The Surgeon’s Studio

Chapter 411: Old Chief Physician Pan’s Solution

“A patient with Rapunzel Syndrome will require professional psychiatric help. If you can’t find a suitable doctor, my assistant knows someone in Imperial Capital. We can provide you the contact details,” Zheng Ren said to Wang Yutong’s father.

Zheng Ren felt he had to stress the importance of therapy. “She has to seek professional help for this. If it goes untreated, the next round of surgery will be more complicated. There could be issues like abdominal adhesions and intestinal obstruction.”

Wang Yutong’s father nodded.

Department Chief Sun was impressed by Zheng Ren’s knowledge. In his decades of service, he only remembered a single case of Rapunzel Syndrome.

Back then, the surgeon performed a bowel obstruction surgery to remove the trichobezoar, but never bothered to provide any mental health advice.

Without addressing the root cause of the bowel obstruction, the patient was likely to end up in the hospital again for a second bowel obstruction surgery.

Zheng Ren answered a few more questions from the patient’s father. Once he was satisfied, Zheng Ren excused himself and went into the operating room. He placed the yellow plastic bag in a corner. The pathology department would run some tests on the sample. He went to change out of his surgical scrubs.

Department Chief Sun was one step behind Zheng Ren. He brought out all the praises and compliments he had once used to sweet-talk his mentor, showering Zheng Ren with accolades and applause.

The flattery rolled off Zheng Ren as if he was waterproof.

Zheng Ren wore an unmoving smile as his mind wandered. He was thinking of the TIPS surgeries in the Secondary Hospital.

A single TIPS surgery was worth a few hundred skill points. In the past, gathering experience points for interventional surgery was incredibly tedious.

That all changed when he learned the TIPS procedure.

In general surgery, a liver transplant surgery could net 500 skill points, but availability was an issue.

Unless Su Yun’s previous research on 3D bioprinting organs made it to clinical trials.

That was in the far future.

For now, Zheng Ren’s focus remained on interventional surgery. He was ambitious and wanted to achieve a Prime rank.

He wondered how it would feel, reaching the peak of a surgery skill tree.

Zheng Ren emerged in clean clothes and bid Department Chief Sun goodbye.

Before they parted, Department Chief Sun expressed his gratitude again and reminded Zheng Ren of his friend’s arrival tomorrow for the TIPS surgery.

Department Chief Sun was puzzled when Zheng Ren made a request for a diffusion-weighted MRI scan of the patient’s liver, but he held his tongue.

Zheng Ren paid a visit to the Rapunzel Syndrome patient in the emergency ward.

Her vital signs were stable after waking from the anesthesia.

In a time when the whole country was facing a shortage of anesthesiologists, Zheng Ren was thankful for the Chu sisters. They were professionals and Zheng Ren was glad to have them on his team.

To perform surgery was teamwork. If the anesthesia process failed, Zheng Ren would be in trouble.

He made a round through the emergency ward. He stopped at the room of the 16-year-old girl who was battling acute appendicitis. Despite the intravenous administration of antibiotics, she was not recovering. Her face was scrunched up in pain.

The System display was a bright red.

Although the patient was not exhibiting signs of appendix rupture, the System was able to examine the patient’s current condition and warn Zheng Ren about impending disaster.

This would not do!

Zheng Ren frowned. He left the room without speaking with the family.

A ruptured appendix without surgical intervention would lead to acute peritonitis: a critical condition. Zheng Ren was worried the parents would refuse surgery, even at that critical stage.

He recalled Fan Tianshui’s appendix experience. Despite being built like an ox, the disease sapped all of his energy.

When he was suffering from a ruptured appendix and acute peritonitis, Fan Tianshui had been on the brink of death.

This was a problem Zheng Ren could not solve.

Therefore, he went to Old Chief Physician Pan.

It was only natural to look for one’s superior whenever one encountered problems at work. Su Yun would come to Zheng Ren for help, and Zheng Ren would look for the Old Chief Physician.

Old Chief Physician Pan was no longer attending multiple hospital bureaucratic meetings a day. These days, the emergency department staff could easily find him in his office. The man was nearing 70 years, but he was still the lifeline of the emergency department.

Zheng Ren knocked on the door to Old Chief Physician Pan’s office. The voice inside beckoned him and he opened the door.

Old Chief Physician Pan adjusted his presbyopic glasses and placed the article he was reading aside. There was an English-Chinese dictionary on the table. “Zheng Ren, do you need something?”

“Chief Pan, there’s an acute appendicitis patient in the ward. The family is being uncooperative and I don’t have any solutions.” Zheng Ren got straight to the point, even though most doctors would spend a good few minutes complaining about the family before getting to the main point.

Old Chief Physician Pan tapped his fingers on the office table. His eyes closed as he processed the information.

After a few minutes, he asked, “Do you have the family’s address?”

“Lot 15, 5th Street, Lianhua Village, Zhonghe District.”

“Okay.” Old Chief Physician Pan nodded and took out a notebook. His finger trailed down the page as his eyes scanned the rows of words.

After a few pages, he found the contact he was looking for.

He picked up the phone receiver and dialed the number.

“Er Zhuzi, this is Old Pan,” Old Chief Physician Pan said casually.

Zheng Ren was impressed by Old Chief Physician Pan’s connections. Zheng Ren did not even know where Lianhua Village was.

“Huh? Then, get him for me,” Old Chief Physician Pan said.

The phone was passed to another person on the other end.

“Er Zhuzi, I see you have a personal assistant now?” Old Chief Physician Pan joked.

“Ah, the countryside. No, no, I have not finished the food you sent me last year. There’s something I wanted to ask you.

“I have a patient here from the Zhonghe District; the family is refusing surgical treatment. The patient is in critical condition and might not survive if we don’t operate. Can you help with that?”

Zheng Ren was speechless.

From Old Chief Physician Pan’s words, Zheng Ren believed the man on the phone was an important person in Lianhua Village–maybe an elected village official.

Old Chief Physician Pan was full of surprises.

He did not even attempt to persuade the patient’s family and went straight for the jugular.

This might be the best solution to their problem.

Old Chief Physician Pan carried on talking on the phone for a few minutes.

Once the conversation was over, Old Chief Physician Pan turned to Zheng Ren. “Zheng Ren, the mayor of the Zhonghe District will be here tonight. Will you be available?”

“Yes, of course.” Zheng Ren felt the pressure on him.

“Good. Bring Chang Yue and Su Yun along.”

Huh…

“Rural folk like their alcohol. The norm is to drink until you pass out. If we don’t do it, the next time we need their help won’t be as easy,” Old Chief Physician said with a grin.

“Okay.” Zheng Ren got up and bowed slightly. He was grateful for Old Chief Physician Pan’s willingness to help.

They had grown familiar, but Zheng Ren never forgot his respect for the Old Chief. The man had a special place in Zheng Ren’s heart.

The bow was sincere.

Zheng Ren left the office. Outside, he took out his phone to text Su Yun and Chang Yue about tonight’s plan. As he looked around, a patient passing by startled him.