhiming explained the new findings to Qin Yuan in full detail.

Qin Yuan agonized over the decision for a moment before looking up at Yu Zhiming.

"Dr. Yu, do you think this is the cause?"

"I do."

Yu Zhiming replied, then added, "But I can’t give you a one hundred percent guarantee."

"There’s no way for us to verify it, short of the surgery itself."

Qin Yuan fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Dr. Yu, how’s your luck?"

"My luck?"

Yu Zhiming repeated the word, a bit awkwardly. "Well, I don’t really know if my luck is good or bad."

"You’ve probably heard, but I had a serious accident as a kid. I nearly kicked the bucket, and I was even blind for a few years."

"But ever since then, I guess you could say my luck turned around. I haven’t run into any more major disasters, and things have generally been getting better and better."

"But as for luck..."

Yu Zhiming said, recalling, "I rarely find money on the street. The most I’ve ever found was twenty yuan."

Qin Yuan chuckled. "Dr. Yu, compared to your early suffering followed by things getting better and better, I’m the complete opposite—a prime example of things getting worse and worse."

"So, I’ll trust your judgment, Dr. Yu."

Qin Yuan seemed to be trying to convince himself as he raised his voice.

"I’ll do the surgery."

"This nagging pain, it makes food tasteless. It’s so damn unbearable..."

At five in the afternoon, Yu Zhiming arrived at the examination room to find a group composed entirely of women in their thirties and forties waiting outside.

He saw Wang Yaxian, Liu Yun, Ding Ye, and several others among them.

Yu Zhiming greeted them briefly and began the day’s breast cancer screenings.

He worked a bit more slowly today, not finishing his examinations until nearly seven in the evening.

To Yu Zhiming’s considerable surprise, he identified five suspected cases of breast cancer.

The percentage was startling.

"Only five?"

Wang Yaxian took the five diagrams indicating biopsy locations from Yu Zhiming, unable to hide her disappointment.

Seeing Yu Zhiming’s confusion, Ding Ye quickly explained, "Dr. Yu, these fifty high-risk volunteers were screened by Doctor Wang and our Director Liu, in conjunction with gynecological experts from other hospitals. They were hand-picked after examining thousands of people from at-risk groups."

"They repeatedly examined and confirmed these fifty individuals."

Braving a warning glare from Liu Yun, she added with a mischievous chuckle, "According to our Director Liu’s estimate, there should have been at least ten."

"It wouldn’t have been impossible if it was all of them, either."

After saying this, Ding Ye quickly dodged behind Yu Zhiming, narrowly avoiding a kick from Liu Yun.

Yu Zhiming chuckled. "Doctor Wang, Director Liu, a one-in-ten ratio still shows that your screening methods are effective."

Wang Yaxian sighed. "It’s just that the effect is so minimal."

"Dr. Yu, to be honest, we selected these women from a pool of nearly two thousand people identified from years of accumulated data, and then we put them through several more rounds of screening."

"These fifty women here are the ones who passed a joint examination by myself and Director Liu."

Wang Yaxian sounded utterly dejected. "It’s just as Dr. Ding said. We really thought all of them might have issues..."