68 The insignificance of life (1/2)

There was a common phrase in the cardiovascular department: ”My old patient ——— won't be coming again.” People in the department who heard this would never ask where the patient had gone. At most, they would fall silent for a while before exclaiming, ”Yeah.”

This would sound strange to an outsider. Just what was all this? But, ”won't be coming again” actually meant that the patient had passed away, going to the world after death.

Although Ye Jing wasn't very proactive in her work, she still treated her patients quite well. She was the patient type who always wore a smile. She was also chatty, so she loved to ask the patients about their families. This made her popular with the patients who were almost all elderly.

Many of her patients would request her as their doctor again when they returned to the hospital. They would often chat with her when they were feeling better. It was common to see a large group of elderly men and women gathered around her.

Director Ren really disliked seeing such scenes. She didn't want doctors to have a relationship with the patients other than treatment. That could affect medical judgement. Ren Li was really similar to Ouyang Hong in this aspect: they were both serious and strict, and neither of them was chatty and smiling like Ye Jing.

However, Ye Jing said, ”My motivation to continue at this job is because of all the old men and women so happily chatting with me. If even that gets taken away from me, what meaning would there be left in being a doctor? That would feel so icy and inhuman.”

Basically, Ye Jing had a sense of accomplishment.

The patient rooms were incredibly full. Even the hallways were filled with hospital beds. The corridors were filled with patients and their family members. When it was time for the morning checkup on the patients, the corridors were so crowded that it was impossible to walk.

Director Ren Li was furious at the cardiovascular department's daily morning meeting. ”With so many patients' family members around, it's impossible to even get to a patient in time for emergency treatment if there's a medical situation. How are we supposed to even work normally? Head nurse, from today onwards, double the number of nurses on duty and increase the care given to the patients. Kick out all of the patients' family members from the treatment area. For the seriously ill patients, they're only allowed one family member's company.”

There truly was no helping things here. Chasu City Hospital was considered the best hospital in Chasu City, and everyone would rather be treated by the best hospital and doctors. Chasu City Hospital wasn't allowed to refuse any patients, and thus it became overcrowded.

Increasing the amount of care that the patient received would also result in a corresponding increase in their medical fees. This type of fee wouldn't be paid for by medical insurance. Those who had worse financial situation might thus choose to leave Chasu City Hospital for a smaller and cheaper hospital for their treatment.

Director Ren Li wasn't trying to be cruel. Things truly couldn't be helped. With so many people crowding the corridors, it would be really difficult to save a patient who needed emergency assistance. Even a single minute's delay might mean the difference between life and death in the cardiovascular department. That was why Ren Li could only raise prices.

Patient #3 was a long-term patient. He wasn't considered old among the patients, as he was still in his early fifties. However, he had a long list of medical problems, including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, pulmonary heart disease, chronic bronchitis, and diabetes, all chronic illnesses.

Patient #3 had been Ye Jing's patient for quite a long period of time. He had periodically started coming to Chasu City Hospital for checkups starting seven or eight years ago. He was also really chatty, so he loved chatting with Ye Jing. Due to his pulmonary heart disease, he had breathing difficulties, and often needed to rely on a breathing mask. But, as long as he had breath, he would always want to talk.

Some major snow started falling even though it was now the beginning of spring. The weather, which had been warming up, suddenly cooled down significantly. Patient #3's chronic illnesses all worsened because he caught a cold. He was now in the intensive care unit, and his family was notified that he was critically ill and at risk of passing away at any moment.

Patient #3 had always been so lively, but this time, he seemed to completely lack energy, and he no longer even wanted to talk. He had a gray complexion that seemed to reek of the aura of death. His wife had such a worried expression.

They had three children, two sons and one daughter. Their family's financial situation was in dire straits due to spending so much money on patient #3's medical fees over the past seven to eight years. Their younger son was in his thirties, and had finally found a girlfriend and was about to get married. The girlfriend had only one request: she wanted to have her own home to live in as she didn't want to live with in-laws.

Both children and parents in this family had often worried before about marriage prospects. The elderly parents were especially worried to the point where they lost much sleep over it. Finally, a girl appeared who was willing to get married to their younger son. However, she wanted a house! This made the elderly parents worry even more, which worsened patient #3's illnesses.

”Ma'am, your husband needs an albumin and globulin injection. His protein level is too low. Your husband is beginning to suffer from edema,” Ye Jing told patient #3's wife after analyzing patient #3's laboratory test results.

Albumin was the main protein maintaining the body's osmotic pressure and body nutrition, while globulin was a protein that helped the immune system. These two proteins would be critically important in any clinical setting.

These protein injections were also quite expensive—one injection would cost more than 700 yuan. Many injections would be necessary for long-term treatment, and how many were needed would depend on the patient's specific condition and recovery status. With patient #3's condition, he would need to use these injections for at least five to six consecutive days.

His wife's lips trembled as she said, ”I'll go call our children.”

”Hup! Hup!” Patient #3 spent a great deal of effort to wave his hand. He was having breathing difficulties. He meant that she shouldn't phone their children. However, he was already in such a severe condition. She didn't want to just watch him die on the hospital bed.