Chapter 217: I Still Suggest Total Excision

"General Manager Wu, what happened to those patients later?" Ji Xiang asked.

"Although it's squamous cell carcinoma and usually there's no lymph node metastasis, removing everything... it can be said that Total Penectomy is the surgery that deals the biggest blow to a patient, bar none," General Manager Wu said. "After the surgery, the patients are dejected... By the way, Doctor Xiao Ji, I saw a picture a while ago."

"Is there a link?" Lu Kai asked.

"Pfft, it's a serious picture," General Manager Wu chuckled. "A castrated little male dog goes to the pet hospital to bark at the same time every day."

"It's not that we don't respect the patients, but when I saw that picture and glanced at the text, the first thing that came to mind was patients who had undergone Total Penectomy," General Manager Wu said, turning serious. "I think, for the vast majority of patients, the cancer is cured, but they will hate the doctor."

"That's not necessarily true. Treating an illness is their own choice, so why would they hate the doctor?" Lu Kai said.

Ji Xiang was silent.

Because the time spent in Empathy was not enough, he did not yet know the final state of mind of the patients.

"I don't want to either, but there's no other way. If you want to survive, you just have to 'just get by'," General Manager Wu said. "'Just get by'—these three words capture the essence of medical practice."

Ji Xiang chuckled. Was this a case of 'a dog's mouth cannot spit out ivory' for General Manager Wu?

"There are still few diseases that can be cured," General Manager Wu said earnestly. "Let's not even talk about tumors; hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, including Prostatic Hyperplasia in our Urology Department—how many of them can be completely cured?"

"The vast majority of treatment methods are just 'getting by'. You live for a few decades, and just getting by for those few decades is enough. Anything extra you get by is a win. We doctors are just here to help people in this world 'get by'. If it were me choosing between having a Total Penectomy or having the cancer metastasize in a few months, I would definitely choose the former."

"General Manager Wu, if that were the case, you wouldn't be able to take a wife," Lu Kai stared in shock.

"Sigh, never mind whether I can take a wife; the most important thing is that every time I go to the restroom to pee, I have to find a sit-down or squat toilet; I can't stand," General Manager Wu sighed, his mood slightly dampened.

"Shall we go pee together? I'll pee a straight line, and you'll pee a pit?" Lu Kai laughed heartily.

Lu Kai was also a talent, capable of making dirty jokes anytime, anywhere. Although his 'driving skills' were still quite immature, he would surely be a top-tier racer in time, a reserve talent for the Urology Department.

But these words did not resonate; both General Manager Wu and Ji Xiang were silent, seemingly thinking about something.

"General Manager Wu, Ji Xiang, what's wrong with you two?" Lu Kai expressed surprise at their reaction.

The joke he had just come up with on the spot was reasonable and logical; it should have been met with uproarious laughter, yet both of them looked like they had something on their minds.

"Sigh," General Manager Wu shook his head. "'Just getting by'. The patients are 'getting by', and aren't we doing the same?"

"I..."

"You are the most 'getting by' of all," General Manager Wu scolded. "Knowing you can't stay at the First Affiliated Hospital, you found a way out for yourself in advance. Don't worry, as long as you make contact on that side, I'll help you find a professor for a Flying Knife. However, this isn't the best choice. Let me think about it carefully, and I'll tell you if I change my mind."

Ji Xiang did not continue chatting with General Manager Wu and Lu Kai, but instead began to look at the Medical Records.

The medical record page was blank...

Ji Xiang felt helpless.

With him gone, Wang Daxiao and Mo Jiaoshou really had no one to write the medical records!

It was too much. Ji Xiang muttered to himself and got up to inquire about the medical history.

"Hahaha, Ji Xiang came back to write medical records," Lu Kai laughed after realizing what was happening.

"Doctor Xiao Ji is an atypical Standardized Training Student. He leaves for 4 or 5 days at a time. There's definitely no one to write the medical records for the patients admitted on Mo Jiaoshou's outpatient day," General Manager Wu also smiled. "He ran back to do the work."

Ji Xiang busied himself completing the duties of a Standardized Training Doctor, finishing the work only after more than an hour.

"General Manager Wu, I'd like to ask you a question," Ji Xiang said politely.

Hearing Ji Xiang speak to him so politely, General Manager Wu subconsciously shuddered.

"Doctor Xiao Ji, don't talk like that." Facing Ji Xiang, General Manager Wu always had that damn sense of familiarity. Being able to have a normal conversation was already quite good; he was a model of strong willpower.

Ji Xiang speaking so politely made General Manager Wu feel like he was being led into a trap.

"General Manager Wu, I think this patient could undergo Partial Resection + Extension Surgery. What do you think?" Ji Xiang asked for advice.

"If I were Wang Daxiao or Mo Jiaoshou, I would rather perform a Total Resection."

"Why?"

"Safety. Whether for the patient or the doctor, it's safe," General Manager Wu said candidly. "This is Cancer, do you know that?"

"Once it recurs after surgery, what will you do if the patient's Family Member comes looking for you? Although the possibility is relatively small, you can't stop someone from making trouble."

"Making trouble?" Ji Xiang was stunned.

"Let me tell you," General Manager Wu changed his tone, imitating someone else. Although it was a bit stiff, it was vivid and lifelike. "They can perform a Total Resection; if they cut it off directly, it won't metastasize. But do you know why they perform such a complicated surgical procedure?"

"They are using the patient for experiments, something about a control group. Using a patient for experiments is simply inhumane!"

"..."

Ji Xiang was left completely speechless.

"See," General Manager Wu spread his hands. "If someone says that, what are you going to do?"

"There are standards, and there is literature to explain it," Ji Xiang argued.

"Literature? Who told you about literature?" General Manager Wu said. "If there is metastasis, there is metastasis. If something happens to the patient, it's because your surgery wasn't done well. Plus, the patient is already old; cutting it off directly is the safest."

"Doctor Xiao Ji, this is a responsible way of speaking—responsible to you, responsible to the Chief Surgeon, and even more so, responsible to the patient."

General Manager Wu said a series of 'responsible's, which was a bit of a tongue-twister, but his expression was firm.

His argument was completely different from what the System NPC said, and Ji Xiang was somewhat confused, not knowing what choice to make.

"General Manager Wu, that's not how it should be said, right?" Lu Kai also had questions. "You can explain it clearly to the patient before surgery."

"Oh, people are very forgetful. I'm not saying the patient is deliberately looking for trouble, but once metastasis occurs and life is at stake, will the patient's memory become distorted?"

"Besides, the ones who come looking for you in the end are the patient's Family Member, since the patient is no longer there. Of course, this is a low-probability event, but because of... you know about that incident in Jinling, right? Ever since then, no one dares to help an old lady who falls on the street."

"You know about the cargo app, right? Later, they even made a TV series to smear them."

The more General Manager Wu talked, the more he went off-topic and the more extreme he became.

Ji Xiang was silent; he did not think General Manager Wu's argument was correct.

But Ji Xiang did not refute General Manager Wu either; the man had his reasons and evidence, and it was impossible to refute.

After finishing his work and returning home, Ji Xiang greeted the old man and went back to his room.

After washing up and lying down, he entered the System Space.

Ji Xiang recounted everything General Manager Wu had said, then stared intently at the System NPC.

(End of chapter)