Chapter 368: Medicine is helpless, is there any hope for terminal illness?

Xu Qiu did not notice these details and continued, "How should the follow-up treatment be done?"

For patients with near-terminal illnesses, there are two common methods.

One is palliative care.

Also known as hospice care.

That is, in the last stage of life, the quality of life of patients should be improved as much as possible, so that they can leave with dignity, comfort and peace.

This is a common solution in cadre wards.

After all, as long as the patient lying in the ICU is still breathing and has not died medically, he can get free medical treatment, and his family can also receive an extra pension.

The second method is more common in ordinary families.

To put it simply, it is to prescribe some medicine and take the patient home to take care of him. Whether he is dead or alive, whether he is good or bad, it all depends on those few pills.

If Fan Fuguo's financial situation is not good, he can only choose the second method.

However, judging from the children outside the meeting room before, they all dressed very luxuriously, and the watches they wore were Rolex, so there should be no big problem in terms of money.

The key is that except for the youngest daughter, no one else seems to be willing to spend more money.

However, this is a difficult problem left to the family members.

As a doctor, Xu Qiu has done his best. As for the decision-making power after the diagnosis, it is time to return it to the family.

"After a few days, when the treatment effect fades, the measles virus test is positive, and the final diagnosis can be made."

Although subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is imminent, Xu Qiu still wants to speak with absolute evidence.

...

A few days later, the serum and cerebrospinal fluid were tested again, and extremely high titers of measles virus IgG antibodies were indeed found.

At this point, Fan Fuguo's diagnosis was settled.

The moment the results came out, the doctors of Linhai First Hospital felt sorry.

It took so much time and such a tortuous course of illness, but in the end it still couldn't be saved...

However, more shocking.

Fan Fuguo did have measles, and it was when he was twelve years old, just two years before the popularization of measles vaccine. Now he is seventy-two years old.

Who would have thought that the measles virus had been hidden in his body for sixty years and did not break out until today.

No doctor could trace such a long medical history.

If it weren't for Xu Qiu, he would have reminded that the measles virus had been temporarily covered up by previous treatment measures. Perhaps the culprit could not be found until the autopsy was performed after the patient died.

At Linhai International Friendship Hospital, Director Huo did not scold Xiao Liu this time.

This kind of case, anyone would be confused!

"I said at the time that this didn't look like Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Later, I reminded Dr. Xu a few points and gave him a red pen to mark the key points, and then I found the clues!"

At the morning handover of the Department of Neurology of Guoyou Hospital, Director Huo narrated calmly.

The young doctors and nurses in the audience were full of stars.

It's worthy of Director Huo!

No wonder he was invited by Dr. Xu for a consultation!

Xiao Liu sat silently in the corner.

The red pen was indeed given, and the key points were indeed marked.

But, it was Dr. Xu who told everyone the key points of the diagnosis. Why does it sound like you reminded Dr. Xu and helped Dr. Xu mark the key points?

Is this the director? Telling half the truth is used like this?

On this day, Xiao Liu realized the first core skill of becoming a leader.

…

At Linhai First Hospital, after Xu Qiu explained the diagnosis and the situation of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis to the patient and his family, the family members were silent.

They had been mentally prepared and knew that it was very likely to be an incurable disease, but hearing it with their own ears was a completely different feeling.

“Can his eyes get better?” asked the eldest son.

Not being able to see or hear is a great torture for a terminally ill patient.

Let’s not talk about how to deal with it later, at least, he hopes that his father can see his younger generation before he dies, so that he will not die in fear in the gray world.

“Visual impairment is mainly progressive chorioretinitis, which can be intervened by drugs and should be able to restore some vision.

However, the cause cannot be solved, and as the disease progresses in the later stage, the abnormal vision cannot be saved.”

Xu Qiu shook his head.

Chroioretinitis is actually a common eye disease. Combined treatment with corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, and non-hormonal anti-inflammatory drugs can basically restore it to normal.

However, Fan Fuguo's condition is more complicated. If the cause is not removed, his visual impairment will only get worse.

"Is there any other way... I can't imagine how my father has survived these days. He can't see or hear. Except for being able to move, what's the difference between him and a vegetative person!" The youngest daughter cried.

Xu Qiu: "If you have the conditions, buy a hearing aid."

The family members fell silent again.

"Whether to be discharged from the hospital, sent to a hospice hospital or taken home, you decide for yourself."

Xu Qiu didn't want to get involved in the family affairs. After explaining the condition, he didn't stay for long and went into the operating room.

The next day, he didn't wait for the family members to sign the discharge certificate.

When he asked, he found out that the family members actually chose to stay in Linhai First Hospital!

This surprised Xu Qiu.

So he gave Fan Fuguo another detailed physical examination and formulated a set of symptomatic treatment plans based on his personal situation.

For terminal illnesses, even Union Hospital and West China Hospital are actually not much different from county hospitals and community hospitals.

The treatment plan in the clinical guidelines is clearly written, and doctors just need to follow it. There is not much difference.

It is nothing more than that doctors in good hospitals can more accurately grasp the severity of the disease, the timing of treatment, personal constitution, etc., and make more detailed personalized treatment.

However, this advantage can't actually help patients live longer.

In contrast, hospitals specializing in hospice care are a better choice.

For terminally ill patients, the psychological healing and comfort of hospice hospitals are more important than the treatment of the disease in comprehensive tertiary and specialized hospitals.

…

During the ward rounds a few days later, Xu Qiu focused on several patients.

One is Luo Siling in the VIP ward and bed 31 in the general ward.

The operations performed by the two are similar, the former uses the mature Maikewei artificial blood vessels, and the latter uses Linhai small blood vessels.

For four or five days, Luo Siling was still lying in bed, with a painful face and discomfort all over.

And bed 31 has started to walk on the ground, holding the railings on the wall for basic rehabilitation training.

All indicators are also better in bed 31.

The other is Fan Guofu.

After not seeing him for a few days, the patient had a pair of hearing aids on his ears.

After taking the anti-epileptic drug valproic acid orally, intraventricular injection of α-interferon, and antiviral treatment with isoprinosine and triazole nucleoside, Fan Fuguo looked much better and his mental state was recovering.

But this does not mean that his condition has improved.

It is just because he can finally perceive everything around him through his ears and feel that he is still alive clearly, which has given him a stronger vitality.

This treatment can only last until the third stage of the disease.

When the whole brain is involved, drug treatment is no longer effective, and he can only watch him enter the vegetative stage.

Of course, judging from the current situation, it is conservatively estimated that there is still about a year before Fan Fuguo becomes a vegetative state.

If there are new research progress internationally during this period, or if a special medicine can be developed, there may be hope.

After another three or four days, after Fan Fuguo's condition gradually stabilized, he finally went through the discharge procedures and was sent to a hospice hospital by his family.

However, the family members finally followed the treatment plan given by Xu Qiu. After each course of treatment, they would bring the patient to ask Xu Qiu to prescribe the next stage of the plan.

This trust moved Joseph, Director Shen and others.

Although the patient could not be saved, the respect of the family members was the best reward for Xu Qiu's dedicated diagnosis.

A few days later, Wang Shengde visited Xu Qiu's office and brought new news.