My Medical Skills Give Me Experience Points

Chapter 808: Chapter 324: Negligent Parents, This Isn’t Just a Cold (Part 3)

Sometimes, the doctor’s seemingly casual gestures are actually diagnosing the patient in secret.

“Uh… It started the morning before yesterday. I felt a bit dizzy, chilled, and then by evening, I felt even more unwell. It was akin to motion sickness, with a tightness in my chest. By dinner time, I felt worse, and ended up vomiting it all out. After vomiting, I felt somewhat better but had no appetite. I just wanted to lie in bed, and my grandma fed me at the bedside. I barely ate a few bites before throwing up again.”

The little girl was describing the course of her illness.

“Later, Grandma went to the pharmacy overnight to buy me cold medicine. After taking it, I lay in bed to sleep. In the middle of the night, I remembered my homework wasn’t finished yet and tried to get up to do it but couldn’t move at all. I felt a bit scared then, worried that I might die, and started crying. Later, Grandma came over and stayed by my bedside through the night…”

I’m really happy for this girl to have such a wonderful grandmother.

Much better compared to those gambling parents from earlier by a hundred times.

“You’re even better than her mother in caring for her!” Zhou Can complimented the old lady with a smile.

“Ah! There’s no other way. Her parents are always busy traveling all over the country. So, I take care of her since I’m retired now! But my granddaughter, since young, is especially sensible. She never makes us worry about her homework or studies. Whenever she finds something tasty at school or outside, she won’t eat it but instead saves it to bring home for me.”

The old lady beamed as she talked about her granddaughter.

Anyone with such a well-behaved child would reflect the old lady’s demeanor.

The little girl was so ill, yet she was still thinking about finishing her homework in the middle of the night.

It’s truly touching.

“Your granddaughter is truly the ideal child others wish for! I’m envious!” Zhou Can enjoyed communicating with the family.

He started measuring the girl’s temperature, blood pressure, respiratory rate, etc.

He also needed to listen for wheezing or other abnormal chest or abdominal sounds as patients breathed.

Some patients produce sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard while breathing, or there might be unusual sounds from the chest cavity.

These require attention.

To patients, a cold is just a minor illness. But in doctors’ eyes, a cold is just the name of a complex syndrome; many colds are as dangerous as major diseases like cancer or leukemia.

The flu claims over ninety thousand lives annually, just in our country.

For 1.4 billion people, ninety thousand might be negligible.

But to any one family, the death of ninety thousand to flu represents an unbearable tragedy for ninety thousand families.

Especially the death of children; it’s almost catastrophic for families.

Zhou Can noticed the patient’s temperature at 38.7 degrees, indicating a fever. It falls into the moderate fever category.

Medically, fevers are usually classified into four levels. Low fevers range from 37.1-38 degrees, moderate fevers are 38.1-39 degrees, high fevers range primarily from 39.1-41 degrees, and if it exceeds 41 degrees, it’s considered extremely high.

As long as someone has a high fever, steps must be taken to protect the head, commonly using physical cooling methods.

It’s mainly to prevent brain damage.

Many parents, out of carelessness or underestimating a child’s fever, fail to take effective action even when the fever exceeds 41 degrees. Some parents think it’s fine to delay taking their child to the doctor until the next day.

These are extremely dangerous behaviors.

Some children, due to a cold-induced fever, turn from bright and active to mentally impaired.

It’s really too regrettable.

Experienced parents commonly place a wet towel on the child’s forehead for cooling. This is one of the effective methods in physical cooling.

But remember to replace the towel after a while.

Because if used too long, even a wet towel will be heated to a certain temperature by body heat, greatly reducing its cooling effect.

The safest approach is to take the child to the hospital, where professional doctors and nurses can handle it.

This little girl shows multiple symptoms like fever, vomiting, chills, dizziness, and fatigue, which are very similar to a cold. However, the cold medicine didn’t help, so she came to the hospital for treatment.

Zhou Can realized that while the patient’s symptoms seem similar to a cold, it probably isn’t a cold.

The grandma’s eyes were slightly swollen, like they had been crying from worry.

Presumably, seeing her granddaughter that ill made her too worried, and she cried secretly until her eyes became puffy.