Chapter 505: Is It In Yet? (Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Maxzheng185)

"Doctor Xiao Ji, you come try. I didn't manage to retrieve it; it's always just a little bit off." Li Zhuren didn't notice Zhao Zhe's movements, and even if he had, he wouldn't have cared.

Li Zhuren stepped directly into the assistant's position, "I've tried many kinds of things, but none of them can grip the staple."

"Let me try." Ji Xiang didn't stand on ceremony either; he stepped directly into the surgeon's position and began looking at the previous angiography images.

Just as Yang Zhuren had said, Li Ming had entered with a 0.89mm guide wire and then tried various micro-retrievers, but none could grip the staple.

Ji Xiang watched very slowly and didn't rush to start.

"The micro-retriever can't grip it, and the staple's position is somewhat awkward; it's simply too difficult." Li Ming sighed.

Ji Xiang didn't speak and continued to watch the surgical process Li Ming had performed earlier.

A few minutes later, Ji Xiang finally said, "Let's try a 3f catheter."

As he spoke, he reached out a hand.

Li Ming was startled for a moment, then immediately instructed the Circulating Nurse to provide a 3f catheter.

Ji Xiang was also slightly taken aback.

He had long since grown accustomed to having Tang Yan as his Instrument Nurse, that feeling where the moment he reached out a hand, the item would land in his palm.

There was no helping it; this wasn't the Second Affiliated Hospital, and Tang Yan hadn't followed him here.

For an instant, Ji Xiang felt a sense of longing.

Two minutes later, Li Ming handed the 3f catheter to Ji Xiang, "Doctor Xiao Ji, the 3f catheter is too thin; can you operate it?"

"A thicker one can't retrieve it either, so we can only try." Ji Xiang didn't explain the System; after all, on the operating table, the Patient faced the reality that if the Interventional Surgery failed, a Thoracotomy would be required.

Even though Ji Xiang had completed this surgery in the System Operating Room, he remained focused and concentrated, not daring to be even slightly distracted.

The 3f catheter was lowered to the Right Main Bronchus near the staple's position, then he requested the thinnest 0.021-inch guide wire, bent the tip into an angle, and fed the guide wire in.

The thinner the instruments, the more precise the operation needs to be; even breathing must be controlled to avoid the body's movements causing minute deviations.

Li Zhuren, Li Ming, roughly understood Ji Xiang's intent; he wanted to use the 0.021-inch guide wire to "hook" onto the bend of the staple by leveraging the force of the 3f catheter's side port.

Then, use that leverage to "fish" the staple out.

But!

Because the 0.021-inch guide wire was thin, it was very soft; whether it could land accurately on the curved part of the staple was one problem, and whether it could withstand such force was another.

Although Li Zhuren had doubts, he had already failed many times himself, so he could only choose to trust Ji Xiang.

Concentrating on the Auxiliary work, Li Zhuren was very careful even with his breathing.

Soon, the 0.021-inch guide wire operated by Ji Xiang extended from the side port of the 3f catheter.

The angled tip of the guide wire, which Ji Xiang had bent, moved slightly by leveraging the force of the collision with the side port, then lightly hooked onto the curved part of the staple.

It worked!

Li Zhuren, Li Ming, cheered inwardly.

But the next second, he was slightly startled.

The tip of the 0.021-inch guide wire brushed past the corner of the staple, missing by a hair's breadth.

Sigh, still just a little bit off.

The difficulty of this operation was extreme, and Li Zhuren, Li Ming, understood this. He tried hard to recall, but couldn't remember if it was because he had excitedly thought it was a success just now that his hand had shaken, causing the surgery to fail.

"Li Zhuren, please steady the catheter to coordinate with me," Ji Xiang said softly while looking at the screen.

"Coordinate? How do I coordinate?" Li Zhuren hesitated.

"When I extend the guide wire, you move the catheter slightly to give the guide wire an angle for its advance."

Ji Xiang explained.

He was also very troubled.

In the System Operating Room, the surgery he completed had the System NPC coordinating with him, so he felt this surgery wasn't that difficult.

But in reality, even though his own level was sufficient, the assistant wasn't, and it seemed the surgery couldn't be completed.

If only the System NPC could come out, Ji Xiang had an unrealistic thought in his mind.

"How do you need me to move it?" Li Zhuren didn't understand and "humbly" asked for instruction.

"Like this."

Ji Xiang began to explain to Li Zhuren how he should coordinate.

Li Zhuren understood the explanation, but he believed this was an impossible task.

Li Ming even felt that Ji Xiang couldn't complete it himself and had started shifting the blame.

What Ji Xiang described was a perfectly ideal situation; the level of tacit understanding required between the surgeon and the assistant was extremely high, and there couldn't be the slightest deviation.

The more perfect the operation, the harder it was to achieve, and Li Ming held no hope for it.

They tried twice, and each time they missed by a hair's breadth. Li Ming even felt it was worse than the first time; his coordination not only failed to help but actually "added to the chaos."

Becoming increasingly restless, Li Ming sighed, "Doctor Xiao Ji, let me take a break."

"Alright." Ji Xiang didn't force him.

After all, wearing dozens of pounds of Lead Clothing to perform surgery—he could endure it, but a middle-aged man in his fifties like Li Zhuren might not be able to.

Besides, before he came in, Li Zhuren had already been performing surgery for over an hour; taking a break was only right.

"Li Zhuren, please take a break." Zhao Zhe, wearing Lead Clothing, bowed and opened the Airtight Lead Door, respectfully seeing Li Zhuren out.

"Lao Li, it didn't work?"

After stepping out, Yang Zhuren asked.

"It didn't."

The Airtight Lead Door closed, and Li Zhuren stated his inner thoughts very bluntly.

"Doctor Xiao Ji's plan is correct, but the technical requirements are too high. It's not just the surgeon's technical level; it also requires the assistant's coordination. I feel that if there were two Doctor Xiao Jis, the surgery could be completed."

"Aren't you joking," Yang Zhuren said helplessly, "even you can't do it."

"I am old. One really has to accept getting old. Standing for an hour or two while wearing dozens of pounds of gear—when I was in my thirties, I didn't feel a thing, but now at fifty, I can't handle it."

"My hands were shaking a bit toward the end."

Li Ming emphasized this point.

Yang Zhuren shook his head slightly; he could see that Li Zhuren's technique was still very precise, and there was no such thing as the hand-shaking he had mentioned.

Just as he was about to say something, the image on the screen suddenly moved.

Yang Zhuren looked up and saw that Zhao Zhe had already put on a sterile gown and was standing in the assistant's position, while at the same time, Ji Xiang had also begun another attempt.

"Nonsense!" Yang Zhuren scolded.

"Sigh."

Li Ming let out a sigh; he did not approve of the current operation either.

Even he couldn't keep up with the coordination, so how could that "kind-faced," sycophantic old Attending Physician beside Ji Xiang manage it?

"What the hell does he know? All he can do is suck up. And Ji Xiang too, does he really think he's an Attending Physician?" Yang Zhuren's voice grew increasingly stern.

"It doesn't matter if he tries; if it doesn't work, I'll rest for ten minutes and go back in," Li Zhuren advised.

"This is an operating room, an operating room!" Yang Zhuren reached out his right hand and pressed the intercom.

"Ji Yisheng Xiang, hold off on the operation for a moment," Yang Zhuren said sharply.

"Oh, alright." Ji Xiang did not insist and quickly agreed.

"Old Yang..." Li Zhuren stared at the screen, his eyes wide.

"What?!"

"Look."

Li Zhuren pressed the button on the intercom.

"Zhao Ge, did it go in?"