This article is written by Bang Bang
Group chat for healing
"Trouble ask the neighbors, who has this medicine, emergency, online, etc."
On January 3, such information appeared in the owner group of a residential area in Weiyang District, Xi'an City.
Image source: Courtesy of Zhang Qian
A photograph showing a box of cefaclor dry suspensions was also sent to the group chat, a drug for otitis media, pneumonia, and pharyngitis.
"The child has had a fever for several days and has not been good. The 48-hour nucleic acid test result also expired, and the hospital did not allow me to enter." Parents explain. Eventually, she got her medicine from a neighbor on the 24th floor. Along with this, there are also WeChat business cards of clinic doctors pushed by everyone, as well as the flow chart of some local hospitals to open Internet diagnosis and treatment.
According to the guidelines for the masses to seek medical treatment during the epidemic jointly issued by the Medical Treatment Group and the News and Publicity Group of the Shaanxi Provincial Leading Group for Epidemic Response on January 1, ordinary people who have gone out for medical treatment need to contact the community (village) staff, who will check the 48-hour negative nucleic acid certificate, and then contact the medical institution to make a successful appointment before going out for treatment.
Image source: Guide to medical treatment during the epidemic
"But we haven't had anyone to do nucleic acids for three days, and I've heard that we've all gone to those places in the control area." In order to do nucleic acid trip out of the community estimate is also not allowed." Zhang Qian (pseudonym) said that she lives in the same neighborhood as Bao Ma, who asked for help from the owner group, and the child is also in a state of low fever.
The control area mentioned by Zhang Qian is one of the three types of prevention and control areas in Xi'an. If there is another case in the community, the building where 1 case occurs is a closed area, and if there is another case increase of 1 or more cases in the community, the entire community is a sealed area; the street where the sealing area and the scope of activity of the case are located are the control area; and the area outside the first two prevention and control areas is a prevention area.
"I called Xi'an D Hospital and couldn't get through." Zhang Qian finally chose online consultation, and the doctor preliminarily judged that the child's fever may be caused by accumulated food, and it is estimated that there will be repeated fevers within a few days. Zhang Qian gave the child medicine and planned to observe it first.
"But if you don't go to the hospital, you are afraid that there will be something wrong with your child." Zhang Qian couldn't help but worry. "It's hard to get medical treatment, which is obviously unreasonable. I've heard that because of this problem, or because the patient is in control area, I can't get medical treatment, and it's dragged on to more serious cases."
According to the China Business Daily, similar incidents have occurred in Xi'an before. At 20:00 p.m. on January 1, 2022, the Chinese business reporter helped the column to receive a request for help from Mr. Huang, a resident of Rongshang Central Settlement in Yanta District (the community belongs to the sealed control area).
The community is home to 15 bone marrow transplant and kidney transplant patients, of whom 2 are bone marrow transplant patients and 13 are kidney transplant patients. The youngest of these 15 patients was only 3 years old and the oldest was 60 years old. Since the community closure on December 19, 2021, these patients have not been able to attend the hospital for regular post-transplant review.
Then, Huashang Daily contacted the hospital, which has sent five medical nurses to complete the blood collection of 15 patients.
Blocked cancer patients
"My mom is now breast cancer and has metastasized to lymph. We showed it to the doctors, and every doctor said that this could not be delayed, and it had to be treated quickly. But now there is no place for treatment, no place for medical treatment." Liu Yue (pseudonym) said. Her mother, 58, lives in Changyanbao Subdistrict, Yanta District, Xi'an City, which has been adjusted to a high-risk area since January 3.
On December 10 last year, Liu Yue's mother received a biopsy pathology report from the E Hospital affiliated to a university in Xi'an, which showed malignancy, and the doctor recommended that she be hospitalized for surgery. Liu Yue said: "The doctor said that my mother was going to have a breast removal, and then I gave me a hospitalization slip and a hospitalization certificate, and we began to wait for the bed." As early as five years ago, Liu Yue's mother had also undergone right mastectomy surgery for breast cancer.
12 days passed, Liu Yue did not wait for the admission notice, but waited for the confirmed news of the new crown positive of the residents of another building in the community.
The next day, that is, December 23, the entire city of Xi'an was pulled down the floodgates, and the city's communities and units implemented closed management.
At this particular time, hospital admission conditions become harsh. "Like thoracic surgery, the bed can only be accommodated for 50%, and the patient must provide the nucleic acid certificate within 24 hours of the hospital and go from the outpatient clinic." Li Di (pseudonym), a trainee at the E Hospital affiliated to a university in Xi'an, said: "And will assess the condition. If it is an emergency surgery, it may be admitted; if it is an elective surgery, it may be put back."
Xi'an Hospital A explains: "Many patients are now stranded in the hospital, so the beds are very tight, making it difficult for subsequent patients to be admitted."
In a hurry, Liu Yue asked for help from the doctor of the E Hospital affiliated to a university in Xi'an, and the doctor helped contact xi'an C Hospital. "We were admitted to the hospital on December 25th. But two days later, Xi'an C Hospital let us out of the hospital and did not let us treat, saying that because we came from the risk area and the control area."
Neither she nor her family could accept such a sudden change: "What will my mother do after she is discharged from the hospital, the disease will not be cured." Liu Yue's family continued to wait in the ward, "As a result, we found that our mother's personal hospitalization information was written off, which is equivalent to saying that to a certain extent we were forcibly discharged from the hospital."
"The hospital told us: The epidemic is bigger than the sky."
Image source: Courtesy of Liu Yue
Before leaving, the doctor prescribed a lot of medicines to Liu Yue's mother: "Say this is useful for curbing tumor development."
"The doctor is fine, and he wants us to stay." But he personally had no way to make this decision, and discharge was a hospital rule." On December 28, Liu Yue's mother officially left Xi'an C Hospital and has been alone at home to take care of herself and her husband who is not in good health.
"Since the announcement of the designated hospitals, I have been in contact with each one, but none of them have been possible. Some hospitals treat special patients, such as dialysis only."
In response to the medical needs of personnel in risk areas, Xi'an City currently adopts the method of setting up designated hospitals for treatment. "We are not a designated hospital, we only accept green code patients in low-risk areas. Patients from risk areas need to contact designated hospitals in the province and city." Xi'an C Hospital explains.
Liu Yue said she consulted Xi'an D Hospital, which showed that it could receive surgery from risky people, and the oncology department of the hospital said on the phone that she could not be admitted and gave Liu Yue a new solution: "Patients in risk areas can contact the community first, explain the situation, and the community and the hospital will dock." After the appointment is successful, a "peer-to-peer" delivery service will be arranged for the patient. If a specialist says that a patient needs to be admitted for surgery, our hospital has a special isolation ward that can be admitted."
Liu Yue said that they have not yet tried this method and hope that it will help after trying.
Image source: Xi'an release
On the other hand, Zhang Aping (pseudonym), a 31-year-old patient with thyroid malignancy from Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province, has decided to return to Xianyang for surgical treatment.
"We have abandoned the hospital in Xi'an and plan to see it in the local hospital." Although the medical level is poor, and Iodine treatment cannot be done after the operation, we really can't wait." Zhang Aping's sister Zhang Tu (pseudonym) said.
Image source: Courtesy of the patient
Zhang Aping found nodules during a physical examination of his unit in December last year. "We consulted a lot of doctors, and the doctors said that relaxing the mind should be benign. But the family was not at ease, so they went to the biopsy." Zhang Tu said. On December 10, they received a report at the hospital in Xianyang, which turned out to be malignant.
"The doctor told me on the spot that my brother only had 5 years and 10 years left, and my father and I were scared to tears. But then I heard some doctors say that my brother's cure rate is quite high, because it is an inert cancer, and the chance of metastasis is not very large."
Zhang Tu heard that the level of diagnosis and treatment of such diseases in Xi'an E Hospital was very high, and she grabbed the outpatient number on December 15. "After seeing the patient, I opened the hospitalization certificate, and the hospital closed the next day. Until now, I still say that I can't do surgery. I consulted a university hospital A and was told that I could not be admitted; I asked the university hospital B, but the operation took a long time."
With no other choice, they decided to return to Xianyang. "Although they all say that this disease is not serious and the chance of cancer metastasis is low, my brother is only 31 years old and just married." For a family, 1% of the risk is something we can't afford, and every day the whole family is in endless pain."
Zhang Tu said that the doctor recommended that the brother receive iodine treatment that xianyang hospital could not provide within about 1 month after the operation. Talking about what plans Xi'an has not been unsealed 1 month after the operation, or if it cannot be admitted to the hospital, Zhang Tu said that it is not clear, "I can only do the operation first."
Travelling to other cities for medical treatment is also unrealistic for them in the current situation: "Now Sai Ham Airport can no longer fly, but travel certificates are difficult to obtain." The out-of-district area will be controlled, and the Xianyang district and the district are blocked."
"We still have a choice, we can go to Xianyang for treatment, but there is no way back for the families of medium- and high-risk patients in Xi'an." Moreover, the so-called designated hospitals, what if the patients and their families live particularly far away from these hospitals, or it is difficult to go to?"
Under the predicament
Liu Yue said that she did not want to be like Xianglin sister-in-law, telling others about her pain over and over again. "But without a voice no one will know about our suffering."
Zhang Tu said: "I think Xi'an should provide special channels for cancer patients and critically ill patients to avoid delaying the disease."
Last December 21, another sleepless night for Zhangtu. Unable to sleep, she recorded on Weibo that if the epidemic is a burden and trouble for ordinary people, it will be a desperate nightmare for other patients and families waiting for treatment.
Fortunately, her brother was finally admitted to the ward.
Liu Yue, who is more than 30 kilometers away from Zhangtu, and her mother, who is suffering from breast cancer and needs surgery, are still waiting in high-risk areas with red lights.
According to the People's Daily, on the afternoon of January 5, Xi'an Held a Press Conference on Epidemic Prevention and Control: In response to the medical service guarantee issues that the masses are concerned about, in order to prevent cross-infection in the process of medical treatment, special cars are arranged to send special cars "point-to-point" to the designated hospitals for medical treatment, and return them in a closed loop.
Other personnel holding a 48-hour negative nucleic acid certificate, go to the hospital that is normally open in the city for treatment, and no hospital may affect the patient's visit on the grounds of epidemic prevention and control. For patients with acute and critical illness, hemodialysis, tumor radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and pregnant women, open service telephones, green channels, and provide diagnosis and treatment services. (Planner: Leu.)
Title image source: Figureworm Creative