This miracle doctor just wants to be fired!

"He's on his phone all day, and the more doctors he sees, the more doctors he finds. The day before yesterday, he read an article about kidney failure, and last night he got up twice in the middle of the night saying that his kidneys were failing."

The man immediately retorted, "I only used to get up once."

"You drank two bowls of porridge!"

"That's still more than usual!"

The two started arguing in the consultation room.

Zhou Cheng did not interrupt, but observed the man's demeanor as he spoke.

His complexion was normal, his breathing was steady, and when he got excited, his voice was loud and clear, without any obvious shortness of breath.

Once the two finally stopped, Zhou Cheng asked, "When does the palpitation usually start?"

"There is no pattern."

"Are you more active or resting?"

"I have more time to rest."

"How long will it last?"

"A few minutes, sometimes half an hour."

Did you check your heart rate during the attack?

The man took out a piece of paper from the file bag, on which the date, time, heart rate, and blood pressure were densely recorded.

They even wrote down exactly what they ate that day!

"Fastest 103, slowest 72."

After reviewing the records, Zhou Cheng also looked through the electrocardiograms, Holter monitors, and echocardiograms he had done.

Numerous tests were conducted, but very few truly valuable abnormalities were found. The Holter monitor only detected a small number of premature atrial contractions, far from enough to cause noticeable symptoms.

Zhou Cheng looked up and asked, "Have you been under a lot of work pressure lately?"

Before the man could speak, his wife spoke first.

"He was transferred to a different position last year, and he's been worried every day that he won't do a good job."

How was your sleep last night?

"Very bad."

Would you like coffee or strong tea?

"Four or five cups of tea a day."

"Smoking?"

One pack a day.

Zhou Cheng reorganized the examination data. "Currently, no serious organic problems have been found in your heart."

The man frowned: "Then why are you feeling anxious?"

"Insufficient sleep, chronic stress, and excessive intake of caffeine and nicotine can all lead to palpitations. Even a small number of premature beats can be amplified by anxiety."

The man was still worried. "Could he suddenly die?"

"Based on your current test results, there is no evidence to suggest a high risk of sudden death in the near future."

"real?"

"real."

"Should I have a coronary angiography?"

"unnecessary."

"What about electrophysiological testing?"

"No need."

"How about we keep him in the hospital for observation for a few days?"

"unnecessary."

The man asked "No need" three times in a row, his expression becoming even more bewildered.

In his mind, having arrived at a major provincial hospital, registered for an appointment with a specialist, and brought such a thick bag of documents, he should at least undergo a more advanced examination.

Zhou Cheng saw through his thoughts. "Not ordering tests doesn't mean you haven't seen a doctor. What you really need to do is reduce your intake of four or five cups of strong tea a day, quit smoking, and maintain a regular sleep schedule. When symptoms flare up, don't repeatedly check your blood pressure and heart rate, and don't keep comparing them online. Stick to this for two weeks. If the symptoms still occur frequently, then come back for a follow-up appointment."

The man hesitated before nodding.

Before leaving the consultation room, his wife breathed a long sigh of relief. "Thank you, Dr. Zhou. I knew he was just scaring himself."

Zhou Cheng cautioned, "That's not entirely true. The symptoms are real, but the cause may not necessarily be a serious heart condition."

Upon hearing this, the man's embarrassment noticeably lessened.

He carefully put away the documents. "Director Zhou, I will definitely quit smoking when I get back."

As he reached the door, he turned back and asked, "Could we reduce the tea from four cups to three?"

Zhou Cheng looked at him and said, "Okay, you can reduce it slowly."

The man immediately breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed that even quitting smoking hadn't been this difficult for him.

After the consultation room door closed, the graduate student who was observing the consultation couldn't help but laugh and say, "Director Zhou, I thought you were going to get him to quit completely in one go."

"Suggestions that patients can follow are meaningful." Zhou Cheng picked up the next medical record. "If you tell someone who drinks four or five cups of strong tea every day to stop drinking it from today, they will most likely recover completely in two or three days. First reduce the amount, then adjust it. Treating illness cannot only consider medical correctness, but also whether the patient can follow it."

The graduate student nodded thoughtfully.

……

The morning outpatient clinic proceeded one patient after another in this manner.

There are truly complex arrhythmias, as well as simple poor blood pressure control.

Some patients brought their electrocardiograms from ten years ago for a follow-up examination, while others mistook an abnormal notification on their smartwatch for a myocardial infarction.

Zhou Cheng patiently explained, readjusted the medication, and refused many unnecessary examinations.

Around noon, the outpatient nurse pushed open the door and reminded him, "Director Zhou, there are three more appointments available outside."

"Weren't they already full?"

"They're all from out of town," the nurse said in a low voice. "One of them said he'd been waiting at the door for two days."

Zhou Cheng glanced at the time: 12:20.

There is also a departmental administrative meeting at 1:30 pm.

He picked up his water glass and realized that he hadn't drunk a drop of water since morning.

"Let them in."

The nurses were not surprised; Director Zhou almost never refused to work overtime.

As she turned to leave, she added, "The cafeteria has sweet and sour pork ribs today, but they'll be gone if we wait any longer."

Zhou Cheng looked down at the next patient's file. "Keep a copy for me."

The nurse chuckled. "You said the same thing last week, and I saved it for you until four in the afternoon. The ribs had already solidified into a specimen."

Zhou Cheng was speechless.

Just then, a new email notification popped up on his phone.

I initially thought it was from a magazine, but upon opening it, I found it was from the secretariat of the European Society for Interventional Cardiovascular Diseases.

The email subject consisted of only one line of English text and was a consultation regarding case data about a special guide tube deformation repair technique.

Zhou Cheng's gaze lingered on the screen for a moment.

The effects of last night's surgery seem to be spreading faster than he anticipated.

Not only does Su Yi from Yunhua know about it, but now even the European Society for Interventional Medicine knows...

However, he didn't rush to check the emails; at that moment, the door to his clinic had been gently pushed open.

An elderly woman with gray hair slowly walked in, supported by her daughter.

Zhou Cheng turned off the email notifications and refocused his attention on the patient.

"Hello, where do you feel unwell?"

……

The midday sun outside the window fell on a corner of the consultation table.

The corridor was still noisy, with the sounds of people calling numbers, footsteps, and family members asking questions all mixed together.

The email from abroad lay quietly in the mailbox.

No one knew that the operation they took as an accidental remedy last night was quietly spreading across regions to even more distant places.

Nobody knows.

Many years later, when Zhou Cheng stood at the highest point of the academic hall and received the academician certificate that symbolized the highest honor in Chinese medicine, this seemingly insignificant case of Z-shaped catheter bending would be written into his academic resume again.

But Zhou Cheng wasn't thinking that far ahead at the time.

He simply opened the medical record in front of him as usual and listened to an ordinary patient recount his discomfort and worries.

No matter how high the honor or how far the technology spreads, what doctors really need to face is always the specific person across the examination table.

……