I Can Talk to the Internal Organs

Chapter 409 - 374: Too Expensive

"Do you know how serious your illness is?"

After chatting for a while, Lu Jiu realized that this aunt seemed unconcerned about her illness, her expression was quite casual.

Having a good mindset is a good thing, but Lu Jiu feared that this aunt might not take her illness seriously.

It would also be very troublesome to treat her this way.

"Of course I know, when I went to the hospital for a check-up, the doctor said I’m already in the late stage and if I don’t treat it, I won’t live for more than two years. Although he might have made a mistake about the time, this illness is really tormenting. I want to live a few more years, but the medical bills are really unaffordable. Just for a check-up, it cost me a few thousand. How can I afford treatment?" Mao Yanning looked distressed.

Lu Jiu said, "Don’t worry, although our fees aren’t low, they’re not that high. I can’t guarantee a cure, but I’m confident that I can help you adjust to make sure your life isn’t affected by this illness."

"As long as you can eat and sleep well, the illness won’t easily endanger your life. If you recover well, living a few more years is not a hard thing to achieve, but the premise is that you have to listen to me and follow my instructions. Otherwise, no matter how good the medicine is, it might not have much effect."

Hearing this, Mao Yanning’s eyes lit up, but then she hesitantly mumbled, "Um, how much will it cost?"

Lu Jiu smiled and said, "I was planning to give you acupuncture, but let’s use traditional medicine instead. I’ll prescribe the medicine first, then calculate the price for you."

Acupuncture is more expensive than traditional medicine, and for Mao Yanning’s illness, it’s not absolutely necessary.

With that said, Lu Jiu began to write a prescription on the doctor platform.

Fangji, Poria, oyster shell, ark shell, Atractylodes, roasted aconite, Bupleurum Root, Baical Skullcap, Pinellia, Coptis, white peony, gelatin, roasted barley, coix seed, peony bark.

A total of fifteen herbs.

Among them, Fangji, Poria, oyster shell, and ark shell are for reducing excess water and hardness in the Triple Jiao.

Mao Yanning’s breast cancer has metastasized to her lymph nodes, clearly indicating that there is excessive dampness in the Triple Jiao. These four herbs are to remove dampness and tackle some solid yin, allowing the Triple Jiao to flow freely.

While Atractylodes and roasted aconite together can effectively drain pus.

Currently, Mao Yanning’s breast often discharges pus, which has obviously become a significant inconvenience in her life.

The subsequent Bupleurum Root, Baical Skullcap, and Pinellia are used to cleanse the liver, mainly to smooth the meridian of the liver around the breast.

Although lymph node cancer seems daunting, because it’s a metastasis of breast cancer, its root is still in the breast fluid.

Smoothing the meridian of the liver around the breast is to clear away excess breast fluid.

However, breast fluid is regulated by the heart, so while smoothing the meridian, it’s also necessary to supplement heart blood and strengthen Heart Yang.

Coptis, white peony, and gelatin can serve this purpose.

Nevertheless, during treatment, Mao Yanning will still secrete excess breast fluid daily.

This makes lymph node cancer even more challenging, making roasted barley a crucial herb.

Its only function is to reduce lactation.

The remaining coix seed and peony bark are to invigorate blood circulation and remove blood stasis.

After all, when the Triple Jiao is blocked for too long, Heart Yang becomes weak, and the circulation of qi and blood in many parts of the body will not be thorough.

At such times, various parts of the body will tend to have congested situations.

It can be said that this prescription does not directly target lymph node cancer, but every herb is indeed addressing the symptoms present in Mao Yanning.

Even though she, like some previous patients, also suffered from breast cancer, the prescription Lu Jiu wrote is different.

This is about breaking free from symptom-focused thinking and, after observing the whole, the combination of traditional Chinese medicine becomes smooth and natural.

Adding all the traditional Chinese medicine together, Lu Jiu prescribed a total of five doses.

The total price calculated amounted to a little over a hundred yuan.

Actually, there are many other traditional medicines to choose from, but after considering the properties, Lu Jiu chose to focus on more affordable herbs.

At first glance, it doesn’t seem much cheaper, with a total difference of maybe a dozen to twenty yuan.

But Mao Yanning’s illness requires long-term medication.

Every five doses saved by ten to twenty yuan would add up to six to seven hundred over half a year.

This is already quite a substantial amount for a farmer.

Lu Jiu had previously read a news article stating that farmers nowadays don’t make much money from farming, with a rice field generating an average profit of only six to seven hundred a year, excluding labor. That is to say, even ten acres wouldn’t yield more than ten thousand a year.

This is also why Mao Yanning was reluctant to visit hospitals.

Even if the state could reimburse them, seeing a doctor still costs thousands to tens of thousands of yuan.

Therefore, they would rather endure than go to hospitals.

"Look, five doses for five days, totaling one hundred forty-six yuan and seventy cents. I can waive the change, making it one hundred forty. Do you think that’s expensive?" Lu Jiu pointed out the price on the computer to Mao Yanning.

Of course, it’s expensive.

Over the years, the only medicine Mao Yanning had a deep impression of was a common cold medicine.

That medicine was just about twenty yuan or so.

But Mao Yanning knew her illness was more severe, and ordinary medicine wouldn’t cure it.

Five doses cost one hundred forty, which means each dose is twenty-something yuan.

It’s somewhat expensive, but not excessively so.

This price was something Mao Yanning could accept.

"So, Dean Lu, how long do I have to take it?" Mao Yanning asked.

Lu Jiu said, "It’s hard to say, let’s start with five doses and see. If the effects are good, then continue. If the results aren’t ideal, you’ll need to see another doctor. After you finish these five doses, I’ll assess your situation and determine how long you need to take the medicine. However, even if the effects are decent, you’ll need at least six months of treatment."

Six months...

Mao Yanning frowned again.

That would cost several thousand!

What to do...

Mao Yanning hesitated!

She wanted treatment, but it was too expensive!

Seeing Mao Yanning’s troubled expression, Lu Jiu immediately understood what she was thinking.

"You need to understand one thing: while your condition hasn’t yet deteriorated to the point of being incurable, the current treatment costs are the lowest. If you continue to delay, the treatment expenses will keep increasing. To put it in perspective, delaying treatment now means that later you’ll need one to two more weeks of medicine."

"In other words, deciding to take the medicine today can save you over a thousand yuan."

Many times, holding onto the thought of reluctance can often lead to greater losses.

The concept of sunk costs might lead someone to continuously invest more and end up losing both the principal and the interest.

Lu Jiu wasn’t joking.

Treating Mao Yanning one day earlier would significantly speed up recovery.

The longer it’s delayed, the less effective the treatment will be, and the longer it will take.

Of all the cancer patients Lu Jiu treated, only this one opted not to undergo surgery due to poverty, and he was quite treasuring of her case.

He also wanted to observe what differences there were in recovery speed and extent between patients with breast cancer metastasized to other cancers who underwent surgery and those who didn’t.

Therefore, Lu Jiu was particularly hopeful that Mao Yanning would accept treatment.

But whether she would receive treatment was ultimately up to Mao Yanning herself.

Lu Jiu could only persuade her; he couldn’t make the decision for her.

"Can I...can I take these five doses first and then decide?"

...