Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Young Dai was still in a semi-comatose state. His wife, Young Feng, fetched a pot of hot water and carefully wiped his feet and hands.
From time to time, she looked at her husband and seemed to want to say something, but Young Dai never opened his eyes.
“You should sit and rest for a while.” A nurse came to Young Feng and said softly. Then, she felt her throat itch, and she coughed.
The technique of speaking softly was rare for ICU nurses.
Being crude, fierce, and having a bad temper were the true traits of ICU nurses, but they truly sympathized with Young Feng, which was why even the nurses subconsciously lowered their voices.
“Thank you.” Young Feng reluctantly stood up, knowing that the nurse was very being very nice, forced herself to smile, and whispered, “When Young Dai first entered the ICU, I hoped that he can get well sooner and go home earlier… but in the end, every time, I have to go home by myself…”
“Isn’t the surgery already scheduled? You might be able to both go back after the surgery is over and stay for a few days over here.” The nurse didn’t know how to console her. Some of the patients in the ICU returned happily, but there were more of them who left in silence.
If they had to say that they were already used to this sight, then yes, they had already indeed become accustomed to it.
However, the nurses who were also women could not help but empathize with family members like Young Feng.
She gave up on a good family, courageously eloped with her lover, established her own small family, and worked hard to finally establish a career. Then, the news of her husband’s stomach cancer came…
The nurses looked at Young Feng and felt their hearts go out for her.
“It’s better if her husband found another lover instead. At least she could ask him to divorce her without taking anything. Then, she gets the money.” The old nurse sat at the nurse’s desk, looked at Young Feng’s back from a distance, and blabbered a little.
“Then I would rather my husband be ill and die,” the young nurse beside her muttered, dissatisfied with the plot set by the old nurse.
“It’s cleaner if he died in a car crash. Not only would she get all the money, she’ll be compensated on top of it.” A senior nurse sighed and seemed to have thoroughly researched this matter.
“Can’t you think of something good instead?” Doctor Yan, the ICU’s attending physician, could not bear to listen further.
The young nurse said half-jokingly, “It’s best if he’s not ill, but we wouldn’t see those cases over here. In all honesty, I’ll just be thankful that he’s cured. I think the couple still has a bit of savings. I heard that they run a wholesale business. Sigh, hopefully, they won’t end up with no money in their pockets, and the wife even loses her husband. They’re both business people, they’ll need money for the turnover of capital.”
Doctor Yan smiled, not knowing what was going on. “It’s not that easy to be cured.”
As he was talking, Doctor Yan’s eyes fell on Ling Ran, who had just entered.
Ling Ran had just taken a hot bath and dried his hair. His hair was slightly fluffy, and he looked like a young lion who just woke up.
Doctor Yan was so excited that all his fatigue was gone.
When he faced Ling Ran now, he did not dare to show any signs of inattentiveness. He cleared his throat quickly and came forward to say, “Doctor Ling, you’re here for a ward round again?”
“Yes. How’s Young Dai’s situation?” Ling Ran directly called the patient’s name but did not call the bed number. That was because the surgery for stomach metastasis from liver cancer was truly a major surgery worth remembering.
Young Feng, who heard movement, stood up and looked at Ling Ran in panic.
To her, every doctor’s arrival was worrying.
Doctor Yan glanced at her and said, “He’s in a stable situation. A CT scan was performed this morning. The area has increased slightly.”
“Let me see.” Ling Ran craned his neck forward and looked at the screen in front of him without touching anything.
A nurse immediately pulled out Young Dai’s CT scan and then adjusted it to a convenient angle for Ling Ran.
“The pupil sign is very obvious.” Ling Ran looked at the plain film with a solemn expression.
Tumors with liver metastases, due to their strong metabolism and relatively insufficient blood supply, would have symptoms of necrosis at an early stage. A large number of tumor cells would starve to death at the center of the lesion, resulting in a low-density shadow in the center of the lesion.
Since the tumor cells at the center died, there would thus be different degrees of grayness reflected on the CT scan, and a tumor with a larger area would have different gray levels from normal cells, such tumors were called pupil signs when seen in CT scans because the lesion looked like a pupil.
If the area of central necrosis was so large that the area of necrosis was larger than the tumor, the CT film would show a doughnut sign.
Those in between were called the bullseye sign.
Young Dai’s liver metastasis was not very extensive, which was also the basis for his surgery being approved, but the tumor had obviously not stopped growing…
“He received chemotherapy once?” Ling Ran asked in a whisper.
“Yes.”
“See if you can make further adjustments, and we’ll try to start the surgery tomorrow.” Ling Ran did not immediately request for a surgery. For cases of stomach cancer with liver metastasis, a certain degree of chemotherapy must first be performed, and then the effect of the surgery will be better.
Doctor Yan also went through the related articles over the past few days and nodded in approval. He glanced at Young Feng and said to Ling Ran, “Doctor Ling, the patient’s family is just ahead. Would you like to say something to them?
“Say what?” Ling Ran asked straightforwardly and simply.
Doctor Yan froze and said, “Preoperative discussion?”
“Zuo Cidian has already talked to her.” Ling Ran paused and said, “The family chose to do surgery to extend his survival time, right?”
“Certainly.” Doctor Yan sighed and understood Ling Ran what he meant.
Combined radical liver and stomach surgery was said to be radical, but it was unlikely that the person could be completely cured. Only very few people have miraculously survived longer than expected, and almost none of the ordinary patients could survive through the three-year survival period even after receiving the surgery; there was not even a need to record the statistics for a five-year survival rate.
However, compared with waiting for death in the ICU, or even dying instantly in coma, there was a certain probability of survival for two years and a higher probability of survival for one year, which was the significance of this surgery. It is up to the patient and his family to decide whether to spend the money and energy on this surgery, along with enduring the pain that came from the treatment.
Doctor Yan could not help looking at Young Feng and Young Dai, and he said, “For them, even if they have only another one year to stay with each other, they would be happy.”
Ling Ran also looked over for a while as well before he continued his rounds. The patients who had undergone hepatectomy a few days ago had not yet been discharged from the hospital. For these patients, a hepatectomy operation was also a life-threatening experience, and they did not know what the future would hold for them.
*Beep Beep*
The monitor of a hospital bed sounded unexpectedly.
Ling Ran took a side step and strode over to the bed. He took a look and said, “ST-elevation, myocardial infarction, inform the Cardiology Department.”
As he spoke, Ling Ran started to perform external chest compressions.
“Doctor Ling, you’re performing CPR by himself?” It was the younger brother, Wang Chuanwen’s time to come and visit Wang Chuanli at this time. He then saw that Ling Ran was already performing compressions with all his strength.
The requirements for external chest compressions were extremely high when it came to performing effective CPRs, and in-hospital resuscitation was also the most efficient out of all forms of resuscitation, hence, Ling Ran naturally went and performed external chest compressions, trusting no one else but himself to give the patient the highest chance to survive.
The young nurse next to him was also familiar with CPR. She placed both her hands under her chin. “Because Doctor Ling’s CPR is the best.”
“The most effective.” Another nurse who was silently changing the patient’s medication said in favor. Her eyes were not quite focused.
“He’s really good.” The senior nurse who knew Wang Chuanwen, intentionally stressed on this point.
Wang Chuanwen smiled and seemed to be deep in thought.
