Chapter 2788: 2585 Lowering Psychological Expectations

"I and……" Director Geng subconsciously said two words, then stopped. He realized he wasn't familiar with Zheng Lao Ban, but Zhou Chun Yong was familiar with Zheng Lao Ban!

Legend has it that in the capital's hepatobiliary field, because of the TIPS procedure, the two directors of the Intervention Department have had plenty of open and covert rivalry.

There are also many worse rumors, but this gave Director Geng a glimmer of hope—Zhou Chun Yong could persuade Zheng Lao Ban.

"Fetch Zheng Lao Ban—is it an interventional procedure or an open‑chest one?" Director Geng probed.

"Old Geng, that's the question you're asking." Zhou Chun Yong said: "You surely don't really think interventional surgery can solve the problem, do you?"

"……"

"Of course it's open‑chest surgery." Zhou Chun Yong continued: "Open‑chest surgery under the DSA machine, this hybrid approach—Zheng Lao Ban does it the most, and he's already started trying something new."

"A few days ago, when Zheng Lao Ban won the Nobel Prize, he live‑streamed a second valve‑replacement surgery. Did you watch it?"

Director Geng shook his head, bewildered.

"Interventional angiography, look for capillaries, reduce bleeding—you haven't even watched such a big surgery." Zhou Chun Yong slapped Director Geng's shoulder hard. "Watch more surgery live broadcasts; we're old now, Zheng Lao Ban's is the real hybrid surgery!"

Hearing Zhou Chun Yong say that, a flame of hope rose in Director Geng's heart.

As long as the problem is solved, it doesn't matter whether Zheng Lao Ban or someone else does it—any way is fine.

Zhou Chun Yong's keyword was hybrid surgery; Director Geng knew that, but he had no time to ponder it carefully. Burning eyebrows, attend to the present.

"I'll go tell Director Ma, you fetch Zheng Lao Ban, then go through the hospital's channels." Director Geng said smoothly.

Zhou Chun Yong nodded, suppressing his joy.

"Old Zhou, then should we try to remove the foreign object using interventional means?" Director Geng asked.

"Give it a try; if it works, the child will avoid suffering." Zhou Chun Yong said, "Zheng Lao Ban will be here in about an hour. I just asked—he still has surgery ongoing over there."

"You……"

"What 'you'!" Zhou Chun Yong showed no panic at slipping his tongue, he said: "Seize the time, let's both give it a try."

Director Geng also had no time to dwell on this; solving the problem is enough. Regardless of Zhou Chun Yong's thoughts, knowing Zheng Lao Ban stands behind him is itself a silent support.

Contacting Director Ma, he and Zhou Chun Yong went straight to the operating table. After Zhou Chun Yong changed clothes, he left the operating area, explained the current situation to the patient's parents, and emphasized that they had invited Zheng Lao Ban, who had just won the Nobel Prize.

In this regard, almost all doctors do the same thing—I've already done my best.

Human strength is limited; originally the doctors and the patient's family share the same goal. But one strives to act, the other waits below, angles differ, final psychological expectations differ, so the results naturally aren't exactly alike.

Whether it's Director Ma or Zhou Chun Yong, the only thing they've done is lower the family's psychological expectations.

No one dares guarantee the surgery will definitely succeed; if it fails, having a psychological expectation prevents the family's emotions from collapsing directly into doing something extreme. As for what comes next, we'll have to adapt.

Anyway, we've already done our best; this also counts as having a clear conscience.

Zhou Chun Yong has long been used to putting a small part of his energy outside medicine, even without muttering. Such operations have become a normal process that must be strict.

After explaining the child's condition, amid the patient's parents' tearful eyes, Zhou Chun Yong gave his beloved two reminders, then went to the operating room to prepare to start.

The operating area was crowded with people; although only a few staples were in the airway, who could know what would happen?

Staff from related departments guarded the operating area, ready for emergency rescue at any moment.

After general anesthesia, Zhou Chun Yong put on lead clothing and went to scrub up. The two directors of the Capital City Large Tertiary Hospital going up together shows how much they value this matter.

In terms of technical skill, it's also nearly the highest interventional level available domestically.

If there weren't still a small card of young Zheng Lao Ban hidden, Zhou Chun Yong could pat his chest and say I can't do it, nor can anyone else!

Scrubbing, laying the drape, preparing for surgery.

The airtight lead door slowly closed; Zhou Chun Yong first acted as assistant, letting Director Geng perform the surgery.

The positions of surgeon and assistant were somewhat odd, unlike the usual femoral artery puncture stance; they could only try to adapt as best as possible.

Director Ma presided, feeling somewhat nervous. This nervousness came after a glimmer of hope, unlike before when the whole‑hospital consultation left him as unafraid of boiling water as a dead pig.

Earlier he had judged the surgery's success chance at only 20%; the rest would be endless trips to the Medical Administration Committee to clean up the mess left behind.

But Zhou Chun Yong's appearance, along with inviting Zheng Lao Ban, finally let Director Ma raise his assessment of this surgery to an acceptable level.

Although his mind keeps replaying the image of eight staples on the chest X‑ray—something human strength can't reach, impossible to pull out—each time he thinks that, a bullet subsequently shatters the thought.

The interventional procedure to extract a cardiac bullet embolism is still fresh in Director Ma's memory.

This surgery counts as Zheng Lao Ban's first breakout case in the capital's medical scene; before this he was only somewhat known at the 912 Hospital, and now this surgery makes the Medical University Affiliated Hospital merely a backdrop.

But Zheng Lao Ban's surgery is simply good; our side can't even give a diagnosis, Zheng Lao Ban glanced at the film and the interventional method took it out.

The patient was discharged three days later, even he himself felt dazed, with no sensation before or after—how did it become like magic, pulling out a staple?

What we're doing now is merely an attempt, almost certainly doomed to fail. After Zheng Lao Ban arrives, performing surgery under the DSA machine—that'll be the real show!

He silently watched the screen; the bronchial catheter had already gone in, then the micro‑capture device followed.

But with the ventilator's mechanical breathing, the micro‑capture device was like gambling, blindly snagging at the staples in the airway.

Each time the micro‑capture device vaguely touched a staple, Director Ma's heart leapt.

If we could solve it with minimally invasive means, that would be the best method!

Yet every attempt disappointed him—the micro‑capture device simply couldn't grasp the tiny staples. With each ventilator breath, the staples' position shifted slightly or more.

Zhou Chun Yong caused the micro‑capture device to snag a staple as if by luck, but when it reached the glottis and hit surrounding tissue, the staple fell back in.

Time passed; the surgeon shifted from Director Geng to Zhou Chun Yong, then back to Director Geng, but the same held—no one succeeded.