Free Web NovelChapter 560: Chapter 256: Treating Deafness—The Rascal Encounters a Violent Mom (Part 3)
Li Jingsheng measured the young man’s forehead temperature, 36.5 degrees, normal.
Then he reached out to feel the lump on the young man’s cheek, it was relatively soft, unlike a malignant tumor.
"Open your mouth, let me see."
Using a flashlight, he examined the left cheek area, which was obviously swollen and red.
No pus was present.
"How long has this lump been here?"
"About a month or so! At first, it hurt a bit, I thought it was just inflammation and ignored it. Later, a lump grew gradually and it didn’t go away for a long time, so I told my mom."
"You should have told me right away."
His mother started yelling at him again.
Educating children by frequently shouting angrily and threatening menacingly is really not good at all.
This only scares the child, making him less likely to talk about things next time.
Li Jingsheng examined him carefully again.
"Let’s get an X-ray to take a look first! If the problem isn’t too serious, you can choose to have surgery here or at another hospital."
When it came time to pay the examination fee, the father who hadn’t said a word settled the bill.
After an ultrasound was done, the tumor’s boundaries were clear and the diameter was relatively large.
Li Jingsheng felt confident he could complete this surgery.
It depends on whether the family and the patient agree.
"You’ll need surgery to remove this lump, the cost will be around two thousand. If you have the surgery at our clinic, you won’t need to be hospitalized, but you must follow the doctor’s advice."
It’s not considered major surgery.
It can be directly completed at the outpatient department.
If you go to a hospital that lacks inpatients, they might have the patient stay for surgery.
A major hospital would definitely do it directly in outpatient surgery.
"Is it really that expensive? I need to ask my mom for money. Doctor, is this oral cancer?"
The young man only asked this once inside the medical lab.
In front of his parents, he acted completely fearless.
As if he didn’t care about his health at all.
"It’s hard to say for sure right now, after the surgery, we’ll do a pathological biopsy and inform you once the results come out. You can also come to our clinic on the third day after the surgery to collect the biopsy results."
Li Jingsheng brought more business to the second hospital.
Pre-surgery biochemical tests can’t be done at his clinic for the time being.
Because it’s outpatient surgery, it’s not necessary to have a blood count.
They can only perform some small operations.
If he encounters patients needing surgery with high risk, he assesses whether pre-surgery checks are necessary and can opt to work with the community health station.
It’s nearby.
Just take the patient’s blood sample there.
"Since you’re worried it’s oral cancer, why are you still chewing betel nut?"
Li Jingsheng asked him.
"Betel nut and smoking, limitless power. In the streets, if you don’t offer cigarettes and betel nuts to people, who would pay attention to you? I didn’t like smoking or chewing betel nuts at first, but eventually, I got used to it. Now, I feel uncomfortable all over without chewing betel nut, like something is missing."
The young man was quite frank.
Li Jingsheng nodded, "Go discuss it with your parents and see what they think. Your lump is continuing to grow, so it’s best to operate soon. If it’s malignant and spreads to the lymph nodes or other organs, it will be difficult to clean it out."
He’s not trying to scare the young man.
The cheek and neck are adjacent.
Below the cheek there are densely packed lymph nodes, without timely surgery, metastasis is very likely.
"That person is not my father! He’s my stepfather!"
The young man remarked.
"Regardless, he’s still your elder. Go have a good discussion with them! I just saw it was your stepfather who paid for your examination fee."
Li Jingsheng finally understood why the young man’s father was silent.
Being a stepfather is tough!
Look at the young man’s attitude towards him.
He simply doesn’t acknowledge this father.
After the young man left, he went to discuss with his mother.
His stepfather sat in the waiting area at a distance, not daring to approach.
Li Jingsheng continued to treat other patients.
Over an hour later, the young man’s mom came over, "Doctor, we’re still a bit short for the surgery fee, can you wait until next month’s salary arrives to pay?" she asked humbly and smiled pleadingly.
"I’m afraid that won’t work, our clinic has its rules."
The clinic is different from other industries.
Offering credit is not possible.
Because before treatment patients might be grateful, but after healing, some uphold their promises and pay back owed fees, while most will ’forget’ it.
Some even retaliate, saying the clinic made them worse, with new issues after surgery.
That’s why hospitals rarely allow credit for patients now.
Some patients, who either don’t carry cash or can’t gather enough money, yet need urgent treatment. Out of goodwill, the hospital lets them have credit, but after intense efforts to rescue, the patient didn’t survive and died.
Such debts are hard to collect.
Even without hospital proof preventing them from retrieving the body, it can’t be collected.
Moreover, legally, hospitals can’t withhold the body to demand owed medical fees.
If Li Jingsheng’s clinic encounters patients urgently needing rescue, they can provide support, but won’t agree to owe surgery fees.
The clinic was founded to make money, not charity.
He’s not capable of doing charity work.
At most he can help those needing aid within his means.
"Does this surgery have to be done now?"
"Given the lump keeps enlarging and affects eating, sooner surgery is definitely better. Honestly, if it’s malignant and delays lead to spreading, it’ll be regrettable, wouldn’t it? Two thousand isn’t much compared to a life, it’s surely worth considering. Think it through again."
Li Jingsheng believes as long as the family isn’t bankrupt in terms of credit, they should be able to gather two thousand from relatives and friends.
If relatives and friends won’t even lend two thousand, Li Jingsheng is even less inclined to allow credit.
It reflects the family’s poor credibility.
"I’ll cover this cost, do the surgery!"
The young man’s stepfather had been silently listening beside them.
This was the first thing he said since being there.
Simple and direct.
He’s paying the surgery fee alone.
In such remarried families, since they are partial couples, the money earned is usually managed separately.
The male may bear a bit more in daily expenses.
"Why not bring out the money earlier, stingy!"
The young man muttered.
"Shut up! Is that how you talk to your father? Say that again and I’ll smack you hard."
The woman scolded her son, then turned to the man.
"Old Liu, this money I’ll count as borrowed from you, it’ll be paid back once I get my salary."
"No need."
The man seemed to not be good with words.
He directly pulled out a plastic bag from his clothes pocket and counted two thousand yuan from it.
"Here!"
He handed it to Li Jingsheng’s treatment desk.
This money was the man’s hard-earned savings, brought out for the young man’s surgery without much hesitation.
Li Jingsheng looked at the young man, noticing he still had a disdainful expression mixed with some dissatisfaction.
Sometimes, human emotions are really too complex.
The man clearly invested so much into this son with no blood relation, yet the young man wouldn’t recognize it.
Raising another’s child, it’s emotionally draining and physically exhausting.
To earn their acknowledgment, it’s truly challenging.
