Chapter 144: A Different Kind of Patient

"The Urology Department director will be here shortly, please wait a moment."

"Alright." Ji Xiang said very calmly, as calm as if it had been long premeditated.

It's already been said anyway, so let this Empathy session be as it is, Ji Xiang thought to himself.

Soon, the Urology Department director took him to a Consultation Room and began chatting with Ji Xiang in detail.

"Director, I am not a Medical Disturbance, and a Medical Disturbance wouldn't have a Tumor, would they?" Ji Xiang had already thought it through thoroughly; he stated his meaning directly.

"In today's society, there is no trust between people." The Urology Department director sighed, "For example, a while ago, Professor Wang Defeng from Fudan University was reported for smoking. A doctor in our department studied in Shanghai back then and often went to audit Professor Wang Defeng's classes."

"His class had a rule: students in the first three rows had to bring their own masks. Sigh, you tell me."

"Director, I am just an ordinary Patient; my intention is to treat the illness." Ji Xiang continued to explain, "First of all, Renal Cancer is a 'lazy cancer' and can appear bilaterally, so a partial Kidney Resection must be performed."

Ji Xiang paused after saying this.

"Director, does our hospital, or rather, do you, have a sufficient level of technical skill?"

"Uh..."

When asked this, even the most senior Doctor would hesitate for a moment.

"I asked that wrong." Ji Xiang smiled, "Director, let me ask again. How many cases have you performed?"

"Over five hundred."

"That will do." Ji Xiang smiled, "The second question is, how is the level of our hospital's Interventional Department?"

The Urology Department director's eyes lit up, "No problem, I have always maintained close contact with the Interventional Department precisely to carry out partial Kidney Resection surgeries!"

"That's good." Ji Xiang said calmly in front of his "spouse," "Life and death are fated; no one can guarantee a surgery will be one hundred percent successful, so I will trouble you to put in the extra effort, Director."

"Are there any other requests?" The Urology Department director showed the utmost respect to this "knowledgeable" Patient.

"None, Director." Ji Xiang said.

"Are you a doctor?"

"No, I had a friend who underwent a similar surgery, and in the end, because they couldn't find an interventional doctor for hemostasis treatment, they could only have one Kidney removed. Having the surgery done twice is very agonizing. And the following year, a Tumor grew on his other Kidney, which was particularly tricky."

"Because I've experienced it, I know a little bit about it."

"There are other complications."

"Complications will certainly exist, but these two points are the most important." Ji Xiang said firmly.

"Alright then, since you trust me, let's admit you for surgery."

The Urology Department director wrote the admission order and admitted Ji Xiang.

He had never admitted such an "understanding" Patient before; for him, this was also a novel experience.

Returning home, Ji Xiang cooked dinner himself and drank three taels of aged liquor with his spouse that evening.

He comforted his "spouse" a lot.

The Patient was very calm, but the "spouse" and children were very anxious, and Ji Xiang also felt that something was not quite right about this.

Admission examination, surgery in 3 days.

Ji Xiang lay on the operating table; the shadowless lamp was very bright and somewhat cold.

Everything went very smoothly, and Ji Xiang also knew this was because the System NPC was worried he couldn't withstand the heavy pressure of a Malignant Tumor and had lowered the difficulty of the Empathy.

Otherwise, even a "lazy cancer" would metastasize throughout the body.

After metastasis, it wouldn't kill you immediately, but would slowly wear you to death.

However, this Empathy session was different from the previous ones; Ji Xiang had been savoring it carefully recently and discovered why he was so calm.

First, it was because the 5-year survival rate after surgery is as high as 95%; as long as it is discovered early, diagnosed early, and treated early, there won't be any issues.

The System NPC arranged a physical examination, which was early discovery, lowering the difficulty.

Secondly, he knew all the key points and didn't get hung up on postoperative metastasis, but insisted on a partial Kidney Resection and asked about the level of Interventional Surgery.

Knowing all this, this Empathy session became very plain.

As the Anesthesia took effect, Ji Xiang took a nap.

When he woke up completely, Ji Xiang was already lying in the ward; the incision hurt a little, so Ji Xiang pressed the analgesia pump himself and requested an intravenous injection of morphine.

However, saying there was nothing wrong would be an exaggeration; Ji Xiang had various instruments inserted into his body, many bags of fluid were hanging on the IV stand, and he was sweating profusely.

Under the effect of the analgesia pump and morphine, he didn't feel pain, but he felt very irritable inside. The first night after surgery was truly agonizing; Ji Xiang's "spouse" kept wiping his sweat and constantly moistened his lips with a cotton swab.

Ji Xiang felt the bedsheets were completely soaked through, surely leaving a human silhouette.

He drifted in and out of sleep in the second half of the night, and when he woke up early the next morning, Ji Xiang felt much more comfortable.

Although it was a partial Kidney Resection, it was a laparoscopic surgery after all, so the trauma wasn't very significant.

By the second day, Ji Xiang could get out of bed and move around, and he was discharged home after five days, as if nothing had happened.

After the surgery, Ji Xiang wasn't overly anxious or nervous, but instead instructed his "spouse" to keep an eye on his blood pressure, and if he were to fall into a coma, to send him to the hospital immediately.

This period was quite agonizing; he didn't know if the System NPC had lowered the difficulty of the Empathy or if it was because he himself was a doctor and understood the key points, coupled with a relatively high Luck value, that no postoperative bleeding occurred.

At the 3-month postoperative follow-up, Ji Xiang's "spouse" held the report, her hands trembling.

"What's wrong? Let me see." Ji Xiang asked her for the report.

Could it be that the surgery wasn't done cleanly? Ji Xiang was somewhat puzzled.

The report read—The morphology of the left Kidney is slightly irregular, linear dense shadows are visible at the edges, and cord-like shadows are visible around the Kidney.

No obvious abnormalities were seen in the right Kidney. The liver, spleen, and pancreas shown showed no obvious abnormalities. Gallbladder filling is slightly poor. Stomach filling is poor, and no obvious dilation of the intestinal tract was seen. No obviously enlarged lymph node shadows were seen around the Abdominal Aorta.

"It's nothing, what are you nervous about?" Ji Xiang asked.

"It says linear dense shadows, is this a Tumor?" Ji Xiang's "spouse" asked.

"No, it's just the scar after the surgery." Ji Xiang smiled, "The surgery was done very cleanly, look, see the end."

His finger pointed to the text at the end of the report—No obvious changes compared to the previous scan.

"It's fine, don't worry."

After Ji Xiang finished saying the last sentence, the light and shadow flickered, and he returned to the System Operating Room.

"Teacher, I'm back." Ji Xiang suddenly felt that what he had done was somewhat improper, and fearing that the System NPC might be angry, he felt a bit uneasy.

"Not bad."

He hadn't expected the System NPC to give Ji Xiang an "Excellent" rating directly.

"Not bad?"

"Of course, your choices, the communication with the Patient, and the post-operative prevention were all done very well," the System NPC said. "It was inherently a Tumor with a low degree of malignancy, and it was discovered during a physical examination, so it was difficult for it to metastasize. You did everything that should have been done; what else would you have me say?"

Ji Xiang grinned.

"If only all Patients were like you."

"They will be, Teacher."

"Mm, they will be." The System NPC stood with hands behind his back and a hunched waist, nodding. "Go back and rest."

……

……

Wishing the surgery goes smoothly, hoping it goes as smoothly as it did for Doctor Xiao Ji.

(End of this chapter)