Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1008 Poisoning and Indigestion, Grandpa's Treatment Method (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets: 3K Chapters)

It's hard to feel a child's pulse, especially after he's had diarrhea for half a month.

It took Fang Yan a while to figure out that the pulse in both hands was soft, thin, and rapid.

Then Fang Yan looked into the child's mouth.

The tongue coating is slightly yellow, and the tongue body is red, dry, and lacks saliva.

The white, gritty substance in my mouth looks a bit like canker sores or ulcers.

At this moment, Fang Yan touched the child's forehead, armpits, and soles of his feet and found that he still had a low-grade fever.

My chest heaved violently, and the feeling of exhaling was somewhat like a sigh.

"Whoa... rumble rumble..." At this moment, a series of rumbling sounds came from the child's stomach, which sounded almost like thunder.

Fang Yan initially thought he was going to have diarrhea, but then the doctor said to Fang Yan:

"That's how he makes those sounds from his stomach every now and then."

"It's like there's a machine inside washing your intestines, but it doesn't just pull out the stool."

Fang Yan nodded thoughtfully, then pressed the child's belly and found it was bulging.

He asked the doctor:

What has he been eating these days?

The doctor responded:
"He can't eat solid food, he can only drink some liquids, and he relies on IV fluids to replenish his fluids."

"Most of the body fluids are excreted, so I can only urinate once every two days, and the amount is very small and the color is dark yellow."

"Moreover, he had too much diarrhea, and his anus was already red, swollen, and ulcerated."

Fang Yan held up the medical record filled with writing and asked him:
What specific treatments did you perform?

The other party took it and said:
"Um... let me see..."

He started flipping through the pages from the very beginning and then said:

"The treatment was done by many doctors in our hospital. The Western medicine treatment included antibiotics, intravenous fluids, plasma transfusions, and oral bismuth subcarbonate and tannic acid protein... Recently, nystatin was added. The traditional Chinese medicine treatment included massage, acupuncture, umbilical application, and herbal medicine..."

After saying that, he spoke in dialect:

"This kind of toxic indigestion in children isn't actually that difficult to treat, but for some reason, his just won't get better..."

“We’ve done numerous lab tests, blood biochemistry, and X-rays, and the results are always the same.”

Mrs. Huo, who was standing to the side, asked Fang Yan:

"Dr. Fang, what's wrong with him?"

Fang Yan thought for a moment, then turned to Mrs. Huo and said:
"From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, it is the invasion of damp-heat evil into the intestines, which leads to the dysfunction of intestinal transmission and the inability to separate the clear from the turbid, that is, the essence of water and grains and the waste are mixed together and go down."

"In addition, his long-term illness has depleted the qi of his spleen and stomach. As a result, his spleen qi is weak and unable to transform and transport nutrients. His stomach yin is deficient and the body fluids cannot be transported, resulting in symptoms of yin deficiency such as thirst and a red tongue without saliva."

"When damp heat accumulates internally, it obstructs the flow of Qi, which can cause chest tightness, abdominal distension, and nausea; when damp heat descends, it can burn the anus, causing redness, swelling, and ulceration."

Mrs. Huo blinked, and together with the child's mother and grandmother, they stared blankly at Fang Yan. Then, she opened her mouth and said somewhat awkwardly:
"Um... Dr. Fang, we don't quite understand..."

dialect:"……"

Then he thought for a moment and tried to explain to the three of them in a concise way:
"Children's intestines are often affected by 'damp heat,' which is a hot and humid environment, leading to digestive and absorption disorders. The food and water they eat cannot be properly converted into nutrients and instead become loose stools that are constantly excreted."

"Prolonged diarrhea is like a 'leaky bucket,' draining the body's energy and water, leading to weakness, dry mouth, loose skin, and even the strength to drink water."

"The continuous stimulation of the end of the intestine by damp heat toxins is like 'sewage soaking the skin for a long time,' eventually causing redness and ulceration of the anus, aggravating pain and the risk of infection."

At this moment, the doctor next to him asked.

"Then why didn't the medications we used before have any noticeable effect?"

The dialect responded:
“Previous Western antibiotics and antidiarrheal drugs only targeted the surface symptoms and did not solve the root problem of damp-heat retention; Chinese herbal formulas for tonifying the spleen, such as Shenling Baizhu Powder, focus on tonifying qi but do not clear damp-heat in the intestines, which causes the tonifying medicine to help the pathogenic factors and make the child's condition worse.”

"Therefore, I believe the root cause lies in the unresolved damp-heat in the intestines and excessive physical weakness, requiring 'first clearing the damp-heat, then regulating the spleen and stomach.' This is like first unblocking the sewer, which is to remove dampness and clear heat, and then repairing the leaking water pipe to replenish qi and nourish yin, in order to completely solve the problem."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Huo and the other two women looked enlightened, while the doctor also seemed to be deep in thought.

Actually, there have been similar cases in the medical records of my maternal grandfather in the dialect, but none were as serious as his.

At that time, this was a problem that Qi Yong encountered after he had already started treating patients.

I initially thought diarrhea was nothing serious, but the treatments didn't seem to work. In the end, I had to ask my grandfather for help to figure out the problem.

The fact that the dialect was able to identify the problem so quickly was all thanks to the old man's experience.

Otherwise, he'd probably be thinking about the reason right now.

"Then Dr. Fang, please prescribe a medicine quickly!" The child's mother, who was standing to the side, couldn't wait any longer.

At this moment, the doctor brought the prescription and pen and handed them to Fang Yan.

Fang Yan briefly recalled her grandfather's treatment methods and then wrote them down:
10g each of perilla stem and patchouli stem: Perilla stem and patchouli stem have aromatic properties that dispel dampness, regulate qi, and harmonize the middle jiao.

Stewed kudzu root 5g: raises yang and stops diarrhea, relieves muscle tension and reduces fever (stewing enhances its antidiarrheal effect).

10g of stir-fried Scutellaria baicalensis and 5g of stir-fried Coptis chinensis: Clears heat and dries dampness, targeting damp-heat in the intestines.

Stewed 10g of costus root: promotes qi circulation, relieves pain, strengthens the spleen and aids digestion (stewing reduces its dryness).

10g of stir-fried Chinese yam: strengthens the spleen and replenishes qi, nourishes the kidneys and astringes essence, and strengthens the intestines and stops diarrhea.

Prepared Atractylodes macrocephala 5g: Dries dampness and strengthens the spleen, targeting spleen deficiency with excessive dampness.

Dendrobium nobile 15g: Nourishes the stomach and promotes the production of body fluids, relieves thirst and red tongue caused by deficiency of stomach yin.

10g each of Poria cocos and Plantago asiatica: promotes diuresis and eliminates dampness, clearing damp-heat from the intestines (allowing dampness to be expelled through urination). 10g of Zingiber officinale and Bambusa textilis: clears heat and stops vomiting, relieving nausea and vomiting.

A pinch of Yuanmi (wrapped in fresh lotus leaves with pierced holes): Yuanmi (i.e., japonica rice) strengthens the spleen and harmonizes the stomach, while lotus leaves promote the upward movement of clear qi and the downward movement of turbid qi, relieve summer heat and eliminate dampness. Wrapping the rice with pierced holes allows the medicinal properties to be fully extracted during decoction.

Then he thought for a moment and wrote down another external treatment method.

Traditional Chinese medicine fumigation and external application:
Boil 10g of Bupleurum chinense, 10g of Cimicifuga foetida, and a handful of green onions in water daily. Use the hot decoction to fumigate the anus. After it cools down, wash the affected area and then apply pine pollen externally.

Bupleurum and Cimicifuga raise Yang and lift prolapse, while scallions dispel cold and open the orifices. Decoctions and fumigation can improve local blood circulation in the anus and relieve redness, swelling and ulceration; pine pollen astringes and dries dampness, protecting the wound.

After finishing writing in dialect, he said to the doctor:

"This medicine needs to be quickly boiled over high heat. First, put the rice wrapped in lotus leaves, along with the simmered kudzu root and costus root into the pot, bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Then add the remaining medicinal materials such as succinate and scutellaria."

"In the last 5 minutes, put in the ginger and bamboo shoots and let it steep like tea to release the medicinal aroma. After decocting, filter out the medicinal liquid, let it cool to lukewarm, and then feed it to the child in six doses. Each time, use a spoon to press down on the back of the child's tongue and slowly pour it in."

The doctor nodded repeatedly, but then noticed that Fang Yan had already written down all the precautions on the form.

Then, Fang Yan continued:

"The child is having difficulty swallowing. Before giving the medicine, use a cotton swab dipped in a concentrated decoction of Dendrobium nobile to clean the white residue in the mouth. When giving the medicine, support the back of the neck, pinch the nostrils closed to make him open his mouth instinctively, and pour it in while he is inhaling. If he vomits, apply a slice of ginger to the Neiguan acupoint. Never force-feed the medicine and cause him to choke."

The doctor said:

"Oh, I see."

After handing the form to the doctor, Fang Yan turned to the child's mother and grandmother and said:
"Stop all formula and sugar water now! Cook thick rice porridge, strain out the rice grains, add a little salt, and feed him two spoonfuls each time. After the diarrhea subsides, add yam powder to make a paste. Even if he recovers later, don't let him touch raw or cold fruits, oily or greasy foods for a month. It's better to go hungry for a couple of meals than to eat randomly. His stomach is like a leaky earthenware pot right now, we need to patch the leak before filling it with food."

"Mmm..." The two nodded repeatedly.

Then Fang Yan thought for a moment and said to the nurse:

"In addition, the medicinal soup for fumigating the anus should be boiled in a large earthenware pot. After the water boils, add whole green scallions. When fumigating, have the child lie on the adult's lap with their buttocks half a foot away from the steam, and cover them with a large towel to form a steam curtain. Remember to control the temperature and avoid burns! After washing, apply dried pine pollen to the anal area in a thin layer, like a cookie artist sprinkling icing."

The nurse was somewhat stunned, when Mrs. Huo's assistant reminded her:

"Don't just stand there, did you write it down?"

The lead nurse then snapped out of her daze and quickly agreed:
"Okay! I've got it, Dr. Fang!"

He said in dialect:

"Alright, there shouldn't be anything else to worry about. Go and get the medicine! Let me know if there are any problems."

The medical staff knew that this was Mrs. Huo's honored guest, and immediately nodded in agreement.

The child's grandmother spoke in dialect:

"Dr. Fang, thank you so much!"

He said in dialect:

"You're Mrs. Huo's friend, no need to be so polite. Let's get the child treated first!"

Mrs. Huo was very satisfied with Fang Yan's answer, and she nodded in response, saying:
"Yes, getting the child treated is the most important thing. Let's not think about anything else for now."

At this moment, the child's mother's eyes were red, and she gripped Fang Yan's sleeve tightly, refusing to let go. She still asked with some uncertainty:

"Dr. Fang, do you think this medicine will really work? We've tried so many things already."

Her voice choked, as if her throat was stuffed with a wad of waterlogged cotton.

Fang Yan comforted her, saying, "My grandfather treated a child who was even more seriously ill back then. The child's eye sockets were so sunken they could hold water, and there was pus and blood in his stool. He used a similar prescription, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Huo immediately said to the child's mother:

"That's right, Dr. Fang cured me in just a few days. I trust his medical skills! Don't you believe me?"

Upon hearing this, the child's mother nodded:

"Of course... I trust you, Mrs. Huo!"

Mrs. Huo nodded and said:

"That's settled then! Don't worry, you haven't slept in a long time either, go and get some rest, lest the child gets better and the adults get sick again!"

The child's mother nodded and stepped aside, but did not leave the ward. She kept looking at the child on the bed. It seemed that the child was not getting better, and she was not in the mood to rest.

Mrs. Huo said to Fang Yan:

"Thank you so much for your trouble. I invited you over as soon as I got off the plane."

"It's nothing," Fang Yan said with a smile, shaking his head.

At this moment, Mrs. Huo suddenly noticed that Fang Yan was with three unfamiliar young men.

The clothes were also the kind worn in mainland China.

She was surprised:

"Oh, right, we...we assigned security to you before, so why is there no one here now?"

He said in dialect:

"Oh, Director Liao said I don't understand Cantonese, so he arranged for them to stay with me to make communication easier."

PS: I've gained another 100 monthly votes, so I owe you all another 2000 words.

So after finishing this chapter, I still owe everyone 106000 words.

There will be more this afternoon.

(End of this chapter)