Chapter 1983: with translation of chapter title

1913 Earthly Win, Eighteen Arhats

"You young man, how are you speaking?" Aunt Chen, whom Zheng Ren was facing, said unhappily, "I'm fine, nothing uncomfortable."

"Aunt Chen, what have you eaten in the past few hours?" Zheng Ren, thick-skinned, seemingly not hearing the unhappiness in Aunt Chen's words, continued to persistently inquire.

Su Yun almost covered her face.

This situation is really embarrassing.

If it were in the hospital, it would be fine, after all patients go to the hospital to see a doctor. But the boss grabbed an unfamiliar aunt at the mahjong table and kept questioning her, really making one want to hit him.

"Chief Zheng, let's wait while seated." Chu Yanran tugged at Zheng Ren's clothes and whispered.

"Young man, you've got a problem." Aunt Chen muttered and then resumed playing mahjong.

"Auntie, how's your luck today?" Su Yun leaned over to Chu Yanran's mother and asked.

"My luck is bad." Chu Yanran's mother sighed.

"Let me change your luck for you—changing hands is like changing knives; play a few rounds and I guarantee your luck will be great today." Su Yun said with a smile.

"Mom, Chief Zheng came specially to see you." Chu Yanran said, "Do you still remember Chief Zheng?"

"Oh, the young man who diagnosed my heart attack? Not bad, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Yes, yes." Zheng Ren gave a bitter smile.

Aunt Chen has an issue; the System Panel is rapidly changing colors, but no diagnosis has been made yet.

Currently it's in the pre-onset latent period, but judging by the speed of the System Panel's color changes, the onset should be of the particularly acute type.

What could the illness be?

Zheng Ren was somewhat doubtful, but seeing Aunt Chen unwilling to engage with him, a bit irritable, he also knew it was best not to speak now.

"Sure, little Su, help me play two rounds." Chu Yanran's mother stood up, "By the way, it's not Dong Bei mahjong but Cantonese mahjong; do you know how to play?"

"I know all mahjong variations, don't worry." Su Yun sat at the mahjong table, blew a breath, her black hair fluttering before her forehead, her yintang glowed, looking like a gambling god.

"Little Zheng, thanks for last year." Chu Yanran's mother said, "We kept saying we'd wait until you weren't the Inpatient Chief to come over, but who would have thought you went straight to Di Du."

The three sat on the nearby sofa, Zheng Ren's attention always fixed on the mahjong table.

"Aunt, I just looked at your oral medication box at home—are you taking metronidazole?" Zheng Ren asked.

"Yes." Chu Yanran's mother said, "My tooth hurts; I don't dare get it fixed, taking some metronidazole can treat anaerobic bacteria in the tooth root—does this drug have a problem?"

"No, no, how long have you been taking it? What dosage per day?" Zheng Ren asked.

"I've been taking it on and off for several years." Chu Yanran's mother said with a smile, "It's fine; I'm afraid of buying fake medicine, so I only buy from the same manufacturer. Nowadays there are many fakes, and even if it's not fake, if the ingredients differ I'm afraid it won't work after I finish it."

"Um... could you elaborate a bit more?" Zheng Ren stared at Aunt Chen without blinking.

"Little Zheng, what's wrong with you? Auntie, I'm still in good health, I take medicine every day, and my last checkup showed no coronary artery issues." Chu Yanran's mother Strange asked.

"This isn't what Chu Yanran said about your legs going numb from sitting too long; I was just wondering about the situation."

"It's probably compression of the sciatic nerve." Chu Yanran's mother began to judge herself: "Everyone says sitting too long is bad, but I just like playing mahjong; I'll play for a while, anyway my lumbar spine is fine."

"It probably has nothing to do with prolonged sitting; as long as you move a bit each day and don't overdo it. Everything should be in moderation." Zheng Ren said this, but his eyes continued to fix on the mahjong table.

"Everyone says that." Chu Yanran's mother obviously wasn't convinced.

"Could you tell me about your experience taking metronidazole?"

"Isn't metronidazole for toothaches? Little Zheng, you're just trying to get me to fix my tooth, right? But no way—getting a tooth fixed is terrifying. Imagine the buzzing of an electric saw right in your mouth; I went once and felt like my whole body would be split in two."

"Thirteen Orphans, I win, sorry." As she said that, Su Yun pushed her tiles forward on the table and began to calculate the score.

Chu Yanran's mother's eyes lit up instantly!

"This kid is really something—he actually won with a garbage hand of Thirteen Orphans!"

Chu Yanran smiled, "Mom, Chief Zheng is asking about your medication situation."

"Sigh, what's there to say? I've been taking it on and off for many years. I take it when my tooth feels Uncomfortable, and it gets better. But lately, over the past couple of months, my tooth pain has been worsening, and the drug's effectiveness is getting worse."

"How many times a day do you take it, and what dosage each time? Do you take it continuously?" Zheng Ren continued to ask.

"I daren't not take it—if I skip a dose, my tooth feels Uncomfortable. Three times a day, taken orally on schedule, each dose 0.4g." Chu Yanran's mother said clearly.

"Why not go have a look, Aunt? Now there's nitrous oxide anesthesia; getting a tooth fixed isn't as painful as before."

"Chu Yanran also said that; I looked it up myself, and it said nitrous oxide anesthesia might cause problems."

"Taking this medication makes problems more likely. Your toe numbness from sitting too long isn't due to sciatic nerve or lumbar disc issues; it's caused by long-term, heavy oral metronidazole." Zheng Ren said seriously.

"Ah?"

"Adverse nervous system reactions caused by metronidazole usually manifest as headache, dizziness, skin sensory abnormalities, limb numbness, ataxia, polyneuropathy, etc.; high doses can cause convulsions."

"Your current symptoms are……"

"I win, sorry, Aunties—I'll calculate the score." Su Yun, the gambling god descended, again pushed over her tiles.

The atmosphere at the mahjong table had already begun to feel a little off.

"One hand of Thirteen Orphans, one hand of Nine Lanterns—these are big hands that only appear once or twice a month."

"This young guy says he wins and he does—could he be cheating?"

Zheng Ren kept monitoring that situation, and without thinking blurted out: "You're showing peripheral neuritis; analyzing the cause, it might be related to the patient's long-term, high-dose oral metronidazole."

"Nervous system complications caused by high-dose metronidazole require several months after stopping the drug to recover."

"Um……" Chu Yanran's mother stared, stunned—metronidazole still has this side effect?

"Chief Zheng, what should we do?" Chu Yanran trusted Zheng Ren greatly.

"I say, use your phone to record it." Zheng Ren said.

Chu Yanran took out her phone, and Zheng Ren began to give medical orders: "First, stop oral metronidazole. Administer cobaltamine tablets and vitamin B1 tablets orally for treatment, three weeks."

"Hehe, sorry, Earthly Win, Eighteen Arhats!" Su Yun again pushed over her tiles.

"Plop——"

Aunt Chen fell to the ground, the water cup in her hand flew far away, spilling water everywhere.