Chapter 144: Chapter 118: If Only One Breast Cancer Patient Could Be Cured

“Impossible!”

“Clinically, there’s no breast cancer patient who can survive for over ten years without surgery.”

“Your statement is completely unsupported by data, I don’t buy it.”

Hu Yaoyuan didn’t understand what abdominal disease or organ disease was. He only knew that breast cancer patients who didn’t undergo surgery generally had very low survival periods, usually only two to five years. Surviving for more than ten years was impossible.

“Heh, everyone has different understandings of diseases. It’s normal to have disagreements. I’m just offering my perspective, whether you accept it or not is irrelevant,” said Lu Jiu.

Lu Jiu hadn’t intended to persuade Hu Yaoyuan; he just disliked the proud look on Hu’s face when he mentioned that one-third of breast cancer patients had a 100% five-year survival rate after surgery.

In Lu Jiu’s view, those who didn’t undergo surgery only suffered from abdominal diseases, which weren’t fatal in the short term and were entirely treatable. However, after surgery, the disease would metastasize to an organ disease in five years, leading to either death or imminent death.

Claiming the survival time that originally belonged to the patients as his own achievement—Lu Jiu hadn’t lashed out verbally only because he had a good temper.

“Alright, get up and move around a bit, see if your back still hurts.” Lu Jiu withdrew the needle.

Hu Yaoyuan’s mind was still engrossed in the argument about breast cancer with Lu Jiu. At this prompt, he instantly felt his lower back.

He slowly got up, twisted left and then right—hey, the pain was entirely gone!

Strange, when he went to see Ji Yuanning before, he also had acupuncture on his feet, yet the pain only eased instead of fully disappearing. Why did the same treatment technique work so swiftly with Lu Jiu?

Seeing Hu Yaoyuan just twisting his waist without saying anything, Lu Jiu didn’t wait for his response before walking over to the medicine cabinet to get his medication.

A few minutes later, the medicine was ready. After handing it to Hu Yaoyuan, Lu Jiu advised, “Your back pain is only temporarily gone. You can move moderately after returning home, but avoid vigorous activities. Take this medicine for three days and come back for a check-up.”

Hu Yaoyuan took the medicine and felt a bit awkward for a moment. He was somewhat agitated earlier, which made his words seem a bit harsh. Even though he believed he hadn’t been impolite, it still felt like he hadn’t given Lu Jiu much respect.

“Dr. Lu, earlier, I’m sorry, I…”

Lu Jiu interrupted, “There’s nothing to apologize for. Aren’t we just exchanging medical knowledge?”

Upon hearing this, Hu Yaoyuan let out a relieved smile, “Right, purely exchanging medical knowledge, no other intentions, hahaha. I’ll be off now, Dr. Lu.”

Lu Jiu chuckled, “Before you go, you still have to scan to pay, Dr. Hu.”

Hu Yaoyuan slapped his forehead, “Look at my memory, pay, pay…”

Saying this, Hu Yaoyuan took out his phone, scanned the code, and paid over ninety yuan before leaving the clinic.

But on his way home, he kept thinking about the conversation with Lu Jiu and Feng Yuan’s change.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.

For breast cancer patients, is surgery right or wrong?

This question is a bit too big; he couldn’t possibly answer it given his current professional level.

But it was clear to Hu Yaoyuan that Lu Jiu believed surgery was wrong.

If Lu Jiu had a point, what was his basis for saying it?

Hu Yaoyuan felt that Lu Jiu wouldn’t just make things up. As someone not motivated by money, Lu Jiu clearly placed more importance on medicine than anything else, so he was unlikely to spout nonsense in his field of pride.

To find the answer, there was only one way.

Let Lu Jiu cure a breast cancer patient!

Only then could Hu Yaoyuan be convinced of Lu Jiu’s words.

However, the breast cancer patient couldn’t be in the mid-to-late stages with metastasis, which would be too unfair. Only finding an early-stage breast cancer patient would be relatively fair.

This had to be done quietly, because if Lu Jiu failed to cure the patient, his previous boasts would backfire. Hu Yaoyuan couldn’t publicly expose Lu Jiu’s shortcoming just because he failed to cure cancer—it would be too unethical.

But if Lu Jiu succeeded, it would be even more extraordinary. Currently, our country sees four to five hundred thousand new breast cancer cases every year. If what Lu Jiu said was true, then one-third of those patients are undergoing unnecessary surgeries.

If this got out, it would likely cause an extremely negative impact on the hospital’s image and mislead other breast cancer patients.

Because two-thirds of the patients still needed surgery. Even if traditional Chinese medicine could help, how many skilled traditional Chinese medicine practitioners do we have nationwide? Could they handle such a massive medical market?

They couldn’t handle it, lacking the capacity, understand?

So, ultimately, we still have to rely on the hospitals.

Back home, Hu Yaoyuan began boiling the medicine. During this time, he took out his phone and dialed a number.

“Hello, Song, have you guys in the breast surgery department gotten any new breast cancer patients recently?”

“Huh? Hu, why are you asking?”

“Just tell me if there are any.”

“Yes, there are two. One’s a 27-year-old who was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer about six days ago and is still in the in-patient department. The other is 51, also early-stage, diagnosed two weeks ago, currently undergoing treatment.”

“Check with the families of these two, see if they’re willing to try traditional Chinese medicine. If they’re open to it, recommend Lu’s Clinic on Garden Street to them. If not, forget about it.”

“Hey, Hu, what do you mean by that? You want my patients to go see a TCM doctor? Are you crazy? If something goes wrong with the herbs they take, who takes the blame? You or me? We’re good friends, but you can’t set me up like this.”

“Who’s setting you up? I’m just asking you to talk to the patients’ families, aren’t I? If they’re willing, let them try it; if not, don’t bother. Besides, the TCM doctor I’m recommending is absolutely reliable, really.”

“You mean Lu Jiu, right? The well-known TCM internet celebrity in Jianghan. Who doesn’t know about him?”

“Why do you sound so skeptical when you talk about it?”

“Ha, just a young guy fooling people who don’t know about medicine. What real skills can someone in their twenties have? I think you’ve just watched too many of those videos and got enchanted into believing him.”

“Song, personal attacks are not fair. Am I that brainless to make such a promise without evidence?”

“Who knows what’s gotten into you.”

“Damn it… to tell you the truth, a friend’s brother-in-law had gallstones that are almost cured by Lu Jiu. Director Feng from our hospital’s Gastroenterology Department, you know, has rheumatoid arthritis, and his hands have deformed. He also went to see Lu Jiu and immediately said he wanted to learn TCM. If Lu’s just conning people, could he even fool Director Feng too?”

“Really? Don’t just make up stories to fool me.”

“Who makes up stories with real names?”

“…Even if you’re right, I still can’t do this. These are my patients, and I have to be responsible for them. No matter how good friends we are, I can’t compromise on this. That’s it, hanging up!”

Sigh, looks like there’s no way.

Hu Yaoyuan hung up the phone.

He didn’t blame Song Zhao. As a doctor, it’s against medical ethics to blindly hand over your patients to another doctor without knowing their capabilities.

Any doctor with a sense of responsibility wouldn’t do that. It just shows that Hu Yaoyuan was too impatient himself.

…

Jianghan City People’s Hospital, In-patient Department, 11th floor, Room 1109 of the Breast Surgery Department.

“Yuanyuan, Uncle Wu said that the TCM doctor named Lu on Garden Street is amazing. He cured his varicose veins within days. Some even say he cured someone with breast cancer. How about we give him a try?” Zhang Jiaoxia said, holding Xu Yuanyuan’s hand with eyes full of concern.

“Mom, could it be fake? I’ve never heard of TCM curing cancer,” said Xu Yuanyuan’s husband, Peng Hui.

“It shouldn’t be fake. There’s a few elderly down in our building who’ve been to that TCM doctor, and they say he’s quite good. We can try, and if it doesn’t work, we can come back to the hospital. It shouldn’t cause any delay,” said Zhang Jiaoxia.

“Yeah, mom, let’s go today,” Xu Yuanyuan really didn’t want to stay in the hospital, especially knowing that after a few days of observation, she’d have to opt for surgery, followed by chemotherapy and radiation. That would mean not only losing parts of her breast but likely losing her hair too. As a woman, she was really resistant to becoming ugly. So, upon hearing about the possibility of trying TCM, Xu Yuanyuan instinctively decided to accept it.

“Yuanyuan, mom, if TCM doesn’t work, we absolutely can’t have the mentality of taking chances. Otherwise, if it delays the best time for surgery, I just…” Peng Hui respected Xu Yuanyuan’s choice, but if the day for surgery really came, for Xu Yuanyuan’s health, Peng Hui would not compromise.

“Okay husband, I know. If there’s really no other way, I won’t be stubborn,” Xu Yuanyuan smiled gently.

Before long, Peng Hui called Song Zhao. After explaining the situation and hoping Song Zhao would approve their discharge to try TCM, Song Zhao almost thought Hu Yaoyuan was pulling strings behind the scenes.

But after considering, he knew it was impossible. Before today, Hu Yaoyuan hadn’t even known them, so how could he suggest they see that Lu TCM doctor?

It was truly a coincidence.

Since the patients themselves brought it up, as their attending doctor, he couldn’t force them to stay.

“Since you’re determined to see a TCM doctor, I’ll be blunt. Currently, no TCM doctor nationwide claims to cure breast cancer. Jianghan City is just a small place. If there were an incredible TCM doctor, they wouldn’t be young.”

“If you go to Jinling or Shangjing and see the old TCM doctors there, I’d be all for it. But here, let me be frank; if there were good TCM doctors, they’d have left long ago. Who would stay in small towns for a meager income? The ones who stay are the ones who couldn’t leave. Understand what I mean?”

“So, if you want to try for comfort, go ahead, but don’t expect too much. If you feel it doesn’t help, return to the hospital promptly. Otherwise, if something goes wrong, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Song Zhao’s words were heartfelt.

Zhang Jiaoxia and the others thanked him repeatedly. After getting approval to discharge, the three decided to head to Lu’s Clinic to try with Lu Jiu the next morning.

…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep