Chapter 175: Alpaca stampede!
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
The spine was a relatively long and slender lever that would help to balance the head’s weight. Since the spine joints were also flexible themselves, the cervical vertebrae were the part of the spine with the greatest movement ability, which also meant that their stability would be slightly weaker in comparison. That was why the cervical vertebrae were the easiest part of the spine to injure. It also wouldn’t be wise to just massage the cervical vertebrae unless the doctor already knew specific treatment techniques.
This was because the cervical vertebrae were far too important. To explain simply, the spinal cord’s functions included helping to control your breathing, your body temperature, and so on. Many important nerves for maintaining your basic functions would all pass through them. Thus, not only was the spinal cord critically important, it was also rather fragile. If the doctor didn’t use the proper amount of force during the massage, a medical incident might occur. Such a medical incident occurring would mean that there wouldn’t even be enough time to try and save the patient, as the patient would instantly die or become paralyzed!
When Zhang Fan touched the C4 vertebrae, he could sense the patient’s neck muscles beginning to tighten.
“Does this hurt?” Zhang Fan inquired.
“No, but I do think I feel a little dizzy when you press there,” the patient said without much confidence.
“I’ll press there again, so try and see if you sense anything.”
Zhang Fan pushed on the C4 vertebrae again. The patient had no reaction. Zhang Fan continued his checkup, and didn’t find anything wrong with the patient’s neck. “Brother Hu, I think the patient’s problem is somewhere near the C4 vertebrae.”
Zhang Fan then asked the patient, “Ma’am, could I ask you to try lowering your head and trying the checkup again?”
The patient lowered her head. Zhang Fan put some pressure on her C4 vertebrae. The patient then said, “Whoa! No, I feel dizzy and really bad!” Zhang Fan then slowly stopped pressuring her C4 vertebrae, and told her, “Ma’am, raise your head slowly now.”
As the patient slowly raised her head, Zhang Fan informed her, “The inferior longitudinal fasciculus has grown thicker to compensate for the fact that you often need to lower your head as you work! As time passes or if there’s too much pressure, the thickened portion will pressure your arteries and cause your brain to temporarily lack blood, along with dizziness and vomiting, but if you only lower your head a little or if there’s not much pressure, that won’t cause any symptoms.”
“Are you certain?” Hu Zengyang felt that this was almost inconceivable.
“I’m certain. The symptoms match what I found from my checkup,” Zhang Fan stated.
‘I’ve never even heard of this condition!’ Hu Zengyang thought to himself. He then asked, “How should we treat the patient?”
“There are two methods. The first is to use surgery to cut off the thickened portion and permanently cure the patient. However, this will be rather risky. The second method is to use massages to adjust the cervical spine’s angle so that the thickened portion will move slightly away from the arteries. This angle adjustment doesn’t need to be big, and it can cure the patient’s condition. However, the patient will need to refrain from lowering her head too much at work. Otherwise, she’ll have a relapse.”
“I don’t want to have surgery!” The patient didn’t really understand most of Zhang Fan’s explanation. However, she definitely knew what the word surgery meant, so she hurriedly waved her hand in refusal.
“Alright then. Ma’am, allow me to perform a neck adjustment massage for you. Let’s see if it works!”
“Okay!”
Actually, the patient didn’t know that there would also be significant risk with a massage.
Zhang Fan asked the patient to get into supine position. He stood straight in front of her, had the patient adjust her neck to an angle between 45 and 90 degrees, and slowly placed his thumb and palm on the patient’s cheek. He slowly rotated his index finger and then started pressuring the upper cervical spine. He also turned the patient’s head, massaged, extended her neck backwards, performed lateral flexion, and adjusted her neck by a rather small angle.
The patient’s cervical vertebrae were in normal condition. However, the thickening of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus was quite rare to see. The symptoms would also disappear if the afflicted person kept their neck straight for a period of time. It wasn’t that strange for Chasu City Hospital’s doctors to be unable to diagnose this. For this particular condition, only highly experienced spine experts would be able to diagnose it. It truly wouldn’t be possible for normal doctors.
Half an hour later, Zhang Fan finished the neck adjustment massage treatment. Zhang Fan wiped away the sweat on his head as he told the patient, “Ma’am, try getting up and walking a few steps! See if you’re still feeling terrible or dizzy.”
This treatment was quite tiring for Zhang Fan. Using too little strength wouldn’t have any effect, while using too much strength would mean injuring the patient. Zhang Fan thus had to adjust his own muscles’ output to match the patient’s neck’s resistance. He also needed to constantly maintain the same level of force on the patient’s neck to help her neck adjust. This truly wouldn’t be easy.
“I feel much better. I no longer feel dizzy or that I want to vomit! I’m starving! I’ve been vomiting so much over the past few days that it felt like I was about to spit up my intestines. I finally have some appetite now!” the patient said delightedly.
“Ma’am, don’t be so happy just yet. This is only the first step. Your massage treatment still requires a long period of time. Right now, it’s only a temporary improvement. You might start feeling dizzy or vomit again by tonight,” Zhang Fan told the patient.
“Then what should I do, Doctor?” The patient became quite worried. She was really scared of her own constant vomiting. It was far too uncomfortable!
“The rehabilitative massaging needs to be continued for a period of time. Once your muscles and bones fix themselves into the new position, your condition will permanently improve. However, the treatment will take a long period of time. You must mentally prepare yourself,” Zhang Fan explained.
When Zhang Fan finished the massage treatment, Hu Zengyang saw that the patient’s condition had improved noticeably. This meant that Zhang Fan’s diagnosis had been correct and that the treatment was effective. Since Hu Zengyang knew that this patient’s unknown condition had become a major matter, he immediately went out to go call the hospital administration director at this time.
“No worries. I’m not afraid of a long treatment. Take your time in treating me. I’m not in a rush. Thank you!” The patient then turned around to look at her husband.
These minor government officials would often be the sensitive type who paid close attention to detail. Since this doctor had managed to correctly diagnose and treat her when so many other doctors hadn’t been able to do anything, they really wanted to get into this doctor’s good graces.
The patient’s husband understood what his wife meant. He instantly started stuffing milk boxes, gift boxes, and so on into Zhang Fan’s hands.
Superintendent Ouyang and the other doctors arrived while Zhang Fan was trying to politely refuse the gifts. Zhang Fan became incredibly embarrassed when the door opened unexpectedly as he had reflexively taken the gifts right at this exact moment. He then turned around to see Superintendent Ouyang and all the top doctors of the hospital looking at him!
Superintendent Ouyang had originally been smiling, but her expression instantly changed when she saw Zhang Fan holding gifts that obviously were from the patient. However, this wasn’t the time to be scolding Zhang Fan. Superintendent Ouyang glared daggers at him. Her intention was obvious: ‘Just you wait!’
Some of the doctors behind Superintendent Ouyang smiled knowingly at seeing this young doctor’s awkwardness! What was bad luck? This was bad luck! Zhang Fan was caught red-handed by the big boss of the hospital.
Superintendent Ouyang didn’t say anything. Zhang Fan also couldn’t explain. At this moment, the hospital administration director spoke up. “What, you’re still not going to put those down? Do you want me to hold onto them for you?”
Zhang Fan also knew that this wasn’t the time to explain. He hurriedly put the gifts down by the wall as a gigantic alpaca stampede paraded through his mind. To make an analogy, he felt as if yellowish mud had gotten onto his pants. Even if it wasn’t actually sh*t, others would think that it was sh*t on his pants!
Hu Zengyang also felt rather awkward. He hadn’t expected such a situation, so he had an apologetic look as he glanced in Zhang Fan’s direction!
“Let’s talk about the patient’s condition!” Superintendent Ouyang spoke to Zhang Fan after he put the gifts down. She intended to give the rebellious gastrointestinal director a vicious slap in the face, which was why she was temporarily sparing Zhang Fan. However, she would definitely take advantage of this to pressure Zhang Fan later. This was simply her leadership style. Despite countless tempests, the top doctors would all stay by her side. As for doctors who weren’t top-level, she wouldn’t need to bother with them.
The internal medicine directors still didn’t know Zhang Fan very well. However, all the surgical directors were highly familiar with Zhang Fan by now. This was especially so for the urology director. He was quite happy to see Zhang Fan in such an awkward state. He was the happiest of all, not because he was laughing at Zhang Fan’s misfortune, but rather because he felt like he finally found a companion. He was happy because he no longer felt alone in his awkwardness since the superintendent was his ex-girlfriend! He felt far too much pressure from being a director under her!