The Surgeon's Studio

On the operating table, the patient’s lower body was held in place by a plaster cast, her breathing assisted by a ventilator.

“Why did it take so long? I thought the family was rather compliant.” Su Yun was already at the operating table, all set and ready to go.

“The guy spotted the professor and requested he perform the surgery,” Zheng Ren replied as he scrubbed his hands.

Su Yun’s eyes widened before bursting into laughter.

He entered the operating theater in a sterile surgical gown, but as he was closing the lead door, his phone rang loudly from the inside the control room.

Zheng Ren halted. “Have a look.”

Chu Yanran checked the number. “Emergency department,” she called out.

It was one of Zheng Ren’s fears: having one ongoing surgery while another emergency case required his attention. It was manageable with the added manpower, but still not ideal.

He made his decision. “Su Yun, go check on the emergency.”

“Can you handle the surgery alone?” Su Yun asked while taking off his gloves, despite his faith in Zheng Ren.

“Yes.”

“Zheng, I can step in as your assistant,” Professor Rudolph Wagner interjected abruptly. “This pretty old lass’s[1] condition shouldn’t be too complex.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Zheng Ren and Su Yun were momentarily baffled.

Old lass? Pretty old lass?

The foreign accent and the Northeastern slang was an odd combination coming from the professor’s mouth.

Su Yun held back his laughter as he removed his surgical gown, leaving for the emergency department while pulling on his white coat.

He wanted to ask about the choice of slang but prioritized emergency cases over gossip.

It could be anything from acute appendicitis to a major emergency. It was best to bring his A-game.

Although Old Chief Physician Pan was available, Su Yun did not want to trouble the old man unless it was critical.

In the operating room, Zheng Ren’s brows furrowed. “Who taught you that?”

Professor Rudolph Wagner was amused by the question. His words had stunned the young doctors.

“Chang taught me. She said ‘old lass’ was equivalent to ‘little miss’ in this district,” the professor said.

Chu Yanran pursed her lips to hide her laughter but her shaking shoulders betrayed her.

This joker, Chang Yue, was toying with the foreign professor.

The age gap between the professor and the patient was not wide enough to warrant the title.

“Scrub in.” Zheng Ren swept the issue under the carpet. He would speak to Chang Yue later to convince the professor to leave. Although the man’s presence had brought an international flair to their department, it was getting on Zheng Ren’s nerves.

Professor Rudolph Wagner happily went to put on a lead apron and scrub in.

Zheng Ren began artery cannulation, placed the introducer sheath and inserted the guide wire.

When the professor was done at the sink, Zheng Ren said sternly, “Professor, be quick. I’m switching on radiation.”

The professor was taken aback. He struggled to find the words as he said, “Zheng… Boss Zheng, it’s too soon to turn on the equipment. The radiation is bad for you. The X-rays may be directed but scientific—”

“The guide wire is already in position. If all you want to do is talk, please stay in the control room,” Zheng Ren said, interrupting the professor’s lecture.

He had gone off to scrub in and this man had already reached the target site? Professor Rudolph Wagner was filled with disbelief but he quickened his pace to keep up.

Chu Yanzhi laced up his sterile surgical gown and sent him back inside. The lead door shut tight. Without waiting for the professor, Zheng Ren commenced imaging.

[Another international surgery… Can we request some neurosurgery?]

[Neurosurgery would be a good topic to livestream. It’ll definitely benefit us, broaden our horizons.]

[Quiet down. The surgeon is treating an adenomyosis patient. I’m not familiar with this disorder and am looking it up on Moudu[2].]

[You’re a doctor but you need to search for a disorder on Moudu? Embarrassing.]

[Adenomyosis is a complex disorder that’s hard to cure, according to Moudu.]

Routine banter picked up as the livestream started on Xinglin Garden.

By the time Professor Rudolph was done and ready to assist, Zheng Ren was already analyzing the imaging display.

“Boss Zheng, you didn’t perform superselection before imaging. Isn’t that too reckless?” the professor commented.

Zheng Ren had once thought Su Yun’s snide remarks unbearable, but Professor Rudolph Wagner’s incessant commentary was far worse. He found himself wanting Su Yun back if only to remove the professor from the operating room.

He really had to get Chang Yue to make the professor leave.

Right now, he would much rather perform the surgery solo than endure the constant interruptions brought upon by Professor Rudolph.

The sudden change in salutations was definitely Chang Yue’s doing as well.

He continued to ignore the professor as he completed imaging of the left uterine artery, where superselection continued; the guide wire ended up in one of its smaller arterial branches.

Ten minutes later, the professor was silent.

The procedure was a novel method in treating adenomyosis!

Accuracy of the superselection could rival that of a robot. Despite using a guide wire one size thicker than what Professor Rudolph was used to, Zheng Ren had managed to select each arterial branch on his first attempt and follow through with embolization. The process was repeated like clockwork.

Two vessels in and Professor Rudolph realized what Zheng Ren’s plan was.

The man was using interventional embolization to eliminate all potential clusters that could develop into adenomyoma.

Reckless was the wrong word to describe this man.

Upon his realization, the professor assisted Zheng Ren in silence.

His change in attitude gave Zheng Ren a taste of what it was like to have an extremely adept assistant.

Su Yun was great but lacked knowledge of interventional procedures and methods.

The professor was able to sense what Zheng Ren wanted to do and make the necessary adjustments.

With him as an assistant, the surgery proceeded 30% quicker than usual.

[The surgeon’s hands seem faster again. Am I the only one who noticed?]

[Yeah. I feel this surgery might be easier?]

[Hey. It’s fine if you’re uninformed but there is a line!]

Doctors who could not make sense of the procedure left the Xinglin Garden livestream. Most of the remaining viewers treated the livestream like a chatbox.

The few who actually understood the surgeon’s methods turned off commentary and watched the stream in earnest.

A small-town interventional surgeon was off to a corner of his office, also watching on his phone with rapt attention.

The hospital prohibited phone usage during working hours.

Despite the rule, he did not want to pass up the opportunity to learn from an expert.

Adenomyosis!

It had come under his knife a few times, but most had been failures; even the successes remained mysteries to him.

He was curious as to what the surgeon would do.

[1] 老妹儿 is northeastern slang, referring to a youngest sister or a very young girl in general.

[2] A play on Baidu, the search engine.