Chapter 136: Chapter 136: I’ve Just Seen a Lot

What Wang Chuan called his “grassroots approach” was simply to find a few more people to help convince that old hardhead, Lo Jun.

This was tantamount to staking his own reputation on Yan Feifan, and the department heads at the Affiliated Hospital were all extremely protective of their good names.

On the drive to the Affiliated Hospital, Wang Chuan mulled over who might be willing to believe in Yan Feifan.

’Qin Ying was a definite yes. What about Qee Sheng?’

’Mr. Liu should be fine too.’

’Chen Yu…’

When lunchtime arrived, Yan Feifan walked out of Qin Ying’s medical research office and saw that, aside from a handsome guy waiting for Yu Suye with a bouquet of flowers—a man clearly possessing both persistence and a thick skin—Ge Xianghui was also outside the door.

Yan Feifan couldn’t help but tease Yu Suye, “After all this time, I’m finally not alone. Someone’s waiting for me!”

Yu Suye laughed, her smile like a blossoming flower.

However, when she saw the handsome guy approaching with a dazed, lovesick expression, her face instantly hardened. She ignored him completely and strode briskly toward the stairs.

Seeing the young man chase after her with a fawning look on his face, Ge Xianghui asked in a low voice, “Does this happen often?”

Yan Feifan grunted in affirmation. “There are probably one or two more waiting at the entrance to the emergency hall, or pretending to bump into her by chance.”

“Mr. Ge, have you found a suitable patient?”

Ge Xianghui handed over the tablet in his hand and explained, “A four-and-a-half-year-old girl. Her condition is quite similar to Lele’s.”

Yan Feifan quickly scrolled through the young patient’s X-ray images and physical examination data on the tablet.

“Has she been admitted to the hospital already?”

Ge Xianghui shook his head. “Not yet. They just came in for a check-up. For cases like this, they usually complete the admission procedures the day before the surgery.”

Yan Feifan handed the tablet back to Ge Xianghui and said, “Have the little girl come back to the hospital tomorrow morning. I want to see her myself.”

“No problem!”

Ge Xianghui agreed, then extended an invitation. “Mr. Yan, it’s lunchtime. Let me treat you to a simple buffet at the Jinxiu Grand Hotel.”

Yan Feifan waved his hand dismissively. “Let’s just go to the cafeteria.”

“The round trip to Jinxiu will take half an hour. That only leaves half an hour to eat. It’s not worth it.”

Ge Xianghui chuckled. “Alright, the cafeteria it is for today.”

“We’ll go to Jinxiu tomorrow…”

The two of them ate in the first employee cafeteria, discussing their respective views on cleft lip repair surgery as they ate…

After lunch, Ge Xianghui, still eager to continue their discussion, pulled Yan Feifan to a small plaza to the left of the cafeteria.

They found a bench shaded by a tree and sat down to continue their conversation…

“Excuse me, could we sit here for a moment?”

Ge Xianghui, who had been engrossed in their discussion, was slightly annoyed at the sudden interruption. He looked up and saw a family of three.

The parents were a plainly dressed, middle-aged couple in their forties.

Their son looked to be sixteen or seventeen. He was quite tall, but thin and frail, with a somewhat underdeveloped appearance.

Judging from the father’s accent when he had spoken, they were likely from out of town and here to see a doctor.

Although Ge Xianghui was annoyed, he still shifted over toward Yan Feifan, making enough space for two more people to sit.

Just then, Yan Feifan glanced at the time and stood up. “It’s time for me to get to my shift in the emergency department.”

“Mr. Ge, let’s call it a day for now.”

Though Ge Xianghui was right in the middle of an engaging conversation, he could only stand up and agree, “Alright, we’ll stop here for now…”

“Thank you, thank you both!”

Seeing that Yan Feifan and Ge Xianghui had given up the bench, the father quickly thanked them twice and then called to his son.

“Xiaojie, you must be tired. Sit down and rest for a bit.”

At that moment, the mother also took out a tissue and was about to wipe the sweat from her son’s face.

The scene made Yan Feifan feel both distaste and a certain contempt.

’He’s already so old, yet his parents are still coddling him.’

The Youth seemed to sense Yan Feifan’s disdainful gaze. He raised his right hand to block his mother’s, saying impatiently, “Mom, I’ll do it myself…”

The Youth took the tissue and was about to wipe his forehead when it slipped from his grasp and fell.

This incident made Yan Feifan, who had already taken two steps away, turn back.

Yan Feifan noticed that besides being unable to hold the tissue steady, the Youth’s right hand was trembling slightly.

’Hand tremors, muscle weakness… those are classic signs of Parkinson’s disease.’

’But Parkinson’s is a disease of the elderly. The problem is, this is just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth.’

Yan Feifan found this interesting and turned back around again.

Ge Xianghui turned back with him.

“I’m a doctor. Are you here to have him seen?” Yan Feifan asked the middle-aged couple, pointing at the tall, thin youth who was about his own height.

The middle-aged father said warily, “We came here specifically for the Binhai University Affiliated Hospital. No matter how great the hospitals or experts you recommend are, we won’t go.”

“You don’t need to waste your time on us.”

Yan Feifan smiled. “I’m not a medical tout, I’m a doctor at the Affiliated Hospital. I just thought your son’s symptoms look a bit like Parkinson’s, which is interesting, so I wanted to take a look.”

He added, “Don’t worry, I’m just looking out of curiosity. I won’t charge you, and I won’t drag you off to do any tests.”

“You’re really not a tout? And you really won’t charge us?” The middle-aged father was still skeptical.

Ge Xianghui’s expression turned serious, and he said with displeasure, “What’s there to be suspicious about? He’s a famous young genius doctor here at our Affiliated Hospital.”

“Letting him take a look might just save you a lot of money!”

The middle-aged father exchanged a glance with his wife and said tentatively, “Doctor, in that case… please take a look!”

He added with emphasis, “We’re not going to pay.”

Seeing how cautious and defensive they were, Yan Feifan felt a bit uncomfortable but couldn’t bring himself to get angry.

’The chaos in the healthcare system has certainly scammed a lot of people.’

“I really won’t charge you. Just tell me about your son’s symptoms.”

At this, the wife took over. “About two years ago, my son noticed that his right hand was weaker than his left.”

“And his right hand has gotten thinner, too.”

“Later on, his right hand also started to tremble.”

“Now, the trembling has gotten worse and worse, and he can’t even hold a bowl steady.”

“We saw a doctor at the county hospital. They said it looked a lot like Parkinson’s, but that it probably wasn’t.”

“We sought treatment everywhere for several months with no results, so we had someone refer us here.”

Yan Feifan looked at the slight youth, who was about as tall as him, and said, “Hold out both of your hands.”

The Youth did as he was told, extending his hands flat with the palms facing up.

Yan Feifan looked and saw that the Youth’s right hand was noticeably thinner than his left. The space between his thumb and index finger was flat, and the muscles at the base of his thumb and little finger were especially gaunt.

He took the Youth’s hands in his own and instructed, “Squeeze my hands, both at the same time!”

The Youth complied.

Yan Feifan could feel that the strength in the Youth’s right hand wasn’t even a fifth of the strength in his left.

He palpated the Youth’s right hand and forearm, discovering severe atrophy in the thenar and hypothenar muscles of his right hand, as well as the ulnar-side muscles of his forearm.

A diagnosis began to form in Yan Feifan’s mind.

He let go of the Youth’s hands and instructed, “Walk two laps around this little plaza.”

Yan Feifan added with special emphasis, “Pay attention to how you swing your right arm. It has to be exactly the same as it was before.”

The Youth looked at his parents, and after getting a nod from them, he began to walk around the small plaza.

Perhaps because he was overthinking the swing of his right arm, his gait became unnatural, and he kept swinging the arm and leg on the same side forward at the same time.

Yan Feifan, however, wasn’t watching his arm swing. His eyes were fixed on the boy’s head and neck.

After just a few steps, he noticed that the Youth walked with his neck drawn in, maintaining a forward-bent posture.

“Alright, that’s enough!”

Yan Feifan called out to stop the Youth, then turned to his parents. “There’s a high probability that your son has Hirayama disease.”

He went on to explain, “Hirayama disease is also known as juvenile muscular atrophy of the distal upper extremity.”

Yan Feifan continued to explain, “This disease is related to the bad habit of maintaining a neck-flexed posture for long periods.”

“Flexing the neck can cause degeneration of the anterior horn motor cells in the cervical spinal cord, which are most sensitive to ischemia and hypoxia.”

“This is compounded by a disproportionate growth rate between the spinal cord and the dura mater, especially in adolescents during a rapid growth spurt…”

Seeing the middle-aged couple’s utterly confused expressions, Yan Feifan decided to stop explaining and said simply, “Tell the outpatient doctor that you have a high suspicion of Hirayama disease. He’ll be able to make a definitive diagnosis.”

The middle-aged father let out an “Oh,” then asked worriedly, “Doctor, this disease… is it treatable?”

Yan Feifan informed him, “It’s treatable.”

“It’s a benign, self-limiting motor neuron disease. The conservative treatment is to wear a cervical collar.”

“Surgery is also an option—an anterior cervical fusion with internal fixation, combined with physical therapy. The recovery speed would be faster that way.”

Yan Feifan then turned to the Youth, who had walked back over, and advised, “Spend less time looking down at your phone and computer. It will worsen your condition.”

After saying this, Yan Feifan turned and left without another word.

Ge Xianghui hurried to catch up.

“Mr. Yan, I just looked it up on my phone. Hirayama disease is an extremely rare adolescent disease.”

“You diagnosed it with just a few glances. My admiration for you is like a mighty river, endless and unceasing…”

Yan Feifan gave a small smile and said with false modesty, “It’s nothing, really. I just read a lot of books and research materials…”

P.S.

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