Chapter 1020: Nauseous
A laryngeal mirror was a small mirror with a long handle, and it looked kind of like a longer and larger ear digger. The doctor would pull the patient’s tongue and shove the laryngeal mirror into the patient’s throat, and they were able to get plenty of information by doing so.
Laryngeal mirrors also came in various shapes and sizes, and some of them were thicker than the others. It was not a very comfortable examination method, but it did not take long.
Ren Qi took a laryngeal mirror pack from the nurse. He did not open it immediately. Instead, he rested his hand on the packaging and tried very hard to recall everything he had learned about laryngeal mirrors.
He did not use to work in the Emergency Department, which was why he was not familiar with emergency surgeries. As an experienced attending physician in the General Surgery Department, he spent most of his time digging people’s shit and rarely had the chance to shove laryngeal mirrors down patient’s throats.
Everything Ren Qi knew about laryngeal mirrors was what he had learned back when he was a houseman and medical intern.
He was probably more skilled at it back when he was a houseman.
Aside from this, back when he was a medical intern, he had learned how to use the laryngeal mirror in the Otolaryngology Department. This was because when he was doing his internship in the Emergency Department, the doctors there always transferred patients who needed laryngoscopy to other departments.
Ren Qi was torn. He looked at Doctor Zhou and asked, “Why don’t we send the patient to the Otolaryngology Department?”
Doctor Zhou said languidly, “I’m telling you to do it, so just do it.”
As Huo Congjun wanted their Emergency Department to be involved in many fields of medicine, they had invaded the territories of departments like the General Surgery Department and the Orthopedics Department. Would it not be a joke for them to send a patient with a bone stuck in his throat to the Otolaryngology Department?
“Alright.” Ren Qi was a little annoyed, but he had no say in this matter.
To be fair, he was also an experienced attending physician. Back when he was working in a county hospital, he always ordered housemen and medical interns around too. Hence, he could even kind of tell what was on Doctor Zhou’s mind.
But what could he do about it? As a doctor who was doing his in-service training in Yun Hua Hospital illegally, he had no choice but to be obedient.
“Please come over and sit in front of me.” Ren Qi sighed and asked the patient to lean forward. He pointed the spotlight at the patient’s oral cavity and hesitantly grabbed the laryngeal mirror.
“Open your mouth and stick out your tongue.” Ren Qi grabbed a sterile gauze. He then held the patient’s tongue and gently pulled it out.
The patient groaned a few times, but he showed no objection. Ren Qi breathed a sigh of relief.
When it came to his skills… Honestly, he basically was not skilled at laryngoscopy at all. The fact that the patient was cooperative made him feel a lot more at ease.
Doctor Zhou crossed his arms and urged Ren Qi. “It’s time to insert the laryngeal mirror.”
“Alright!” Ren Qi tried his best to recall all the steps. He took a size 16 laryngeal mirror and hesitantly inserted it into the patient’s oral cavity.
“Which corner of the mouth should you insert it from?” It only took one look for Doctor Zhou to know that Ren Qi had forgotten everything about laryngoscopy. Hence, he gave Ren Qi a reminder.
After Ren Qi heard this, he immediately remembered what he should be doing. He turned the mirror and inserted it into the patient’s throat from the left corner of the mouth.
“Answer my question.” Doctor Zhou never bothered to be polite with his subordinates.
“From the left corner,” Ren Qi quickly answered.
Doctor Zhou hummed in acknowledgement.
The patient’s family member who had been standing beside them was now certain that Doctor Zhou was the boss. He went forward again and said to his son who was receiving laryngoscopy, “See, unlike doctors in the United States, doctors in China always solve our problems quickly and efficiently. Remember the time we were in the United States? We encountered this American Chinese doctor who made you do an X-ray and a CT scan even though you merely had a fish bone stuck in your throat. We spent a lot of money, and in the end, the problem wasn’t solved at all!”
Even though the patient’s family member looked like he was speaking to his son, he actually wanted the doctors to hear it.
He was doing so with hidden intentions, but this did make the doctors rather happy.
Ren Qi felt a little pressured for some reason. This was a time when he should make his country proud.
He became even more focused, and he carefully examined the patient’s root of tongue, epiglottis and epiglottic vallecula of the patient using the laryngeal mirror.
The patient’s father took a look at Ren Qi’s earnest demeanour, and he became even more happy. He continued praising the doctors, “In my opinion, the healthcare system in the United States is f*cked. You know, doctors in America make it a point to avert responsibility every time they do something. They don’t care about whether they are able to nurse you back to health at all. They’re afraid of responsibility and are always worried about getting sued. Of course, they are always thinking about making money too. Hence, they make you go through multiple examinations that are tremendously expensive. There was this one time when my lumbar spine hurt, and they made me do a… What was that again? Ah, MRI scan. It was 10,000 USD! Fortunately, I had insurance!”
“You don’t have to worry about things since you’re insured, do you? It’s still better than how things are here.” Another patient who was standing near the patient’s family member came over to join the conversation when he heard that the other party was talking about healthcare systems of different countries.
The patient’s father chuckled. “Insurance isn’t free, you know? The health insurance for my whole family costs more than 10,000 USD annually. There are also procedures that are not covered. Most importantly, they don’t even handle your problems the right way. You know, when you’ve a fish bone or shrimp thorn stuck in your throat, they will send you to the operating theater right away.”
“What the heck is a shrimp thorn?”
“That thorny thing on shrimps’ heads,” the patient’s father explained earnestly.
The other patient was shocked. “Does that thing even get stuck in people’s throats?”
“Why not? If you don’t consume fish carefully, a fish bone might be stuck in your throat. So, if you don’t consume shrimp carefully, a shrimp thorn might be stuck in your throat.”
“No, the question is, who the heck eats the heads of shrimps? It’s not even delicious, and it contains a lot of heavy metal. Only idiots would eat that thing.”
The patient’s father turned abruptly to look at Doctor Zhou. He asked, “Doctor, you guys probably encounter quite a lot of patients with fish bones or shrimp thorns stuck in their throats, right?”
“Yeah, patients with fish bones stuck in their throats are quite common.” Doctor Zhou smiled.
“How about shrimp thorns?”
Doctor Zhou schooled his expression. He thought about it for a long time and said, “Sometimes, there are patients with chicken bones stuck in their throats.”
The people around them laughed softly.
Not every patient in the Emergency Department was in critical condition. This was especially true in the treatment room. Some of the patients there were merely hit with a rock by their friends, had scratches on their body because their friends pushed them onto the floor, and drank too much alcohol because their friends or family forced them to. All of them were capable of laughing.
However, Ren Qi was not in the mood to laugh.
He examined the patient’s soft palate, tonsils, root of tongue and epiglottis… But he was unable to find the legendary shrimp thorn.
“Could it be that it has been flushed away by saliva?” Ren Qi reckoned.
However, the fact that he could not find the foreign object did not mean that the foreign object did not exist.
Ren Qi turned and looked helplessly at Doctor Zhou, but the latter merely gave Ren Qi a cold expression.
“Doctor Zhou?” Ren Qi had no choice but to call out for help.
“If you can’t find it, just send him for an X-ray scan so that the position of the foreign object can be determined.” Doctor Zhou paused for a moment and continued, “Go ahead and contact the Medical Imaging Department. Get the patient and his family member to sign the informed consent form too.”
“Alright.” Ren Qi rose in resignation and put down the laryngeal mirror. He then said to the patient, “I’m sorry. If you still feel like the foreign object is in the throat, do go for an X-ray scan.”
“Sure, let’s go.” The patient looked at his father. He seemed pleased with himself, and his expression was animated.
The patient’s father was reluctant. “About this… Doctor, I didn’t know that doctors in China send patients for X-ray scans too!”
“Why not? If the foreign object cannot be found, there’s no choice but to get an X-ray scan.”
“Sigh, you guys… you guys…” The patient’s father had a grim expression on his face, and he looked angry.
Ren Qi breathed a sigh of relief and politely checked on the patient, who was feeling nauseous. “How do you feel? It’s very normal to experience throat discomfort after laryngoscopy. Don’t worry…”
“I’m okay. I’m very used to this. Just need to vomit a few times.” The patient nodded in understanding and retched several times.