Chapter 1323: Progressive Dysphagia

Chapter 1323: Chapter 1323: Progressive Dysphagia

(Thank you to Soft-spoken and Sterling for the monthly ticket encouragement)

With the double attributes solidified, Liu Banxia’s mood was pretty delightful.

Of course, there are always things that lead to "joy turning into sorrow."

Being too happy, he accidentally woke up his sleeping son and daughter when he got home.

This was no small matter; the two little ones cried with all their might, accusing him of his misdemeanors.

Then Comrade Liu Banxia was criticized in unison, almost like a public criticism meeting. If it weren’t for Qing Kewa really craving for the soft pig’s feet she braised today, the matter wouldn’t be settled.

The two little ones claimed a complete victory and then peacefully went back to sleep. They even had to wake up at midnight to have a bottle of milk.

By the time Liu Banxia was at work the next day, this incident had spread throughout the emergency center.

This was Qiaoqiao’s doing, giving him a quick resentment. If you want to play with the kids, you have to wait until they’re a bit older; it’s really not easy to comfort them if they start crying now.

"Tsk tsk, that’s about your status in the family. Don’t be naughty, or even Tang Dou might be better than you." Wang Chao teased.

"Hehe, even if my family status is low, I have a daughter and a son, where are yours?" Liu Banxia retorted unceremoniously.

"Can you chat or not? I’m not talking to you anymore." Wang Chao sulked and moved aside.

He regretted it too, wondering why he thought he could out-talk Liu Banxia? There’s no chance of winning, forget about it.

After tidying up, Liu Banxia also took a round in the VIP ward.

All of them had more or less some connection with him. When there’s surgery and he’s too busy to attend to them, there’s no helping it. When there’s nothing going on, even just taking a round and chatting helps maintain the relationship.

It still involves the very simple question of "fairness," where is there so much fairness? If he’s familiar with them, naturally he has to care a bit more.

Just as he finished his round, his phone rang.

"Xu Yino, what’s up?" Liu Banxia asked after answering.

"Teacher Liu, Grandpa Cao brought a patient over to ask for your help." Xu Yino said.

"Alright, I’ll come down right away." Liu Banxia hurriedly said.

This counted as a legitimate "old neighbor," and he’d even gone to Grandpa Cao’s house for meals. Bringing a patient to him, he had to give this high-level treatment.

"Director Liu, are you busy?"

When he ran downstairs, Grandpa Cao smiled and asked.

"Grandpa Cao, why didn’t you call ahead, who’s not feeling well?" Liu Banxia asked with a smile.

"Even if I called, I’d still have to come over. I know you’re busy; I’ve seen you on TV with lots of opportunities. This Old Xu here is having trouble swallowing food, and he didn’t even want to come for a check-up." Grandpa Cao said.

"It’s just that my throat’s a bit inflamed, and it’s not easy to swallow when anyone’s inflamed." said an old man beside him.

"Alright then, come with me to the consulting room. You’ve checked in, right?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Checked in, us three old brothers have nothing to do but play chess together. He didn’t want to bother moving, so we accompanied him over." Grandpa Cao said.

"He’s the only one left, his son came over for New Year’s, and then went back to work, leaving him to complain with us. When I heard, I thought it wouldn’t do, he’s uncomfortable; he has to come see you."

"Haha, that’s right, at our age, any discomfort should not be ignored." Liu Banxia said with a smile.

"How’s your blood sugar control? I’ve really been too busy lately to concern myself with other things. Anyway, you must watch it closely; you really can’t let it exceed the standard again."

"That won’t be a problem, this time you just take a good look at Old Xu." Grandpa Cao said.

"With the demolition, us three old brothers wanted to live floor to floor. If something comes up, we can look out for each other. At our age, it’s not viable to rely on the children, not dependable."

"You’re right, it’s not that the children aren’t filial, but in emergency situations, they might not be around." Liu Banxia nodded.

"Grandpa Xu, now we need to have a chat. What kind of sensation do you feel? How long has it been difficult to swallow food?"

"It’s just the difficulty swallowing, it started before the New Year. On and off, it’s been over half a month, about twenty days." Old Xu said.

"I thought about going to the hospital at the start, then after taking some anti-inflammatory medicine at home, it got much better, so I didn’t worry much."

"Now it’s gotten a bit serious, even when drinking porridge it’s a bit difficult to swallow. When Old Cao mentioned it, I thought it over and realized I should check it out."

Liu Banxia smiled and nodded, but felt a little worried inside, "Come, open your mouth and let me check your throat first."

After speaking, he took out a tongue depressor, pressing down Old Xu’s tongue to carefully inspect the throat area.

"Slightly swollen, have you been feeling unwell these days?" After checking, Liu Banxia asked.

Old Xu nodded, "I might have caught a bit of cold over the New Year, occasionally coughing a couple of times."

"Let me listen to your chest again, do you have any underlying conditions?" Liu Banxia continued to ask.

"I’m better off than the two of them; one has diabetes and the other has hypertension. I have nothing," Old Xu said.

"That’s great, make sure to maintain it. You should also exercise regularly to strengthen your resistance." Liu Banxia replied with a smile.

"The heart and lung sounds are okay; the breath sounds in the left lung are slightly weaker, possibly indicating some inflammation. In a bit, we’ll do a blood test to check the blood count."

"Considering your difficulty in swallowing, it’s best to do an endoscopy to see if there’s inflammation in your esophagus."

"Alright, Old Cao’s life was saved by you, so whatever you suggest, we will do—it must be for my own good," Old Xu agreed quickly.

"Okay, then we’ll do the blood test, ECG, and endoscopy—these four items," Liu Banxia said.

"Actually, doing a blood test is to see if you are somewhat anemic; your complexion seems a bit off, as do your gum colors."

"We’re doing the ECG also to prepare for the endoscopy. Considering your age, the endoscopy isn’t very comfortable."

"See, I told you we should find Director Liu, didn’t I? The tests Director Liu prescribes are never pointless; he’d never make dishonest money," Grandpa Cao said with satisfaction.

"Haha, you’re complimenting me, aren’t you? Xu Yino, draw Old Xu’s blood and accompany him for the tests. You’ll be following the consultation today," Liu Banxia said, winking at Xu Yino.

"Okay, Old Xu, let me draw your blood," Xu Yino nodded.

Liu Banxia then stepped aside with Grandpa Cao and another elderly man.

"Director Liu, does Old Xu have something wrong?" Grandpa Cao asked softly.

"How did you figure it out?" Liu Banxia asked curiously.

"I saw you wink at the girl. Is it serious?" Grandpa Cao asked.

The other elderly man beside them looked serious as well.

"It’s hard to say now; we have to wait for the test results," Liu Banxia replied.

"But based on Old Xu’s current condition, I have some assumptions. His swallowing difficulty isn’t due to throat swelling, so it has to be an esophageal issue."

"And his condition is quite severe, even struggling with liquid foods, which indicates that the narrow part of the esophagus doesn’t allow much space; it’s called progressive dysphagia."

"Director Liu, is it cancer?" Grandpa Cao became anxious.

"We really can’t be sure right now. We have to see what the situation is, or else I wouldn’t suggest an endoscopy," Liu Banxia said.

"There is indeed a possibility, and he looks slightly anemic. There might even be some internal bleeding; we’ll know after the tests," he added.

"Sigh... this Old Xu, why didn’t he mention it earlier? We would’ve accompanied him earlier," the elderly man beside them said.

"Old Wu, keep a straight face. Old Xu is thin-skinned; if he sees any worry on our faces, he might just faint out of fear," Grandpa Cao said.

"Director Liu, should we contact his children? Seems like just the two of us being here isn’t enough,"

"This is exactly what I wanted to discuss. It’s better to find a way to notify his children. Such severe swallowing difficulties surely indicate a throat ailment," Liu Banxia said.

"Old Wu, what excuse do you think would work?" Grandpa Cao asked Old Wu.

"How would I know? How about saying family members need to accompany him for the endoscopy? He doesn’t know what’s happening anyway; just tell him that, I’ll go talk to him."

After speaking, Grandpa Cao went inside.

"Director Liu, do you think Old Xu’s problem is serious?" Old Wu asked.

"Currently, I just have some directional assumptions. Mainly because Old Xu’s age is quite advanced, we have to be cautious in every aspect, don’t you think?" Liu Banxia said with a smile.

Old Wu nodded.

As one gets older, the body parts start to give up. The recent check-up ruled out throat problems, so it’s likely the esophagus. At this age, if the esophagus has issues, it’s almost certainly cancer.

After a while, Grandpa Cao returned, "The ECG is normal, and I’ve called his son; he’ll be here soon."

"Then it’s settled. We’ll proceed to the endoscopy shortly, but we need to prepare. You two can wait here to avoid making him nervous," Liu Banxia said.

"Sigh... fortunately, we came today; otherwise, he would’ve kept delaying," Grandpa Cao said.

"It might just be an inflammatory lump; I’m only speculating now. We’ll rely mainly on the endoscopy results, and once it’s done, there’ll be peace of mind," Liu Banxia said.

Grandpa Cao and Old Wu nodded, now feeling a bit of lingering fear.

Especially at their age, the body really can’t withstand any turmoil.

They also understand why Old Xu didn’t come to the hospital—he didn’t want to. But his children are busy, and he’s reluctant to trouble them, causing the delay for so many days.