Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1120: Lower abdomen encircles the genitals, upper meridian disturbs the mind (Bonus chapter for monthly votes: 3K chapters)

"Under what circumstances do severe chest and abdominal pains occur? Is there any pattern?" Fang Yan asked Wang Bo.

"For example, what time of day, what did you eat and drink, where were you, or even what did you hear?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Bo recalled for a moment and then spoke to Fang Yan:

"As for patterns, there are no specific patterns. The situations that occur are different each time. If I had to point out a pattern, it would be that during that period, I would experience some bloating after eating, and before I could even see a doctor, this would happen."

Fang Yan asked him:
"Is your eating normal? Before the onset of the illness, did you eat any foods that you rarely ate before, or foods that you had never eaten before, or even any medications?"

Wang Bo shook his head and said:
“I haven’t been picky about food these past few years. I just eat whatever the company chef decides to serve. You might not know this, but the food in those places abroad is pretty much the same.”

"As for medication, I only took painkillers after the onset of the illness, and I stopped taking them when they were ineffective."

Fang Yan continued to ask him:
What do you usually eat?

Wang Bo said:

"It's meat, fish, eggs, milk, vegetables, fruits, the things that white people usually eat. Many people in our company eat these together and they're fine. I shouldn't have a problem from eating them."

His wife spoke in dialect:

"Yes, we suspected poisoning or something at the time, but all the test results were normal. We had our medical checkups done at more than one hospital, including hospitals in Europe and Hong Kong."

Fang Yan pondered for a moment and asked:
"Did you bring the medical report?"

“I only brought the closest available items,” Wang Bo’s wife said.

Nodding in dialect:

"Okay, let me take a look."

Then his wife immediately took out a file bag and handed it to Fang Yan. After Fang Yan opened it, he saw several hospital examination reports, including not only physical examinations but also mental health assessments.

The first thing that catches the eye is a physical examination report from a European hospital, dated two weeks ago:
Basic vital signs: body temperature 37.0℃, pulse 72 beats/min, respiration 18 breaths/min, blood pressure 120/80 mmHg, all values ​​are marked in the red box of "normal range";
Cardiopulmonary examination: Chest X-ray showed "clear lung markings and normal heart size and shape". Auscultation record showed "strong and regular heart sounds with no murmurs; clear breath sounds in both lungs with no dry or wet rales".
Abdominal examination: "Abdomen is flat and soft, without tenderness or rebound tenderness, liver and spleen are not palpable and enlarged, bowel sounds are normal (4 times/min)," even details such as "no abnormalities were found on digital rectal examination" were recorded.

There were a lot of other tests afterward, but the results were all pretty much the same.

The last document is a mental health assessment report, issued by a psychiatric clinic in Hong Kong:

The scale results are as follows:
The study used a simplified version of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), which was commonly used in the 1970s. All scores on the clinical scales (hypochondria, depression, hysteria, etc.) were below the cutoff value.

The assessment report stated: "No obvious symptoms of anxiety, depression or delusions, intact insight, and good social functioning."
The interview transcript concluded that:
"The patient reported that he was emotionally stable, had no obvious resistance to work or family, did not mention hallucinations or near-death experiences, and his logic was clear and his answers were relevant."

They checked all the items very thoroughly.

As Fang Yan was watching, the foreign TCM practitioners who had come to observe him also gathered around.

Chen Mike had studied Western medicine and was quite familiar with these indicators. After reviewing them, he confirmed with the others around him:
"Indeed, everything is normal... The physical data is quite good, and even the mental health report is normal."

Fang Yan nodded, confirming this statement.

The patient's wife said:
"Yes, we're puzzled too. It couldn't have just happened out of nowhere!"

"So at that time we also found a pastor...and had him perform a ceremony."

Does it work?

"At the time, it seemed to work for a few days, but the illness still recurred. Then the elders in my family said that it might be caused by something from abroad, and suggested that I come back to China and see Dr. Fang while I was there."

Fang Yan was speechless and asked them:

"Did you develop any symptoms after returning to China?"

Wang Bo spoke to the dialect:

"It happened this morning. After breakfast, I was changing clothes in my room when I suddenly felt the sounds around me getting faster, and then my chest and abdomen started to hurt."

"However, this time it didn't last long, it was back to normal in about a few minutes."

Upon hearing this, Fang Yan seemed to grasp something in his mind, but he wasn't quite sure, so he continued to ask:

"Do you go to the toilet normally? Do you have constipation or dark yellow urine?"

While asking questions, he also began to write down medical records.

The others were still confused at this point, and they were quite surprised to see Fang Yan start writing medical records.

Wang Bo said:

"No constipation, urine is slightly yellow."

Fang Yan nodded, then continued to ask:
Did you experience bloating this morning?

“A little, but not serious,” Wang Bo replied.

Wang Bo's wife sighed, her tone tinged with helplessness: "This morning I told him that things had finally returned to normal, but then it flared up again. Actually, if it hadn't flared up, we wouldn't have even planned to come—after all, we've been to so many places for tests, and the results were all normal. If this illness could just flare up and then just as inexplicably get better, that would be fine, but it just won't let us go; it just won't leave us alone."

Fang Yan said to Wang Bo:

"Open your mouth so I can see your tongue, and feel my pulse with your hand." Wang Bo stretched out his hand and stuck out his tongue for Fang Yan to examine.

Fang Yan examined the tongue and, while taking the pulse, said:

"Push your tongue up to the roof of your mouth and let me see what's under your tongue."

Wang Bo obeyed and did as instructed.

After examining Fang Yan, it was discovered that Wang Bo's tongue coating was white and turbid, and it felt dry and lacking in saliva. The veins under his tongue were thin, prominent, and swollen, which was abnormal.

Fang Yan then felt the pulses of Wang Bo's left and right hands, both of which were wiry and slow.

Then, Fang Yan pointed to his feet:
"Roll up your trouser legs."

Wang Bo rolled up his trouser leg, and Fang Yan pinched it, finding no swelling. Then he said to Wang Bo:

"Give me a general idea of ​​where you feel pain."

Wang Bo gestured to his right side, his chest and abdomen, and then, somewhat embarrassed, gestured to his genitals as well.

Fang Yan nodded slightly upon seeing this and wrote the following on the medical record:
Pain sensation passing through the abdomen and around the genitals.

Next, Fang Yan said to the patient:
"I'm going to press on a few spots on your body. Tell me if you feel any pain."

"Okay!" the patient nodded.

Fang Yan then pressed his finger on the right abdomen and found it to be soft. He then pressed on the Qimen acupoint in the liver area above the right abdomen (located directly below the nipple, in the 6th intercostal space, 4 cun lateral to the anterior midline). The patient hissed and recoiled in pain.

"It hurts a little!" the patient said in dialect.

Fang Yan asked him:
Is it a throbbing pain, a stabbing pain, or a needle prick? Is it the same as when it flares up? Does it radiate to other parts of the body?

The patient said:
"It felt like being stabbed with a knife, even more painful than when it was flaring up, and the pain spread to my abdomen and lower body."

Fang Yan nodded and continued to ask:
"Do you usually experience a lot of work pressure? Do you ever have significant mood swings?"

The patient rubbed his abdomen and said:

“Our security work is definitely stressful, but we can’t let our emotions fluctuate too much. Security work requires us to stay calm.”

Fang Yan asked him:
Do you usually drink alcohol or smoke? Do you have a regular sleep schedule?

The patient said:
"I don't drink often, but I smoke and have irregular work and rest schedules, depending on the employer."

He asked in dialect:

"Do you experience any other symptoms during an attack? Such as a bitter taste in your mouth, dry throat, dizziness, or poor sleep?"

The patient said uncertainly:

"It seems... a little, but not obvious."

Fang Yan finally understood after hearing this, and he said to the patient:
"Based on my judgment, you have liver qi stagnation in your meridians, coupled with your consumption of cold and raw foods, which causes internal coldness. The two stagnations combine and congeal in the blood vessels, leading to qi stagnation and blood stasis, resulting in blood stasis-related chest and abdominal pain."

Upon hearing this, Lin Wenfeng, who was standing to the side, suddenly realized and said:

"The liver meridian runs through the ribs, passes through the abdomen, and encircles the genitals. Pain originates from the chest, extends to the abdomen, and passes through the genitals. It is also accompanied by internal cold affecting the blood. That makes sense!"

The patient looked completely bewildered:
"Hmm? I don't quite understand!"

Fang Yan thought for a moment and said:
"What I mean is that your problem is stagnant liver qi, which rushes upwards and sideways, disrupting the normal flow of qi in the meridians. In addition, you usually eat a lot of raw and cold foods, which causes cold qi to accumulate in your body. This stagnant liver qi and the cold qi in your body are intertwined and affect each other, making the qi and blood in the blood vessels thicker and slower, causing qi to rise upwards and blood to flow poorly, which in turn leads to this chest and abdominal pain caused by qi and blood stagnation."

Lin Suxin picked up the conversation and said:

"Your long-term consumption of Western-style raw and cold foods, such as salads and cold drinks, coupled with the damp and cold climate of Europe, can easily lead to the internal generation of cold and dampness in your body. In addition, your security work requires high tension and suppressed emotions, which can also lead to long-term stagnation of liver qi. Finally, your irregular work and rest schedule and reversed day and night are also opportunities to aggravate the abnormal flow of liver qi."

At this moment, the patient's wife asked in bewilderment:

"That's not right. That only explains why it hurts, but what about the feeling he gets when he has an attack?"

The patient nodded and said:
"Yeah, I feel like everything around me is going faster, and I also feel like I want to die."

"Could this also be related to the liver?"

He said in dialect:

"Yes, there is a connection."

"Huh?" The patient was surprised that his nonsense had actually come true.

The dialect explanation is as follows:
“The liver meridian ascends to the top of the head. When stagnant fire travels along the meridian and disturbs the mind, one will feel accelerated thinking, a sense of impending death, and severe pain leading to a stress response. This, combined with the liver fire disturbing the mind, can cause hearing abnormalities, which is why you feel this way.”

P.S.: I currently owe everyone 20000 words after finishing this chapter.

That's all for today, please come early tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)