Chapter 381: Long-term Bedridden

Ji Xiang leaned in to look at the image on the film viewer.

The patient's bilateral lung markings were thickened, more noticeably on the left side. If one were to call it hypostatic pneumonia, it could barely be explained, but Ji Xiang felt it was not quite the same as typical hypostatic pneumonia.

What Lu Zhuren, Lu Gang, said made sense; suddenly having a lesion appear in a single lung meant there was a problem, but as for what specific problem it was, it couldn't be determined just from the film.

"Teacher Lu, has the patient had any aspiration?" Ji Xiang asked.

"There is the occasional choking cough, but it shouldn't have anything to do with aspiration," Lu Gang said without turning his head.

"Teacher Lu, why?"

"Pneumonia caused by aspiration is not like this; the inflammation would be much more severe," Lu Gang said irritably.

He was like a student who couldn't solve a puzzle, finding everything displeasing and everything annoying. His tone of voice was rude and full of impatience.

Liu Zhuren worried that Ji Xiang would be unhappy because of Lu Gang's tone; after all, he had just received the provincial natural science award and published a paper in The Lancet, a time when he was riding high.

But seeing Ji Xiang's expression focused on the film, he said nothing.

Ji Xiang couldn't figure it out either, so he held his breath and entered the System Space.

After introducing the patient's situation to the System NPC, the System NPC said, "Patients who are bedridden for a long time will indeed develop many problems."

His words were slow, and the look in his eyes as he watched Ji Xiang seemed to be seeking Ji Xiang's opinion.

"Empathy?" Ji Xiang was startled.

"Do you want to try it?" the System NPC asked. "This time, the Empathy might be a bit special."

Ji Xiang frowned, looking deeply at the System NPC.

The wrinkles on the System NPC's face seemed to be etched with stories.

"Let me tell you a story," the System NPC said slowly. "Ten years ago, I fell seriously ill with an Aortic Dissection."

"!!!"

"I was already over 80, nearly 90 years old at the time. We in the medical field all know that Elephant Trunk Surgery is a life-or-death gamble. Even for someone in the prime of life undergoing Elephant Trunk Surgery, not many survive."

"After decades of life, I had seen through it all and didn't want to suffer. I called all my students over, looked at them one by one, and gave them my final instructions, mainly telling them that I refused treatment and that they shouldn't waste resources on an old man who was about to die."

"And then?" Ji Xiang asked curiously.

"I pressed the micro-pump for Insulin and milk myself, thinking I would just leave without pain or disaster. But when I woke up, Zhou Congwen was standing in front of me."

"..." Ji Xiang knitted his brows. Was Zhou Jiaoshou that stubborn? He didn't even listen to the Old Man's words.

This was no longer a matter of medical scope, but involved Medical Ethics.

"He just wouldn't listen to me," the System NPC sighed. "They say that when a person wants to go but can't, it is also very painful."

"You are, after all, perfectly fine now." Ji Xiang still leaned toward Zhou Jiaoshou Congwen, who had "saved" him from dire straits several times.

"Hmm, I suppose it was good luck. They used the newly researched 3D Printing Equipment to make me a corresponding Stent. It was handled with Interventional Surgery; no Thoracotomy, and I didn't suffer." The System NPC smiled slightly and did not argue further with Ji Xiang.

"Do you want to try it?" the System NPC asked.

Ji Xiang thought for a moment, nodded, and replied, "Okay."

"Medicine is vast and profound, and Medical Ethics even more so, with many things to contemplate. If you haven't experienced it yourself, you will never understand it."

The System NPC rambled on while taking Ji Xiang to the next Operating Room.

Light and shadow flickered; Ji Xiang subconsciously closed his eyes, and when he opened them, he suddenly discovered he didn't even have the strength to open his eyes.

"!!!" Ji Xiang was shocked inside.

But a moment later, he realized that this time he was experiencing an old man on the verge of death.

Calming down, Ji Xiang silently felt "his" own bodily functions.

There was no heart-wrenching pain like that of Urological Calculus or a Clavicle Fracture, but Ji Xiang felt as if an invisible mountain was pressing down on "him," weighing over a thousand jun, and even every breath required his utmost effort.

The energy to run a half-marathon effortlessly had vanished without a trace, leaving only a shell; the labored breathing seemed to be the only evidence that he was alive.

"He" had underlying diseases, just like the patient Lu Gang was consulting on, so Ji Xiang lay there peacefully.

Seeming accustomed to being busy, the feeling of suddenly being idle wasn't bad either.

The feeling of being bedridden for a long time wasn't too uncomfortable for the moment, so Ji Xiang began to recall the surgical process, simulating it over and over in his mind.

His family took care of him quite meticulously, hiring a reliable nanny, so there were no incidents of the nanny abusing him when the family wasn't around.

Eating every day was the most agonizing thing; swallowing consumed a great deal of energy. Besides eating, there was taking medicine: Adalat, subcutaneous Insulin injections, and so on.

Just staying alive used up all his strength; only now did Ji Xiang understand what kind of state that phrase described.

Days passed one by one. Once, when the nanny took leave, his daughter fed him medicine. Her intention to take care of "him" was genuine, but she was inexperienced and unskilled, which led to a choking cough.

Ji Xiang carefully felt the choking cough; he understood that besides the private goods the System NPC had smuggled in, he also had to perceive the cause of the patient's Pneumonia.

The choking cough didn't seem to bring any major negative effects, only that there was a bit more phlegm afterward.

More than half a month later, because of his coughing, wheezing, and excess phlegm, he had another choking cough.

As time dragged on, Ji Xiang could clearly feel himself becoming weaker and weaker, to the point where even coughing and expectorating phlegm became strenuous.

The little energy he had left was being drawn out of his body by an invisible hand bit by bit, and Ji Xiang felt "himself" becoming increasingly exhausted.

This exhaustion was different from pain; after lying down for a long time, all the bones in the body were sore, as if countless ants were gnawing at him; the sour, aching sensation was indescribable.

But Ji Xiang didn't forget the purpose of this Empathy; he kept paying attention to what exactly triggered the Pneumonia.

Yet after a period of time, the illness became increasingly severe, and Ji Xiang still hadn't found the cause.

As the infection worsened and his body temperature rose, his daughter admitted "him" to the hospital.

Arriving at the hospital, Ji Xiang no longer felt like he had been saved, as he had during the Clavicle Fracture incident; his mood was slightly complicated.

For the current "him," staying alive was an exhausting and heart-wrenching affair.

Occasionally, Ji Xiang would think of the choice the System NPC made when he had the Aortic Dissection. He had been dismissive at the time, but now Ji Xiang gradually understood the System NPC's choice.

Now, "he" hadn't even undergone the Elephant Trunk Surgery, and without an aortic replacement, it was already this miserable.

However!

All of this had only just begun.

On the first day of admission, after completing the examinations, the Doctor discovered that "he" had a lot of phlegm, so he had the Nurse use a Suction tube on "him."

As the Suction tube was inserted, Ji Xiang felt as if he had arrived in hell.

(End of chapter)