Chapter 236: The plight of those in the Chinese medical field

After Zhang Fan finished treating his current patient, he finished that patient's medical report and told him to go to the medical laboratory department for an examination. Zhang Fan then went over to the examination table to check on Chen Yan's cousin, whose name was Chen Yun.

"Chen Yun, I'm going to give you an examination. No need for you to be nervous. Just relax." Zhang Fan then explained what a digital rectal exam would entail as he put on his gloves.

"Yes, alright, Doctor Zhang. I'm not nervous." Although Chen Yun was claiming not to be nervous, judging from how much he was clenching his butt, it was obvious that he was incredibly nervous.

Although the clinic had heating for winter, the front door was kept wide open in order to project a welcoming aura for patients. Thus, Zhang Fan's hands were rather icy, especially since he constantly had to write medical reports. Zhang Fan rubbed his own hands together as he chatted with Chen Yun in order to help the latter calm down. "So, Chen Yan is your first cousin?"

"Yeah. She's my uncle's daughter. She's quite excellent about her work and with how she treats our family's elders," Chen Yun praised his cousin out of habit. This was because his family was really worried about Chen Yan finding a marriage partner. She was the type who didn't want to be with a man whose condition wasn't good enough, but the men who had sufficiently good situation wouldn't be interested in her.

Zhang Fan finished preparing for the digital rectal exam. He then applied some medicinal liquid paraffin to his gloves, and told Chen Yun, "I'm now going to insert my finger into your rectum for a simple examination. No need to be nervous. Here, take a deep breath and relax yourself. Yes, that's right, relax yourself like this."

Zhang Fan slowly inserted his finger into the patient's rectum as he spoke. Digital rectal examinations were actually extremely important for checking intestinal health, even if this was only a standard and simple examination. It would actually be quite effective. However, due to the tremendous number of Chinese patients, many doctors would be too busy, or due to various other reasons, many doctors would end up abandoning this examination and instead directly have a colonoscopy done for the patient. It would be too difficult for this author to explain all the shadowy things behind this, but this author is certain that any proctologist who suspects that a patient might have an intestinal problem but doesn't perform a digital rectal examination is an irresponsible doctor!

Zhang Fan slowly performed the digital rectal examination. Just how would this normally feel? Actually, every examination for a healthy patient would give the doctor a comfortable feeling.

The human body was quite miraculous. The heartbeat would be a steady rhythm. A doctor listening to a patient's heartbeat with a stethoscope might not be listening to a wonderful song, but the regular beat would give you a comfortable feeling. Even if you asked an ordinary person who wasn't a doctor to listen to the normal sounds of breathing in the lungs, that would also be really comfortable. The gentle sounds of breathing would be like a clear breeze in the mountains.

However, anything irregular would cause the sounds to be magnified. Even a layman would realize that there was a problem since the sound and frequency would make anyone feel uncomfortable.

It was the same for the digital rectal exam. When sticking one's finger inside the rectum, it would feel as if your finger was being enveloped in something tight and rubbery. Your finger would be swallowed up in something tight, but not uncomfortably so. As you constantly caressed the intestinal walls, it would feel warm but not scorching hot, as if you were next to a comfortable heater. The doctor would feel quite comfortable.

However, if anything was wrong with the patient's health, then the doctor would experience an indescribable discomfort. Sometimes, the doctor would even feel a strong sense of rejection. Even if the doctor was a professional who treated such diseases every day, there were still some diseases that would cause the human body to feel a strong sensation of rejection. Perhaps this was a genetic fear of danger.

Zhang Fan slowly twisted his finger and constantly touched the places within his reach. The patient was bent over and couldn't see Zhang Fan's expression, but the assistant Wang Zipeng was standing right next to him. When Wang Zipeng saw that Zhang Fan was frowning, he immediately understood that there was a major problem.

'This is really troublesome!' thought Zhang Fan to himself as this patient was Chen Yan's cousin. Zhang Fan had touched something hard and bumpy inside the intestine.

A normal healthy person's intestine would feel soft and smooth, just like silk. Even when touching the rectal venous plexus, that would still be a comfortable sensation. However, this foreign object would be quite different.

The worst reaction would be from various tumors. Malignant tumors would feel as if they were actively trying to attack your finger when you came into contact with them.

Zhang Fan slowly withdrew his finger after having finished the digital rectal examination. He looked at his finger and saw that there were traces of blood and pus. Zhang Fan didn't allow his expression or tone to show anything as he told Chen Yun, "Okay, the examination is now over. Look at how nervous you are. You're already such a strong adult. You can get up now and put on your pants."

After that, Zhang Fan took off his gloves, washed his hands, and then sat down as he told Wang Zipeng, "Order a colonoscopy for this patient. Tell them that it's extremely urgent."

Chen Yun finished putting on his pants and came over at this time, so he heard what Zhang Fan just said. Zhang Fan thus explained by saying, "Since you're Chen Yan's cousin, we're helping you to get the checkup before everyone else so you don't have to wait in line. Think of it as a benefit of being related to someone at the hospital."

"Haha, thank you! Thanks, Director Zhang! Um, let me go to the restroom first before doing that whatever following examination. I really want to go again. Sigh!" Chen Yun was quite polite with Zhang Fan.

"Okay, go ahead!"

After the patient left, Zhang Fan ordered Wang Zipeng, "Check to make sure that he really did leave."

When Wang Zipeng exited to follow after the patient, Zhang Fan immediately took out his cell phone and called Chen Yan. "Chen Yan, are you busy right now? If not, you should come over right now."

Since Zhang Fan and Chen Yan had a good relationship, he had to explain things clearly to her. Chen Yan's heart instantly skipped a beat when she heard this. As she was also in the medical field, she knew that it definitely wouldn't be good news for Zhang Fan to ask her to come over right now. He wouldn't have even called for any normal medical problem. If it was a slightly more serious medical problem, he would have explained over the phone. But, simply asking her to come over without explaining anything at all on the phone meant that there was an extremely serious problem1.

Those in the Chinese medical field would know this quite well. Chen Yan almost burst into tears as she thought of this. 'I really hope that my cousin doesn't have the worst possible scenario!' Tears couldn't help but start falling out of her eyes at this. Her cousin's cute son was only a few years old! This wasn't that she was scaring herself. It was because of her understanding of the Chinese medical field as well as Zhang Fan.

The cardiology head nurse saw that Chen Yan started crying right after receiving a phone call. The head nurse hurriedly asked, "What's the matter?"

"My cousin was feeling unwell, so I asked Zhang Fan to give him an examination. But now, Zhang Fan is asking me to come over so he can tell me something."

The head nurse would have been able to reassure Chen Yan if this had been any other young doctor who called her over instead. The head nurse would have said, "Have another veteran doctor check things again. Maybe it's nothing at all." But since Zhang Fan had performed the examination, there was nothing the cardiology head nurse could say, as Zhang Fan was already commonly known to have top-level medical skills in the hospital.

"What exactly did Doctor Zhang tell you?" This was all that the head nurse could say.

"He asked if I was busy or not, and that I should come over immediately if I'm not busy." Chen Yan covered her mouth, but tears kept dripping down from her face.

"Why cry? Will crying be of any use? Come with me, I'll accompany you. If I find out that this brat Zhang Fan was just trying to scare you, just watch what I'll do to him. Let's go." The head nurse was just like a mother hen who protected Chen Yan as they went over to Zhang Fan's proctology department section in outpatient services together.

This was the plight of those who worked in the medical field. They would be the first to know if their relatives came down with a serious disease. They would also feel the most pressure as they understood how serious things were, while the family member might not know. They would have to make almost all of the important decisions, thus placing all the pressure solely on them.

No matter if this was fair or not, this was simply how the Chinese medical field was!