The Surgeon's Studio

Chapter 335: Overindulged in Almonds

“Chief Zheng, what do you think?” Professor Rudolph asked curiously.

“Slow intestinal strangulation is likely caused by accumulation of food. Fecaliths can also cause intestinal strangulation but that would be rapid. In line with the patient’s food consumption last night, I hypothesized it was likely due to insufficient chewing of solid foods that gave rise to intussusception,” Zheng Ren said.

Su Yun made a noise. He could not come up with something sarcastic to say to Zheng Ren.

“If the patient had agreed to an abdominal CT scan in the morning, we would probably not have had to resort to surgery,” Zheng Ren muttered.

Su Yun wondered for a moment. “How would you prevent the intussusception?”

“By drinking cola,” Zheng Ren said without missing a beat. “Large gulps of cola; if she had let the carbon dioxide bloat her intestines, it’s likely this surgery could have been avoided. Unfortunately, the patient made light of her situation and refused the CT scan.”

Su Yun was silent.

The professor was lost in thought.

Zheng Ren removed over 20 almonds from the patient’s intestines. He probed the organ and found no more foreign solids, then reoriented the telescoping intestines and used warm saline gauze to cover it.

The root cause of this one’s intussusception differed from that of their previous patient.

Strangulation and necrosis were not as severe in this case. There was a high probability that no resection would be required.

As for the cola treatment method, Zheng Ren had read about it in a scientific report.

He had no idea if it actually worked in practice.

All in all, the surgery had proven his hypothesis accurate. Su Yun was right; it was a slap to the professor’s face.

Zheng Ren cared little about Professor Rudolph’s pride, though.

Ten minutes later, he removed the gauze.

The organ was red and alive with its blood supply restored.

They stitched up the intestines and rinsed the peritoneal cavity. A final check was performed to ensure no foreign objects or bleeding had been missed before they began stitching the patient back up.

The surgery had not taken long. There had been no System mission, so Zheng Ren surmised that it had considered the surgery easy.

That was good. The patient would recover swiftly and be out of the hospital in no time.

“How is Yang Lili?” Zheng Ren asked as he closed the abdomen.

“So-so. She’s showing signs of disseminated intravascular coagulation; we’ve started her on medication.”

“Urine output?”

The kidneys and brain were the two major organs impacted by severe blood loss.

If there was kidney damage, the patient would have zero to reduced urine output. At that point, a thorough check would be required to mitigate the problem.

If the problem persisted, it would be an uphill battle for the patient.

No urine was often a bad sign.

“Low urine output, around 10ml per hour,” Su Yun said.

“That’s reassuring.”

“We’ll have to monitor her for longer.” Su Yun’s voice sounded strained.

“Thank you for your dedication.”

“It’s my duty.”

Five minutes later, the final stitch was made. The anesthetic slowly wore off and the patient stirred.

They moved her onto a stretcher trolley. Su Yun and the professor prepared the patient for transport while Zheng Ren showed the family the contents of the surgical tray.

The family was waiting outside the operating room, their earlier hostility lost.

Patients like this were simply naive, stirring up trouble not out of malice but from ignorance. Many other patients and families were similar.

When they saw the almonds in the surgical tray, they were shocked into silence.

“I take it there were almonds served yesterday? She probably overindulged,” Zheng Ren said.

“Yes... We drank during dinner before going for karaoke. I didn’t notice she ate so many almonds,” the patient’s husband muttered.

If he had known this would happen... Ah, there was no way he could have.

Zheng Ren watched each individual expression. They would probably experience lingering trauma from karaoke.

As they talked, Su Yun wheeled the patient out of the operating room.

Zheng Ren and Chu Yanran took over and pushed the patient back to the wards while Su Yun left for the ICU to resume his post.

The surgery had been a respite for him.

In the war, the patient was hooked up to a vital signs monitor, her condition stable. She began conversing normally as the anesthetic wore off.

Zheng Ren was certain they had stepped in in time to save her.

He went to log his surgery record and left the other paperwork to Chang Yue.

Communicating with patients’ families was Chang Yue’s expertise. Despite the rewards and skills given to him by the System, he still found himself behind her in that regard.

She was indeed incredible.

The professor had left the hospital in resignation. His imagined victory remained so: a distant dream. He had been slapped in the face by the truth, a personal experience to associate with the Chinese term.

Zheng Ren made his rounds and found nothing that needed his attention. He texted Xie Yiren.

Seconds later, a reply came.

[Done? Zone D.]

His heart fluttered in his chest. He had gotten used to the bachelor’s life—toiling day and night without anyone asking about him. This was a good change.

He bid Chang Yue goodbye before heading down to the basement to find Xie Yiren, humming a tune as he walked.

It was late at night but there was still a significant number of vehicles in the car park.

The Northeastern winter was cold and many employees did not own garages. Instead, they left their cars in the hospital’s warm basement parking.

Zheng Ren searched around the area.

He was hopeless at recognizing faces, and that weakness apparently extended to cars as well.

Zone D... Red car... Zheng Ren repeated the words in his head. There were not many red cars and Zone D was a small area to cover.

Zheng Ren searched and searched again but could not find the sleek and robust Volvo XC60.

Odd. Where was the car?

Zheng Ren sent a text.

[Where are you? Can’t find your car.]

[Look up. I’m looking right at you.]

The reply was instant.

The basement parking was quiet and devoid of life. Cars lined the pathway, cold and unmoving.

Goosebumps crawled up his skin when his phone lit up, startling him.

He looked up and saw Xie Yiren smiling at him. She was less than five meters away.

Zheng Ren was speechless at himself.

What had he been searching for just now? She was literally five meters away.

He resigned himself to his fate of being forever a victim of face blindness.

Pocketing his phone, he jogged toward the car, opened the door and got in.

“What were you looking for just now?” Xie Yiren asked.

“I couldn’t find you.” Zheng Ren was frustrated at himself.

“Are you hungry? Want to get a quick bite?”

Zheng Ren had spent the afternoon rescuing Yang Lili at No. 9 Elementary School. After that, he had gone to the police station and returned to find another surgery waiting for him.

It had been a busy but productive day.

He had not even noticed his hunger until Xie Yiren asked him about food.