Medicine Is a Calling That Benefits Both Oneself and Others

The weather has been bitterly cold these past few days, and my son, who wore too little, caught a cold. From kindergarten through ninth grade, this is the only time he has ever taken one sick day.

I have always been very attentive to my family care. I admire people who work selflessly, but I myself put family first; I have always felt that everyone first responsibility should be to take good care of their own family. Whenever someone in my household catches a chill, I solve the problem immediately with a dose or two of medicine.

But this time my son cold came on rather heavily, so that for three days, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, the child was in a groggy state.

Because he is in ninth grade, my son had makeup classes at school on Saturday. The last class was a chemistry exam; the child sat through the exam with a fever and only came home afterward, walking a bit unsteadily.

A wind-cold cold with sweating is a Guizhi Tang (Cinnamon Twig Decoction) syndrome. I keep all kinds of Japanese Kampo medicines at home; the Japanese have made famous TCM formulas into granules, which are extremely convenient to take. Thanks to this convenience, I mixed a packet of Guizhi Tang granules for the child, and the effect was immediate. But that evening the child was a bit playful and, after I fell asleep, played until one in the morning. When I got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night and found him still playing on his electronic device, I promptly confiscated it and made him rest.

Because he did not rest well Saturday night, the child condition worsened on Sunday, with a stuffy runny nose and occasional fever. I continued giving Guizhi Tang; by Sunday afternoon, cough and thirst began to appear. I switched to Maxing Shigan Tang (Ephedra, Apricot, Gypsum, Licorice Decoction) granules; after taking one packet, the cough and runny nose improved markedly.

Sunday night I again confiscated the child electronic devices and made him rest with concentration. Before bed, not wanting to drink the herbal granules, he took one tablet of New Contac. When he got up Monday morning, the child felt the room spinning, was severely dizzy, and had a fever again.

So we asked the teacher for leave and let him rest at home for the day. Early that morning the child had a bitter, dry mouth, again a Guizhi Tang syndrome, precisely the Chaihu Guizhi Tang syndrome described in the Shanghan Lun. So I mixed a packet of Chaihu Guizhi Tang granules for him. After taking it, the symptoms eased; by noon and afternoon I switched to Xiao Chaihu granules. By evening the child had regained his energy, and the cold was basically gone.

Today the child cold symptoms have basically disappeared, though he still has a slight cough, so I switched to making him tea with five Gouteng (Uncaria) twigs and 2 g Bohe (mint). After one cup, the cough and stuffy nose were gone. Today was the preparatory exam for the ninth-grade English computer-based test, and he finally did not miss his exam.

My son had never taken sick leave before; when not ill, he could not feel the love and care I, his father, give him when he is sick. But after this cold, which made him very miserable, I in the cracks of my work kept going home to see him, mix him the herbal granules, and cook him his favorite dishes. I also paused some of my own work for a few days to be with him.

The child, though miserable with the cold, felt very happy. His father, who is busy all year round taking care of all sorts of patients, had finally come to take care of him for once.

So although before, because of adolescence, he had resisted the controls I put on him, this time when I cared for him by restricting his use of electronic devices and television, he cooperated willingly. It turns out that being sick is not entirely a bad thing; a spell of illness helps bring the family closer together.

Last Friday, his mother and I went to the hospital together. Because of the cold weather, my leg was hurting again, and the child mother almost insisted that, after I finished my morning work, she escort me in the afternoon to a nearby tertiary hospital famous for its orthopedics-and-traumatics department to see a doctor.

After registering, I waited three hours before it was finally my turn. A doctor about ten years younger than me had no time even to finish looking at the films I had taken previously before ordering another MRI, requiring me to go have another lumbar MRI first.

He thought the problem was in the lower back, even though I had already had two lumbar MRIs and had brought the films showing nothing wrong there. But he felt that only a lower-back problem could give a reasonable explanation for my symptoms. So after a minute or two of communication, he hurriedly concluded the consultation. I went to the imaging center to book the MRI, only to be scheduled for late December; there are simply too many patients at this tertiary hospital.

I felt this consultation was almost absurd, but this is the very real state of medical care in China. Perhaps because of strained medical resources, patients who seek care through public medical insurance have a similar experience worldwide. While I was booking my MRI, one of my patients came to see me. Before I had finished booking my own MRI, I hurried back to see my patient.

Through keeping warm and resting, plus using an ankle brace and a lumbar support, and taking a few packets of Chaihu Guizhi Tang, I temporarily resolved my lower-back and leg pain; each orthopedics doctor I have seen over the years has basically only been able to resolve my problem temporarily.

I know the tricks for preventing lower-back and leg pain from worsening, and I know how to relieve my pain step by step. So, thinking it over, I gave up the idea of continuing to seek help from orthopedics doctors.

A person who eats the five grains cannot avoid illness. And seeking medical care after falling ill is truly hard. Some problems medicine really cannot solve, but others it can. Unfortunately, because of the backwardness of the medical system, medical efficiency is low, and problems that could have been solved go unsolved.

I very much understand and sympathize with my colleagues working on the front lines of medical care. Although they were extremely rushed when seeing me, I think that if I myself were inside the system, I could probably do no better. A hospital posts so many registration numbers, and a doctor has to see so many patients a day; without such rushed consultations they could not finish their work. Chinese doctors have little time for research because their clinical workload is so heavy; their energy has already been squeezed dry, leaving little for research.

I am deeply grateful that fate arranged it this way for me. Now that I study and practice medicine and do medical research, I can not only benefit my patients but also care for myself and my family. I keep all kinds of Chinese and Western medicines at home; when family members fall ill, I can resolve their problems while the condition is still mild and prevent them from progressing to serious disease.

My wife gallstones this year and my father stubborn constipation were both resolved by myself; my teacher wife asthma has also long been under my care. I can at least escort the health of these few close relatives.

If one day I have fewer patients and can spare more time, I will give some open classes, guiding ordinary people in the skills of handling common diseases at home and guiding everyone in preventing major illnesses.

I think this would also be a very meaningful thing. Many critical illnesses cannot be solved by medicine, but medicine can help everyone prevent major illness. It is just that before people fall ill, most do not listen to doctors advice. As a second-best, being able to intercept a disease while it is still mild and prevent it from progressing seriously is also a meaningful thing.

China should have more elite people studying medicine. Life is the most precious thing, and the value of life science is infinite. It is just a pity that in recent years, under the influence of the social environment, many people regard studying and practicing medicine as a fearsome road, truly a pity!