Chapter 557: Pancreatitis Complicated by Acute Left Heart Failure

The Old Man in the next bed ate at an extremely fast pace; it might have been a habit, or perhaps he was defying doctor's orders in the hospital. He felt burdened, like a child who had done something wrong, rushing to finish eating and be done with it, afraid of being seen by the medical staff.

He said he wasn't afraid, but his actions showed he still cared somewhat.

In less than ten minutes, having eaten over a jin of fatty meat, the Old Man patted his stomach with satisfaction.

Ji Xiang felt fortunate; luckily, he hadn't chosen to experience this from the Patient's perspective, but had chosen to participate from the perspective of an observer.

Not to mention what kind of illness eating over a jin of fatty meat would trigger, Ji Xiang couldn't stand the act of eating meat itself.

Ji Xiang didn't think he had such a good appetite.

Enduring the discomfort of the gastric tube in his nasopharynx, Ji Xiang had no Spirit to communicate with the Patient or the Family Member in the next bed.

He already had a premonition that eating a large amount of meat during a period of fasting would lead to many complications.

He had tried to persuade, he had said his piece, but it was of no use.

Moreover, his identity right now was not a Doctor, but an ordinary Patient; was he really supposed to go over, snatch the fatty meat from the next bed, and throw it away?

He could throw it away once, but not eight or ten times.

This is fate, Ji Xiang thought to himself.

After dozing off for a while, Ji Xiang woke up feeling bored. The time spent recuperating was hard to endure; he spent most of his energy fighting the discomfort caused by the gastric tube.

Although the gastric tube irritating the oropharynx wasn't painful, but rather a soreness that could be endured, Ji Xiang's nerve reflexes here were quite sensitive, and tears flowed from time to time.

Damn it, if only I had a different illness, Ji Xiang thought to himself.

But in the next thought, Ji Xiang laughed at himself.

After the car accident, when the 120 Emergency Vehicle took the critically ill away, the feeling of lying on the cold ground waiting for the next rescue was not pleasant either.

He could only keep himself in a forced position; the slightest movement felt like a knife was rampaging inside his body.

The ground beneath him was cold; at that moment, he felt as if he had been abandoned by the whole world.

By comparison, it seemed that now was a little better.

If one had to say there was a difference, the only difference was that this knife was currently stabbing around inside him, while the knife that caused the Clavicle Fracture in the car accident had already become a memory.

Just endure it, what else could he do.

Ji Xiang began to tentatively look for a way to make himself less uncomfortable.

In Clinical practice, one often encounters similar problems; patients with gastric tubes feel uncomfortable and "willfully" pull the gastric tube out.

During his internship, he heard a teacher say that a patient with Esophageal Cancer pulled out their gastric tube on the second day after surgery. Because the local anastomosis was in a period of congestion and edema, the difficulty of re-insertion was extremely high, so after communicating with the Patient and the Family Member, they let it be.

After that, the patient lived in anxiety that a single reflux of gastric juice would "burn" the esophageal anastomosis until it leaked.

This feeling of hovering between life and death was particularly bad; anyone would be extremely uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the patient sat still for 10 days and was finally successfully discharged after having the stitches removed. Upon discharge, the patient sent a banner praising the Doctor for their "miraculous hands bringing the dying back to life."

Ji Xiang's internship teacher knew that this was a projection of the patient's emotions after being terrified and escaping death.

He adjusted for a long time, but until the end, Ji Xiang didn't find a reasonable position. As long as he moved, the gastric tube would make him shed tears, regardless of the posture or position.

Ji Xiang expressed his helplessness regarding this.

He also gradually understood those disobedient patients.

Gradually, the night deepened; at the time when the lights were out and it was time to sleep, Family Members who couldn't sleep were killing time with their phones, the light of the phone screens reflecting on their faces, looking bizarre and grotesque.

"Ouch~"

Ji Xiang vaguely heard the Old Man in the next bed groan.

He sat up immediately and turned his head to look.

The Old Man was lying on his side on the hospital bed, motionless and silent; the sound he had just heard seemed to be his own illusion.

"What's wrong with you? Is the gastric tube uncomfortable?" the daughter of the Patient in the next bed mocked.

"I think I heard the Old Man crying out in pain."

"Heh." The daughter of the Patient in the next bed let out a "heh," the light of the phone in the darkness reflecting on her face, her expression of disdain very clear.

Just as she was about to say something, the Old Man in the next bed suddenly arched his body, turned to his side with agility, and stretched his head to the side of the bed.

His movements were full of Agility, not at all like an octogenarian, which gave the Family Member a start.

"Ugh~~~"

The Old Man began to vomit violently.

In the darkness, Ji Xiang could vaguely see undigested fatty meat being vomited out in whole chunks.

The sour, foul smell immediately permeated the air, but Ji Xiang had no time to complain; he kicked his "lover" awake.

"Go find a Doctor!" Ji Xiang roared.

"What?!"

"Find a Doctor!"

"What for?"

"..." Ji Xiang looked at his "lover" in desperation, and in the next second, he turned and got out of bed, shuffling in his shoes, holding the negative pressure bottle and jogging all the way to find a Doctor.

The Patient was vomiting violently; Ji Xiang estimated it was Acute Pancreatitis caused by binge eating. At this hour, Ji Xiang didn't go to the Doctor's Office, but came to the door of the Duty Room and knocked hard.

The Doctor was bleary-eyed and was startled by Ji Xiang; as they walked, Ji Xiang explained the Patient's condition.

"He ate fatty meat! A whole plate of it! Does he not want to live anymore!"

After hearing Ji Xiang's brief description, the Doctor immediately became alert and said indignantly.

He jogged all the way to the ward, not noticing that one of his slippers had flown off, leaving him wearing only one.

The Old Man in the next bed had abdominal pain accompanied by violent nausea and vomiting. Not to mention the previous day's food, Ji Xiang felt like he was going to vomit out his entire Gastrointestinal tract.

It was rare to see a patient vomiting so violently.

They urgently checked blood and urine amylase, both with values near ten thousand. Laboratory tests confirmed Ji Xiang's guess—Acute Pancreatitis.

At this point, the Family Member no longer argued and stood to the side, looking dejected; the Doctor immediately inserted a gastric tube for the Old Man and administered octreotide.

Next, Ji Xiang witnessed the entire process of Acute Pancreatitis turning into acute left heart failure.

External cardiac massage was ineffective, so the Anesthesiology Department Doctor came to perform tracheal intubation, squeezing the manual resuscitator to send the person to the Intensive Care Unit.

Unfortunately, the Old Man's condition seemed extremely severe; after less than 3 hours of breathing with the help of the Anesthesia Machine, before dawn had even broken, Ji Xiang heard crying in the hallway.

After a while, people Ji Xiang had never seen came to pack up the belongings, presumably because the Old Man had already passed away.

Acute severe Pancreatitis triggering acute left heart failure is an uncommon progression of the condition, yet it is encountered occasionally. The situation is very grave, and it is extremely difficult to save the person.

It is just that... to think that a plate of fatty meat and a folk remedy could take away an Old Man whose condition was not severe.

Ji Xiang watched the family members packing the Old Man's items in silence, not knowing how to offer comfort.

The ending of this Empathy was somewhat unpleasant, and Ji Xiang felt a hint of regret; if he had chosen to experience it from the perspective of the Patient, would the death event not have occurred?

Even if they were just a memory, a piece of code, in Ji Xiang's consciousness, they were living, breathing people.

Light and shadow flickered, and Ji Xiang returned to the System Operating Room.

(End of this chapter)