The Surgeon's Studio

Three years ago, when Zheng Ren was still young and inexperienced, an incident occured in the clinic.

A doctor prescribed an oral medication in capsule form to a patient. The patient asked about the daily dosage and left. Later, it was revealed the patient consumed the aluminium packaging along with the capsule.

Yes, both the capsule and the aluminium foil.

The patient argued that the hospital staff did not give clear instructions as to how to take the medication. He thought the aluminium packaging was edible.

The whole incident was extremely ludicrous.

Zheng Ren never found out how the incident was settled in the end.

There were only two solutions: First would be to compensate the patient and let him go wreck havoc in other hospitals. Second would be to stand firm and let the hospital’s legal team do what they were paid for.

The doctor and nurse would have their salaries docked, and the hospital would have to include, ‘Remind patients to not consume the aluminium packaging,’ into their standard operating procedure.

Although the second option was more time-consuming, it was the proper way to address such incidents.

Today, a patient inquired about the medication dosage and Nurse Song provided the standard explanation.

She did not forget to remind the patient about the inedible aluminium foil packaging.

When she was done explaining, the patient was furious.

The patient was offended.

All he wanted was the dosage information. What did the nurse mean about the packaging?

Did she think he was retarded?

Tempers flared and the patient immediately filed a complaint against the nurse.

Regardless, Nurse Song did nothing wrong. She was abiding hospital protocol.

Zheng Ren did not know whether to laugh or cry.

What nonsense was this?

Old Chief Physician Pan was equally as frustrated. He consoled the young nurse and told her to not worry about the patient’s complaint. As the department chief, he would support her and provide evidence of the hospital’s standard operating procedure. If there was anyone to blame, it would be the person who wrote the procedure. They spent 20 minutes placating the nurse.

When the nurse left the room, Zheng Ren’s mouth was as dry as a desert.

It was tiring, more tiring than performing two TIPS surgeries back to back.

Zheng Ren knew problems like these would crop up every now and then.

As more potent drugs hit the shelf, the list of side effects that came with them got longer.

The hospital was a public service and they interacted with people from all walks of life. Disagreements and confrontations were unavoidable.

With the nurse gone, Zheng Ren took a seat across from Old Chief Physician Pan and said, “Chief Pan, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Have a drink. We’re not in a rush.” Old Chief Physician Pan pointed to the water dispenser.

Zheng Ren took a disposable cup and filled it with water. It took three cups of water before his thirst was quenched.

He proceeded to tell Old Chief Physician Pan about the case of the old smoker. He summarized the observations he and Chang Yue made, along with the solutions they discussed.

Old Chief Physician Pan gave his agreement. “Sure. Since we have done our best to screen for any form of illness and found nothing, I’ll have a talk with the family about the patient’s reluctance to go home.”

The old man’s youngest family member was at least 60 years old, hence it was better to have Old Chief Physician Pan do the talking. Zheng Ren and Chang Yue were simply too young to have any sway with the family.

Old Chief Physician Pan would see to the matter.

There was an art to delivering unpleasant news and having the age bonus would give them more leverage.

Now that that was settled, Zheng Ren switched topics. “Chief Pan, the Secondary Hospital has requested for me to assist them in some surgeries.”

“Oh?” Old Chief Physician Pan’s ears perked at the mention of surgeries. He found the drama of medical lawsuits to be quite dull and was glad for a change in topic. “Details, please. What procedure?”

“In the past week, I helped Department Chief Xia with two TIPS surgeries. During the second surgery, Director Zhang from the Secondary Hospital came over to observe. After the surgery, he approached me and invited me to his hospital to perform the TIPS procedure,” Zheng Ren reported.

“The probability of success?” It was the only concern Old Chief Physician Pan had.

In Sea City General Hospital, Old Chief Physician Pan was confident he could shield Zheng Ren from any fallout should he fail his task. He had the clout and jurisdiction to perform damage control.

If something went wrong in the Secondary Hospital, Zheng Ren’s small shoulders would not be able to bear the burden.

“I do not see any foreseeable problems. I managed to reduce the surgery time to an hour and Professor Rudolf Wagner would be accompanying me as my assistant. If we encounter any extreme situations, I’m sure the professor can handle it,” Zheng Ren answered.

Old Chief Physician Pan thought for a few seconds, then smiled and nodded. “Go ahead then. When do you plan to leave?”

“With your approval, I will arrange something with Director Zhang,” Zheng Ren said.

Old Chief Physician Pan was satisfied with Zheng Ren’s answer. “I approve. Why wouldn’t I? You’re growing up so fast.”

His words were bittersweet.

Zheng Ren’s career in the emergency department was relatively short. In three months, he had gone from a junior doctor to a fly-in surgeon, outpacing a normal ten-year career progression by leaps and bounds.

“I could never have done all this if it weren’t for you,” Zheng Ren said sincerely.

“It has nothing to do with me,” Old Chief Physician Pan replied with a smile.

Nothing more was said between the old department chief and the young chief resident. Both parties were humble and further talks would only devolve into a self-deprecation match.

As Zheng Ren was about to leave the office, Old Chief Physician Pan asked, “When is Department Chief Kong from Imperial Capital calling you over for his surgeries?”

“I have not gotten any news. I’ll wait for Department Chief Kong and your arrangement,” Zheng Ren said.

“Once the call comes, just let me know. The Imperial Capital surgeries are important and success is a must!” Old Chief Physician Pan sounded like a commander during wartimes.

“Yes, sir.” Zheng Ren nodded and left the office.

He took a detour to check on the observation unit. After making sure there were no misdiagnoses, he went back to the emergency ward office.

When he entered, he saw a familiar face.

“Miss Zheng, you’re back,” Zheng Ren greeted the woman with a smile.

Zheng Yunxia saw Zheng Ren and quickly stood up to greet him. “It’s nice to see you again, Chief Zheng.”

“Sit, sit.”

After her second surgery, Zheng Yunxia had recovered remarkably well. Her physical and mental health were restored to her pre-cancer state.

She had gotten some jobs and was working hard to earn a living.

Although Zheng Ren and Chang Yue had arranged for a huge discount for her surgery, she still had to fork out a few thousand yuan for her periodic check ups and treatments.

A few thousand yuan was a measly sum to some families, but to Zheng Yunxia, every penny had to be earned through hard work.

The follow up surgery was scheduled every 35 days. It was a short time period to earn a few thousand yuan.

Chang Yue, Xie Yiren, and the Chu sisters had offered to help, but were adamantly rejected. Zheng Yunxia believed in the saying, ‘Help the starving, not the poor.’ If she could get the money, she would proceed with the next cycle of surgeries. Otherwise, she would just have to live with it.