The Surgeon's Studio c1-799

by Black Ursa Prime

  This was a manic state of survival; the desperation to cling to life.

  Zheng Yunxia was in no way able to afford targeted drug therapy, and Chinese herbal medicines were either too expensive or did not inspire confidence.

  Based on her own judgement, traditional Chinese doctors were only able to judge an illness based on one's appearance, body condition, body odor and heartbeat. Hence, what kind of life-saving herbal concoction could such a doctor prescribe when they could not even label which godd*mn artery was which?

  This time, she was completely penniless and had absolutely no other alternatives.

  Her gradually declining health and her increasingly exhausted body would no longer allow her to work more jobs. She was no longer able to afford Capecitabine, having to switch from an imported brand known as Xeloda to a locally-made variant.

  To add insult to injury, her family kept demanding money from her. Her brother had gotten himself a new girlfriend and had demanded twelve thousand yuan as a betrothal gift.

  The last phone call she had was moments ago. Zheng Yunxia's mother had told her that raising her had been an absolute waste and that she was useless.

  After she hung up, she forced a smile for her oncologist who had been taking care of her all this time before leaving. When she arrived at the hallway, she opened a window and proceeded to sit on the ledge.

  She was ready to enjoy the final moments of her life. The sky was dark and the winds were strong. The snowflakes that grazed against her face slightly stung her.

  Oh the human realm, how unworthy.

  These were the events recounted by Su Yun.

  Zheng Ren only ate in silence as he listened without any intention of interrupting.

  The nurse who was listening by their side was tearing up, and although situations like these were common in a hospital, every situation would invoke different reactions in people.

  "How's crowdfunding going?" the nurse asked while wiping away her tears.

  It was the first thing that came to her mind.

  "That's pretty much useless," Su Yun replied with tightly-squinted eyes while staring at Zheng Ren, "The thing with liver cancer is that there aren't any effective treatments for it, and even with molecularly-targeted therapy, the effective treatment rate is less than ten percent."

  "What can be done now?" the nurse needled, concerned. For an issue of this magnitude, though, there was little she could do.

  After Zheng Ren and the trio were done eating, they proceeded to clean up after themselves.

  "Chief Zheng, you seemed like you were holding back something. Is there something you would like to say?" Su Yun noticed Zheng Ren appeared to have something on his mind.

  "This is the only thing I hate about you. If you have something to say, then go ahead and spit it out. If you had to fart, just release it at full volume. Don't leave your statements hanging. Hearing your statements is like a godd*mn chapter cliffhanger from any novel I read. These annoying cliffhangers are always agonizing and when the next chapter arrives, it doesn't have anything interesting, either," Zheng Ren replied.

  "Oh, please," Su Yun grunted.

  "Have you done an interventional embolization on a hepatocellular carcinoma before?" Zheng Ren asked casually while packing away his lunchbox.

  "I have seen it done before. When Instructor Pan was carrying out the embolization procedure, I was his assistant."

  "So just by observing alone, you've managed to master it?" Zheng Ren sardonically.

  "Of course." Su Yun seemed to have completely missed the sarcasm, running his fingers through his hair and presented himself stoically.

  This simple action and reply completely charmed the nurse accompanying them as her eyes glimmered with brightly-lit sparks of pure admiration.

  After they had cleaned up, Zheng Ren returned to his office and proceeded to cuddle up against the Sciences of Hepatopancreatobiliary book, ready to take a nap in the on call room.

  "Hey, whether you could pull it off or not, you have to at least say something." Su Yun was face-to-face with Zheng Ren, but since being described as 'beyond awful', Su Yun proceeded to interrogate the latter bluntly.

  He was truly an uninteresting person.

  "I will try. Not a single person would be confident operating on late-stage cancer," Zheng Ren replied, meeting Su Yun's stare and adding, "Only under a high-intensity MRI scan can we determine how far the cancer had progressed. After that, comes the problem of medical fees."

  "Between me, the Chu sisters or that robotic nurse, none of us are in desperate need of money," Su Yun replied passionately.

  "If you want to solve the problem and need a lot of money, you'd need to start a huge crowdfunding campaign." Zheng Ren's statement was cold. "We're only able to save those who can afford it."

  Su Yun replied with a smile. He understood the hidden meaning behind that statement.

  Anyone who had been working in that hospital anywhere between three to five years understood that principle.

  There were people who were f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y discharged early due to their inability to afford their bills. These people were not extremely rich and did not have access to an insane amount of money; a year of unpaid bills would amount to tens of thousands of yuan. In certain rare cases, it would even reach a few hundred million. Who would be able to casually pay such a ridiculous amount of money?

  "It's time to showcase a new method, then." Su Yun seemed optimistic as he continued where Zheng Ren left off.

  "Yes, indeed. However, the only problem is that I'm not medically qualified to perform interventional therapy. I am only able to manage emergency treatment and if the patient were to pursue legal action, I can kiss my medical license goodbye."

  That nurse felt like she was listening to an incomprehensible lecture. She could not understand what the two were talking about.

  Besides the constant consumption of targeted drugs for late-stage hepatocellular carcinoma, the best, most effective treatment option would be interventional therapy.

  Such treatment would be able to accurately determine the cancer mass in the liver and then administer the chemotherapy drug, known as lipiodol, to embolize the main nutrient-carrying blood vessels. This would ultimately achieve the main goal of treating the cancerous mass growth.

  Alternatively, a laser could be used to 'disintegrate' the mass.

  As for the total medical fees required, not a single person in Sea City had ever undergone hepatocellular carcinoma interventional embolization. Hence, this could be considered pioneering a new field.

  Since it was a new field, the hospital could be willing to charge a lower fee.

  Thus, Su Yun followed Zheng Ren back to the on-call room; the nurse behind Zheng Ren sent chills down his spine when he noticed her sinister and hate-filled gaze.

  "What are you following me for?"

  "I am your assistant surgical officer. Today is unpredictable and if there were any emergencies at night, I worry I would be unable to return in short notice, so I will be staying here for the night," Su Yun replied confidently.

  "I don't need an assistant for my surgeries," Zheng Ren lamented.

  "Alright, next time I will make sure to prepare the pre-surgery sheets earlier and the postoperative suturing can be left to me. I will not let you down."

  "..."

  Chapter 102 - Huge Eyes

  It was late night and Zheng Ren was about to drift away into dreamland. However, soft whispers could be heard from the bed in front of him.

  "How in the world did you practice your surgeries, Chief Zheng? From the way you look, you don't seem to be blessed with talent at all, but somehow your surgical skills are in fact impeccably impressive. Could I possibly have been wrong?"

  "..." Zheng Ren cursed internally.

  He had decided to ignore Su Yun by pretending to be asleep.

  "So not attending a university meant you had absolutely no experience speaking to anyone all night?" Su Yun was still talking to himself.

&nbs
p; "I say, you were completely blackout drunk last night after an entire night of binge drinking. Don't you want to at least get some sleep?" Zheng Ren could no longer hold back as he brutally ripped at Su Yun's emotional wounds.

  "What's a little booze gonna do, anyway? I was unprepared then, so next time I'll show that little nuisance what a truly strong alpha male is capable of."

  As expected, Su Yun was not the slightest bit bothered by Zheng Ren's verbal assault and continued to brag as usual.

  However, Zheng Ren was content as he knew a person like Su Yun was shameless beyond imagination.

  "Chief Zheng, how exactly did you hone your surgical skills?"

  "I'd be able to master it after watching it done once. I never had the chance to practice back then," Zheng Ren replied, brushing him off.

  "Who would've known you and I are literally the same, the only difference being the way you look. You look way too bland. If you had made the effort to actually focus entirely on your studies, I'd be forced to endure endless annoyance," Su Yun teased.

  Zheng Ren was once again speechless. Su Yun was known for his silver tongue, but it seemed that every single statement escaping his mouth would end the conversation with a huge, tight slap across his face.

  After a brief moment of silence, Su Yun spoke again: "I really envy you. Every man wishes nothing more than to be free, free to fly across the sky with nothing holding them back. Unfortunately for me, though, I am fated to sink under an ocean."

  "An ocean?" Zheng Ren was puzzled by his statement.

  "An ocean of women. If it wasn't for my unbreakable will resisting their temptations, I would've been long dead in that vast, bottomless sea."

  Zheng Ren was no longer interested in speaking to such a pretentious man. He proceeded to cover his entire head with his blanket with both his ears tightly muzzled, allowing him to clear his mind and fall asleep quicker.

  A full night of absolute silence went by.

  The snow had stopped and the next day was greeted with clear skies. It was another lovely day full of life.

  Since the roads were unusually slippery, everyone was similarly late to work due to heavy traffic.

  However, since people were now more aware, no fatal or serious road accidents occurred, barring some minor scr.a.p.es and bumps.

  During the start of the morning shift, Old Chief Physician Pan grew impatient and decided not to wait for anyone else as there were only a few people present. Hence, he brought along only Zheng Ren and Su Yun to routine room inspection.

  The patients were stable post-surgery and judging from their current condition, if they followed through with treatment, they could be discharged and allowed to return home.

  The patients under intensive care were all fine, so Old Chief Physician Pan led the duo to the gynecology department to check on the patient who had placental abruption.

  They had assessed that patient before and had been told that she had stopped bleeding yesterday. If she were to start bleeding again after a day or two, she would have had to undergo medically induced labor.

  The surgery had been a success, though, and she was now taking a nap.

  The patient's family was extremely grateful, as they had been completely terrified by the pre-operations briefing given by Chief Surgeon Su. They were all ecstatic to learn that the patient was safe and their hopes for another child were also preserved.

  Old Chief Physician Pan had a brief conversation with Chief Surgeon Su at the hallway before bringing Zheng Ren and Su Yun to the ICU to check on the status of a patient's extubation.

  After surgery of a pelvic fracture with bladder rupture that had also been extubated, a patient would be transferred over to the orthopedics department for the next step of their treatment. This was done in order to transfer the patients who had gone through splenectomy and liver restoration surgery back into the emergency ward.

  As they were about to leave, a wave of severe vomiting could be heard from down the hallway.

  "Doctor! Doctor!" A patient's family member yelled while frantically running out into the hallway.

  "This is a hospital, please lower your voice," Chief Surgeon Su said while pacing swiftly toward the medical ward.

  Zheng Ren felt that the vomit sounded odd. It was too violent. It sounded nothing like morning sickness due to a pregnancy, but rather as if the patient would puke their entire stomach out.

  He glanced over to Old Chief Physician Pan; as their eyes met, there was an unspoken endors.e.m.e.nt and he followed Chief Surgeon Su into the ward.

  The patient looked inhumanly pale with both hands shaking uncontrollably. Extremely nauseous, she was lying on her side, rocking back and forth and desperately trying to vomit but to no avail. Not even her gastric juices could be expelled.

  It seemed like she had nothing left to hurl.

  "Doctor, if there is really nothing you can do… just terminate her pregnancy." From the emotional man's tear-filled eyes, he was most likely the patient's husband. His fists were clenched tightly.

  Between the pregnant woman and her husband, it was obvious from their reactions that they were both absolutely determined to have a child. If they had never intended to do so, they would not have persisted this long.

  "I...I still really want to keep it, no." The pregnant lady managed a full sentence before once again violently vomiting.

  Those words alone seemed to exhaust most of her strength; she was vomiting way too violently. In her current state, her body was curled like a giant shrimp and were it not for her baby bump, her head would have undoubtedly touched her feet.

  Zheng Ren frowned at this sight as he recalled first looking upon her face earlier: seeing her huge eyes, full of life and spirit.

  However, the problem was…

  He glanced up toward the upper right corner of the System's display.

  As he expected, the patient's diagnosis was similar to his initial judgement.

  Zheng Ren proceeded to gently tug the edges of Chief Surgeon Su's sleeves. He whispered to her, "Can I have a word with you, Chief Surgeon Su?"

  "Sure." Chief Surgeon Su was slightly displeased.

  Since they were still undergoing room inspection and were currently dealing with a complicated patient, what could Zheng Ren, an emergency care doctor have in mind that could not be said later?

  She simply glared at him.

  "It's about the patient's condition. I have an unconventional thought in mind." His voice was low enough for only the both of them to hear.

  Su Yun simply stood behind Zheng Ren. He seemed to be thinking about something as he stared at the patient.

  Chief Surgeon Su frowned and said, "Little Li, you can discuss this with the patient's family. If they have no objections, the termination of her pregnancy can be approved."

  Some women had severe nausea during their pregnancy that did not ease up by the twelfth week. Instead, it would only grow increasingly severe throughout their entire pregnancy and leave them no choice but to terminate it

  This was the same condition this patient was currently suffering.

  It was the third time during the entire course of her pregnancy having symptoms of severe nausea. She was not new to this, and the severity of her extreme nausea required her to terminate her pregnancy.

  Chief Surgeon Su turned around and left the room while Zheng Ren followed behind her.

  The instant they left the room, she did not look back but instead went straight for her office.

  "Speak now. What do you have in mind?" Chief Surgeon Su looked displeased.

  Had it not been for Zheng Ren's previous idea of an interventional embolization to save a patient suffering placental abruption, thus displaying his praiseworthy level of clinical knowledge, would a Class Three Grade A hospital chief surgeon even listen to a single emergency care resident's advice?

  What a joke that would be.

  "Chief Surgeon Su, I think we should check the patient's thyroid function."

  "Hmm?"

  "I
think the patient's thyroid function might have some sort of underlying problem. She might be suffering from Graves' Disease," Zheng Ren explained patiently. Chief Surgeon Su's bad mood did not stifle his argument.

  It was not life-threatening, but the agony it caused was worse than being suffocated to death.

  This was a living hell of absolute hopelessness and despair.

  The sooner she was treated, the sooner this problem would be taken care of.

  Zheng Ren never knew how to say things...in a polite manner.

  "Graves' disease occurs in one in twenty thousand cases." Chief Surgeon Su contemplated in silence.

  Such a rare disease was not a common conclusion to come to, since there were tens of thousands of patients with nausea during pregnancy, each with too many possible causes to list. It would be impractical to test every single patient.

  There were plenty of doctors who ordered unnecessary tests and charged without reason. If these tests were carried out in order to eliminate every single possibility for the patient's nausea, they would be sued beyond imagination.

  Chief Surgeon Su grunted as she said, "Explain your reasoning."

  "The patient's eyes were huge."

  "Good lord…" Su Yun immediately burst into uncontrollable laughter behind them.

  Huge eyes; what kind of reason was this?

  Chapter 103 - Dwindling Manpower In The Emergency Care Department

  Abnormalities to one's thyroid function would result in bulging eyeballs.

  However, the pregnant woman earlier simply had a huge pair of eyes with double eyelids. They were far from what a person's eyes would look like if they suffered abnormal thyroid function.

  "Are you being serious right now?" Chief Surgeon Su began to sound impatient.

  She had actually considered the possibility of a rare disease; if the patient's eyes had actually been protruding, a thyroid function test would have been done long ago.

  However, the patient had not shown any symptoms, and this man had the audacity to be so certain of his judgement. Had it not been for his huge contribution a few days ago, Chief Surgeon Su would have brutally kicked him out of her office.