Anjiang County is very small; it takes only about ten minutes by car from Lu’s Clinic to the County Hospital.

As he got out of the car, Lu Xuan thanked the driver and hurried anxiously towards the Nephrology Department of the County Hospital.

Chronic kidney failure, a condition that could be serious or not serious.

However, from Zhang Guangli’s words, he caught that the patient’s condition was already quite serious. In this situation, every minute of delay could mean an extra minute of danger.

The best Lu Xuan could do was to arrive as early as possible, even if it was only a minute earlier.

In medical situations, sometimes arriving just a minute earlier could make a difference in outcome.

A life that might have been lost could possibly be saved by that one extra minute.

He arrived at the meeting room where he had agreed to meet with Zhang Guangli. The meeting room door was closed; Lu Xuan stepped forward and knocked on the door, and a voice quickly came from inside: "Who is it?"

It wasn’t Zhang Guangli, it should be another doctor from the County Hospital.

As soon as the voice came out, not long after, the closed door was opened.

Lv Xuming opened the door and, seeing the young man standing at the door, furrowed his brow, "Hello, who are you looking for?"

"Is Dean Zhang Guangli here?" Lu Xuan asked.

Upon hearing that it was Zhang Guangli he was looking for, Lv Xuming was startled but quickly thought of something and looked at Lu Xuan with a surprised expression: "Are you Dr. Lu, Lu Xuan?"

"Yes."

Lu Xuan nodded, responded, "And you are?"

Lv Xuming quickly shook Lu Xuan’s hand and introduced himself with a smile, "My name is Lv Xuming, Director of the Nephrology Department at the County Hospital, and this is Dean Zhang Guangli."

"Director Lv, Dean Zhang."

Lu Xuan greeted them and then went straight to the point, "What is the patient’s current condition?"

Looking at Lu Xuan’s young face, which was almost unimaginable, Zhang Guangli was momentarily taken aback. Although he had known from the voice that Lu Xuan was young, probably only in his twenties, seeing him in person was still startling.

But he knew this wasn’t the time to be surprised by Lu Xuan’s age. Faced with Lu Xuan’s inquiry, he turned to look at Lv Xuming, "Director Lv, you know more about the patient’s condition, you tell him."

Lv Xuming nodded and, after a pause, explained, "The patient, Li Dali, male, 65 years old, visited due to ’whole body edema recurring for a year, worsening in one week.’ Symptoms: whole body edema, fatigue, weakness, loss of appetite, aversion to cold, cold limbs, lower back pain, abdominal distention, and oliguria."

Hearing this, Lu Xuan’s expression changed; whole body edema indicated that the patient’s kidney function was nearly gone. In such a situation, it was uncertain how long the patient could survive.

Plus, the chain reactions that kidney failure might cause posed constant life-threatening risks to the patient.

Even the news of the patient’s death the next moment wouldn’t surprise Lu Xuan.

The most crucial part was that the patient had suffered from recurring whole body edema for nearly a year, during which too many accidents could have happened.

Having yet to meet the patient, Lu Xuan felt a heaviness in his heart.

This patient named Li Dali was in a very bad condition.

Even he wasn’t confident enough to say he could pull him back from the brink of death.

However, Lu Xuan didn’t become anxious because of the patient’s critical condition; instead, he continued listening to Lv Xuming describe the patient’s other conditions.

Only by thoroughly understanding the patient’s physical condition can he intervene in a better way.

Western medical examination indicators also play a supplementary role in traditional Chinese medicine diagnosis and treatment.

It’s akin to pulse-taking and tongue diagnosis.

The difference is that Western medicine generally doesn’t understand pulse-taking and tongue coating, whereas traditional Chinese medicine practitioners can usually understand some Western medical examination indicators.

Lv Xuming continued explaining Li Dali’s condition: "Signs: Blood pressure: 120/80mmHg, 24-hour urine protein quantitative 4.2g, abdominal distention with evident ascites, and lower extremity edema.

The outside hospital diagnosed it as chronic nephritis and kidney failure. Regarding other aspects, Dean Zhang has also seen the patient and can discuss it with you, Dr. Lu."

"Pale, swollen tongue with a greasy white coating, deep and thin pulse." Dean Zhang Guangli from the County Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine added.

"I’ve specialized in nephrology, but Anjiang County’s Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine hasn’t treated patients with chronic kidney failure before; I lack experience in this area. Plus, given Li Dali’s serious condition, I wasn’t confident, so I consulted Mr. Huang Beishan, who had experience in this field and was half a mentor to me, and then through his referral, found you, Dr. Lu."

"Dr. Lu, given the patient’s current condition, our County Hospital has no better solution. We’re looking to see if you have a good plan. If not, we can only assist the patient in transferring to the provincial level; we will arrange for him to go to the provincial First Hospital or Second Hospital." Lv Xuming candidly expressed his thoughts.

He certainly couldn’t save Li Dali; the only hope was placed on Lu Xuan. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Though, given Lu Xuan’s youth, he couldn’t help but feel a bit doubtful.

Therefore, he spoke frankly.

And indeed, if not doable, the only option would be to transfer him to the provincial level.

The city could be bypassed; such severe patients might not even appear once a year in city hospitals. Their experience isn’t much better than that of Anjiang County.

No other way; superior medical resources are all concentrated in the provincial capital.

Not just medical resources, it’s the same in other aspects.