(Thanks to Zhonghuazhi Soul, brany, Fenglei Yiji, Anyexingchen, Book Friend 20190904212952144, Wanli Wuyuan, szxzx, Chong Mengyou, Lawyer Sun Luhua, Xianren Ah Xianren, Book Friend 160620115906100, AK28, Egypt Ping-pong, Daren's Bright Twelve-winged Angel, Book Friend 160721205455330, Feng Xuanyi, Northern Old Night Wolf, Book Friend 20170517204426138, Phoenix Jiutian1997 for the encouragement with monthly tickets)

"Wang Chao, how's the situation?"

Liu Banxia quickly asked after arriving at the ward.

"He suddenly lost control of his emotions after waking up, so I gave him some sedatives." Wang Chao wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Were you watching him the whole time? Were there any other symptoms during this period?" Liu Banxia asked.

Wang Chao nodded, "I drew blood after dialysis for an urgent blood test, and many indicators have recovered. He woke up in less than half an hour."

"At the beginning, I was quite happy and asked him about his condition, but he didn't respond to me. Then his emotions became agitated, he started speaking in incomprehensible words at a high speed, and then began to smash things."

Liu Banxia frowned, something was amiss.

Patients recovering from seizures might display aggressive behavior and temporary amnesia, but that kind of occurrence often appears shortly after the seizure.

But as for this patient, the main cause of coma wasn't seizures but severe renal failure. Moreover, he has been lying in the hospital for so long; aggression following a seizure should have lessened.

"Teacher Liu, can you figure out what the symptom is?" Wang Chao asked.

"Sigh… I can't figure it out now. Even if there's aggression post-seizure, he wouldn't babble nonsense. Did you recognize what language he was speaking?" Liu Banxia asked.

"It should be our domestic language, not a foreign one. But he spoke too fast; it was completely unclear." Wang Chao said.

"Oh, right, when he woke up, he seemed to be absent-minded and scratched himself a few times. Only when he heard me speak did he seem to notice me and directly showed aggression."

"Could it be my presence or words that provoked the patient, causing him to become like this? According to his colleagues, he's usually very polite."

"It's a bit troubling. By the way, didn't his colleagues mention if he has a girlfriend? The most urgent thing now is to contact his family." Liu Banxia said.

"I already asked, if he had one, we would have contacted them earlier." Wang Chao said.

"In their workplace, he's quite a well-known person, a middle manager in a good company, and naturally popular. But he seems to be career-oriented, focusing all his energy on work."

"Teacher Liu, should we put on restraints early due to his current condition? Who knows if he'll be just as aggressive when he wakes up again."

"It's fine; I'll stay here and watch him for a while. Luckily, there's no other patient in this ward; otherwise, it could be really dangerous." Liu Banxia said.

After speaking, he pondered over Wang Chao's words again and approached the patient, unbuttoning the patient's hospital gown.

"Oh my gosh, he didn't seem to use much force, so why are the scratches so deep?" Seeing the scratches on the patient's chest, Wang Chao was startled.

Liu Banxia gave a bitter smile, "It's gone full circle, and we're all being foolish. A temporary check came in, tell me, what symptoms did the patient display just now?"

Wang Chao was stunned and furrowed his brows in deep thought.

He had to judge, why did Teacher Liu diagnose the patient's condition upon seeing the chest scratches?

But what were the patient's symptoms just now? Could it be endocrine issues affecting the patient's mental symptoms? 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Hmm…, Teacher Liu, is it a mental-related illness? Could the patient have a teratoma?" Wang Chao asked tentatively.

"Then the second question, the patient displayed proper behavior at the company, why did he become like this in the hospital? Could it be the previous suppression and now finally having a stranger like you as a way to vent?" Liu Banxia continued to ask.

"Uh…"

Wang Chao was puzzled.

"The third question, think back carefully, why did the patient fall ill? Actually, I gave you a hint in the second question; you need to think hard." Liu Banxia continued.

It really troubled Wang Chao, the patient became angry right after hearing his voice and seeing his face. So was he the trigger for the patient's illness? He didn't have a face that invites trouble.

There's a hint in the second question, but what hint?

Why did the patient behave so differently as if he had become a different person?

Teacher Liu's questions surely have profound meanings, aiming to help diagnose this illness.

Seeing Wang Chao deep in thought, Liu Banxia wasn't in a hurry.

What Wang Chao was contemplating wasn't far off; this was also a teaching moment. Hopefully, he could integrate the known conditions and eventually diagnose the patient's situation.

However, looking at the patient lying on the bed, Liu Banxia also sighed inwardly, a pitiable person indeed.

"Teacher Liu, could it be because of our dialysis?" After thinking for a while, Wang Chao suddenly asked.

"Then what? You need to give me a reasonable explanation, I am now the patient's family member." Liu Banxia said.

"We followed your advice and gave the child dialysis. Now the child ended up like this, you've made our child worse. I will file a complaint against you and demand compensation from your hospital."

Li Hao found it a bit amusing, while Chen Hongmei was at a loss for words.

However, Liu Banxia's words made sense; as a family member of the patient, it's a legitimate claim.

"It should be the dialysis that's caused this outcome." Li Hao said.

"Dialysis is used to alleviate his kidney failure and help cleanse the blood. During this process, maybe it also cleansed something else? Which led the patient to exhibit these symptoms."

"Oh... I get it, it's manic-depressive disorder. The patient is showing irritability and aggressiveness, and manic-depressive patients take lithium carbonate pills. Did we remove the lithium ions that maintain his mood during dialysis?"

Liu Banxia smiled and nodded, "As the patient's family member, I accept your explanation. That's probably what happened, and his current kidney failure might be due to overmedication with lithium carbonate."

"Teacher Liu, I remember that patients taking lithium carbonate should have their blood lithium levels checked regularly?" Li Hao asked curiously.

"You forgot about the second issue, the co-worker's feedback. His co-worker said he usually behaves politely. It must be due to overmedication." Liu Banxia said.

"Otherwise, the effect of lithium carbonate is only to regulate, and even with it, the patient would still have a temper. After all, many psychiatric drugs have very strong side effects."

"No need for restraints now. Once he wakes up after using sedatives, there should be a calm period. Then we can ask him properly; it should be clear by then."

Li Hao nodded.

"Wow, Teacher Liu is really amazing."

After Liu Banxia left, Chen Dongmei remarked with admiration.

"That's why we call him Liu the Great Demon King, not just because he loves to torment people, but also because he's very observant." Li Hao said with a wry smile.

"Many cases were accurately diagnosed after Teacher Liu noticed subtle anomalies. I heard the patient's co-worker's description too, but I didn't think much of it."

"Even though we haven't asked the patient yet, there's no escaping it. If we put it logically, it completely matches the cause and symptoms of the patient's condition. But we knew the result, without Teacher Liu's hint, I'd still be waiting blindly."

They both felt a sense of realization, just a thin layer of paper was in between, and Liu Banxia helped pierce it, allowing them to slowly work towards a diagnosis.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have thought in this direction.

Going downstairs, Liu Banxia wasn't so relaxed, as he thought about it further. For such a person, why overmedicate at all.

"How did it go?"

When he returned to the lobby, Wang Chao asked.

"Not great, it's somewhat difficult to handle. Judging from the current signs, it's likely manic-depressive disorder and the excessive intake of lithium caused the kidney failure." Liu Banxia said.

"After dialysis cleared the lithium, combined with such a long period of unconsciousness, a manic episode broke out. When the sedative wears off, we'll ask the patient again."

"Wow, such a complex situation." Wang Chao remarked.

"I still need to talk to Teacher Wu, he's also concerned about this patient." Liu Banxia said.

Wang Chao nodded.

He heard from Xu Yino that a nephrology patient was having problems, which piqued his curiosity.

When he reached Wu Wenlin's office, Liu Banxia explained his deductions.

"Ah... this illness is really troublesome. Even if combined with other medications, if the manic-depressive disorder is severe, it can affect normal life, let alone being in a management position at a company." Wu Wenlin sighed.

"Exactly. If our deductions are correct, what I worry about is that he deliberately overmedicated to maintain his normalcy." Liu Banxia said.

"Now that the kidneys are already damaged, even if the dosage is reduced in the future, the damage will still increase, right? The only choice is to stop, but then the manic-depressive disorder will recur."

"That's the situation; his choices are limited — to live or to maintain his life." Wu Wenlin said.

"In fact, if lithium carbonate is well-monitored and used in conjunction with other medications according to dosage, it currently has the least side effects. He just chose the most dangerous way, alas... it can't be that he doesn't understand anything."

This is also one of the reasons for Liu Banxia's concern; it's the survival method the patient chose.

No matter which doctor prescribes such drugs, they will repeatedly caution about it. For him to reach mid-level, he certainly isn't someone who knows nothing.

It's knowingly heading into danger after weighing the options.

Even if this rescue is successful, what about later? I fear he will continue taking lithium and ultimately die from uremia.