Chapter 321 - 225: Foundation Signing Ceremony! Starting to Purchase Laboratory Instruments (2)

Chapter 321: Chapter 225: Foundation Signing Ceremony! Starting to Purchase Laboratory Instruments (2)

His co-worker was holding the severed part of the finger, which was inside a plastic bag wrapped with two pouches of iced soy milk.

Clearly, his co-worker had done some research online before coming and knew that keeping the finger cold would increase the chances of a successful reattachment surgery.

The patient, Tan Xin, was drenched in sweat from the pain, and his lips were pale.

His injured hand trembled with pain from time to time, but he gritted his teeth and bore it.

The co-worker unwrapped the severed finger and showed it to Wu Ting.

"Doctor, can my buddy’s finger be reattached?"

Wu Ting was confident in his ability to suture tendons, blood vessels, and nerves, but he lacked the expertise to make a judgment on reattaching the bone.

"Yasui, contact the orthopedics department. Have them send a doctor over immediately. We need a consultation."

"First, I’m going to stop the bleeding and clean the wound. We’ll need to get an X-ray before we can come up with a surgical plan..."

Wu Ting took Tan Xin to a treatment room, and the attending physician from the orthopedics department arrived shortly after.

Dr. Deng from orthopedics examined Tan Xin’s condition with Wu Ting, and the two of them conferred.

Wu Ting began to explain the situation to the patient:

"Given the circumstances, the success rate for a finger reattachment surgery is quite high. How about this: have your co-worker go handle your hospital admission for you..."

Hearing that he needed to be admitted to the hospital, Tan Xin hesitated for a moment and instinctively asked:

"Director Wu, does finger reattachment require a hospital stay? Can’t the surgery just be done today? How long would it take?"

Wu Ting made a rough estimate:

"For a standard finger reattachment, assuming there are no complications, the hospital stay is about two weeks."

"After the reattachment surgery, you’ll need strict bed rest. You can’t get up and walk around. Frequent changes in posture can cause your blood pressure to fluctuate, which is very dangerous for the tiny blood vessels in the reattached finger. It can easily lead to vasoconstriction and spasms, causing a thrombosis and the failure of the entire surgery..."

As Tan Xin listened to Wu Ting’s patient explanation, deep worry lines formed on his young forehead.

"So, Director Wu, how much would this surgery cost?"

Wu Ting and Dr. Deng did a quick calculation:

"Based on the rates here at City First Hospital, the cost for one finger is about 30,000, which includes anesthesia, the surgical procedure, and post-operative care."

Dr. Deng, who held Wu Ting in high regard, chimed in, "Tan Xin, our Director Wu is one of the best in all of Jin Province when it comes to suturing tendons, blood vessels, and nerve anastomosis. Having him as your lead surgeon will greatly increase the chances of restoring function to your finger."

Wu Ting looked at Tan Xin and said with conviction:

"Your construction site is nearby, it was a clean cut, and you did a great job preserving the finger by keeping it cold. I’m confident there’s a very high probability of restoring its function after the surgery."

Hearing that Wu Ting was very likely to be able to save his finger, Tan Xin’s co-worker was thrilled.

"That’s fantastic! Tan Xin, I’ll go get you admitted right away. Let’s get this surgery done as soon as possible!"

Just then, Tan Xin’s phone vibrated. He picked it up with his left hand and glanced at the screen.

It was a text message:

"Honey, it’s time for this month’s living expenses~"

"And... my birthday is coming up soon, too."

Tan Xin’s wife was a homemaker and didn’t have a job, so all of their expenses fell on his shoulders.

Their child had just started elementary school this year, which came with many new expenses.

Every month after getting paid, Tan Xin would transfer the bulk of his salary to his wife, keeping only a little for his own living expenses.

As a man, he believed that no matter how hard things got for him, he couldn’t let his wife and child suffer.

’He mentally calculated his current savings. After he transferred the living expenses and set aside money for his wife’s birthday gift... and then there was their child. The kid had developmental delays and needed regular hospital treatments.’

Tan Xin did a quick mental calculation. If he was hospitalized for this reattachment surgery, it would cost him several months’ salary, and that wasn’t even including the wages he’d lose from being out of work.

Tan Xin wasn’t like someone with a steady company job; he was a carpenter who took on odd jobs. He didn’t even have a formal employment contract.

To save money, he had paid for his wife’s social insurance but couldn’t bring himself to pay for his own. As a result, he had no medical insurance.

Tan Xin was from the countryside, and there were plenty of other carpenters in his village. He’d seen his fair share of men who had cut themselves or even lost a finger.

’It’s just part of my index finger, anyway. Losing it won’t affect my ability to work that much.’

Taking a deep breath, Tan Xin asked:

"Director Wu, I have a question. What if I don’t get it reattached? What would that involve, and how much would it cost?"

"It’s just a piece of my finger, after all. It won’t affect my life that much."

Wu Ting was clearly taken aback by Tan Xin’s question.

Dr. Deng from orthopedics, however, had seen many patients like this. Looking at the young carpenter, he guessed that he was refusing the surgery because of the cost.

"If we don’t reattach it, we just need to smooth the exposed end of the bone and then suture the skin over it. Post-op, you’d just need a few dressing changes for the wound. It would cost around five or six hundred."

Although he felt reluctant to say it, Dr. Deng laid out the option.

In reality, for an orthopedic surgeon, this type of amputation is a destructive procedure, not a reconstructive one. The technique and difficulty are very low. But it means cutting off a piece of a healthy, whole person, and ultimately, it’s something they can’t bear to do. It’s a surgery most orthopedic surgeons are reluctant to perform.

The cost, of course, was vastly lower than that of the reconstructive surgery.

Every year at City First Hospital, there were plenty of patients who, when faced with the choice between reconstruction and amputation, chose the latter.

After comparing the two costs, Tan Xin looked at the severed part of his finger, nestled in its ice pack, and didn’t hesitate for long.