The Enhanced Doctor
Chapter 36 - 036 Hypothalamic hamartoma

Chapter 36: 036 Hypothalamic hamartoma

The once harmonious and happy atmosphere grew silent after Liu Banxia spoke. Only the sound of Uncle Jiang’s son-in-law stir-frying in the kitchen could be heard.

It was a simple truth they all understood. They knew Liu Banxia wouldn’t show up and curse their baby without reason. It wasn’t that they didn’t believe Liu Banxia; rather, they were unwilling to believe he was right. After all, he was a doctor.

"Oh, we have guests," Uncle Jiang’s son-in-law remarked, emerging from the kitchen with a platter of fish after a moment of silence.

"Doctor Liu said there might be something wrong with our first child, that he’s smiling too early for a normal baby," Uncle Jiang’s daughter said anxiously.

Uncle Jiang’s son-in-law froze, nearly dropping the fish he held.

"Don’t worry just yet. You have a car, right? Go directly to our hospital for a check-up. I’ll contact them right now," Liu Banxia said.

"Yes, yes, let’s go now. Going will ease our minds," Uncle Jiang hurriedly replied.

The baby was the apple of the Jiang family’s eye. For them, even hearing Liu Banxia say this much was a huge blow.

On the way, Uncle Jiang’s son-in-law nearly honked the car horn to pieces. Liu Banxia wanted to gently remind him, but considering their emotional state, he didn’t dare say a word.

This time was different from Wang Mingxing’s case. His diagnosis wasn’t based on mere speculation, but on the knowledge he had acquired through study. However, to pinpoint the exact issue, they still had to rely on medical imaging.

"Shoutian, I’ve already informed the radiology department. You can go straight there. Shi Lei has already prepared the order; just go pay the fee," Zhou Li said, greeting him as he walked into the waiting hall.

"Thanks, Sister Li. I’ll take them there right away," Liu Banxia said, not standing on ceremony.

"Liu, thank you." Even in their panic, Uncle Jiang was immensely grateful to Liu Banxia for arranging things at the hospital with just one phone call.

"Uncle, let’s skip the formalities for now. Come with me. Let your son-in-law handle the paperwork here," Liu Banxia suggested.

"Wait a minute! Don’t wander around the hospital carrying all that stuff," Shi Lei called out, stepping out of Treatment Room One.

Only then did Liu Banxia realize he was still carrying the pig’s head meat and chicken legs he had bought. He had been so worried about the baby that he’d completely forgotten about them.

As the saying goes, "Having connections makes things easier." This held true no matter where one was.

Although Liu Banxia was only a trainee doctor, he was still considered one of their own. This allowed them to bypass many bureaucratic hurdles and save a lot of time.

Liu Banxia also leveraged this convenience, directly entering the imaging room—an area normally off-limits to outsiders.

"Liu, are you sure about doing an MRI on such a young baby? I know it’s not like an X-ray, but the baby is just too young," the radiology diagnostician, Wu Bo, asked.

"Brother Wu, I have no other choice. He’s only three months old, look how happy he is. Is that normal?" Liu Banxia said with a wry smile.

Wu Bo glanced outside and nodded. Liu Banxia’s comment had made him notice the issue as well.

Young babies tend to move a lot, which made the scanning process quite laborious. Looking at the images forming on the monitor, Liu Banxia sighed internally, even before Wu Bo gave his diagnosis.

DING! The ’Smiling Baby’ mission is complete.

Received: 300 Experience Points, 500 Diagnostic Skill Proficiency Points.

Congratulations, Host, for reaching Level 18 (19,628/21,280 EXP). Received: 1 Attribute Point, 5 Glory Points.

"Shoutian, it looks like a hypothalamic hamartoma. You’d better contact Director Xiao from Neurosurgery. For a baby this small, only he can perform this surgery," Wu Bo said.

"Brother Wu, you’re very experienced. Is there any chance of treatment with medication?" Liu Banxia asked.

Wu Bo shook his head. "Right now, surgical intervention seems to be the only option. It’s just that the baby is too young."

"Sigh... Thanks, Brother Wu. I’ll have to think about how to talk to Director Xiao. His surgical schedule is pretty full, isn’t it?" Liu Banxia asked with a wry smile.

"That’s for sure. Among our hospital’s directors, only Old Qin has a relatively light surgical schedule. When are the others ever free?" Wu Bo nodded.

Liu Banxia felt a headache coming on. He didn’t exactly have sway with the director of Neurosurgery. Especially for such a young baby, this was going to be difficult.

"Liu, how is it?" Uncle Jiang’s family, who had been waiting outside, surrounded him as soon as he came out.

"Everyone, please try not to worry. I’m not from this department, so I can’t really tell. The baby will be brought out soon. I’ll contact some other people then," Liu Banxia lied.

If it were an adult, he wouldn’t feel this psychological burden. But this was a three-month-old baby, one who barely knew anything of the world yet.

After some thought, he took out his phone and dialed Xu Dan.

"Doctor Liu, what’s up?" After a few rings, Xu Dan’s drowsy voice came through; she was clearly still asleep.

"Dandan, I need to trouble you with something. Isn’t your uncle in Neurosurgery? My neighbor’s three-month-old baby has a hypothalamic hamartoma. Do you think you could ask him to help get in touch with Director Xiao?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Ugh... wait a sec," Xu Dan mumbled, still half-asleep, and then hung up.

After a full five minutes, Xu Dan sent him a WeChat message: "All set. Just go directly. I’m going back to sleep."

Liu Banxia let out a long breath. At the very least, he’d have to thank Xu Dan’s uncle once she started her shift.

He glanced at the anxious family. There was no way around it; this was something they simply had to face. After waiting another ten minutes or so, the scans and report were ready. He then led the family directly to Building 3, the inpatient department, where Director Xiao’s office was located.

Seeing the nameplate on the door Liu Banxia knocked on, the Jiang family already understood the outcome. After all this time, it had dawned on them. It wasn’t that Liu couldn’t understand the report; he just hadn’t dared to say it.

"Come in," a deep voice sounded from the office.

Liu Banxia gently pushed the door open. "Director Xiao, hello. I’m Liu Banxia, a resident in General Surgery. The patient is a three-month-old baby, possibly with a hypothalamic hamartoma. Could you please take a look?"

Xiao Zhaoqiu glanced at him, nodded, and took the scans.

After examining them for a moment, Xiao Zhaoqiu put down the scans. "Judging from the images and the child’s presentation, there’s severe compression of the hypothalamus. However, the child is too young, and the surgical risks are extremely high.

"The hypothalamus is the advanced neural center that regulates visceral and endocrine activities. Post-operatively, there’s a high likelihood of sequelae affecting feeding, drinking, emotions, thermoregulation, and so on.

"However, a successful surgery will significantly benefit the child’s future life. With conditions like this, the earlier the intervention, the better the prognosis. If left to develop, it might compress other brain tissues. Once adhesions form, removal becomes even more challenging.

"The human brain is incredibly complex. Any intervention we perform might have repercussions. That’s the situation. You should consider it carefully. Once you’ve reached a decision, you can contact Liu."

Hearing Xiao Zhaoqiu’s words, Liu Banxia was momentarily stunned. Was Director Xiao being a bit too detached?