Chapter 2991: 2792 Peak Turns, Road Winds

2792 Peak Turns, Road Winds

"Zheng Lao Ban, got it under control?" Zhao Yunlong asked softly.

"Let's try it; I think there should be no problem."

Amid the song of Good Luck Come, Lao He began giving medication and inserting the tube.

Everything went smoothly, with no unexpected complications. Seeing the patient's vital signs stable, Director Xu also breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the anesthesia hurdle is cleared, it's nothing to do with me; the rest will naturally be worried about by those in charge of the Thoracic.

As for the situation mentioned by the pulling board, Director Xu thought it best to avoid surgery if possible; since it didn't concern him, he couldn't be bothered to think more about it.

"Zheng Lao Ban, what have you been busy with lately?" Director Xu smiled, the patient was already anesthetized, and his voice rose a bit.

"This isn't the mass poisoning of Er Zhong students at noon; I went to take part in sampling to find the cause of the outbreak." Zheng Ren said.

"Er Zhong... I've heard the student cafeteria's food is actually not bad."

"Hmm, I took a look and everything seemed fine." Zheng Ren said, "Now we suspect the fresh-squeezed juice is problematic, causing the students to suffer acute copper poisoning."

"..." Director Xu stared for a moment, looking at Zheng Lao Ban speechless. Acute copper poisoning isn't something you see every day. Zheng Lao Ban has been really busy these days, and I don't know how long he can keep following this patient.

"By the way, Zheng Lao Ban, didn't you say you had a surgery live broadcast this afternoon?" Director Xu asked.

"Didn't get to it; I've just been busy with the food poisoning thing." Zheng Ren sighed, hoping the disease control center would run tests soon to settle the matter. Getting the surgery live broadcast started early would be good, and what he mainly cares about is the reward from the system quest.

"Copper poisoning is quite rare, and today's patient is also unusual." Director Xu chuckled, "Zheng Lao Ban, seeing the scan I thought we'd need a thoracotomy. But the risks of opening the chest are also high, which is why I'm bothering you about your work."

"No need to be formal, Director Xu. When you had Fang Lin call, I was already done on my end. The oranges from the fresh-squeezed juice machine have been sent to the disease control center for testing; results should be out in about two hours, so no delay."

Zheng Ren said with a smile.

"Could there be a lot of copper in the oranges? How would it get in? Is it for preservation or to make them look better?" Director Xu wondered.

"I can't figure it out either; I've never heard of copper element helping oranges."

"Those who sell oranges usually wax the peel to make them look shinier, but the amount is small." Su Yun said, "But copper element doesn't help with appearance either, and I can't figure it out."

Director Xu wanted to say something, his lips twitched slightly, but in the end he made no sound.

Zheng Ren understood, smiling, "The medical history asked by Doctor Chang Yue, I think there shouldn't be any error. The history shows the students with food poisoning share a common experience—they drank fresh-squeezed orange juice."

"Let's wait and see; the specifics aren't clear yet." Su Yun fiddled with her phone, eyes on the TV screen showing Director Li of Hepatobiliary performing laparoscopic surgery, wondering what she was thinking about.

The surgery went smoothly, ending in less than an hour.

Before the patient woke from general anesthesia, Zheng Ren performed another echocardiogram, finding the heart had shifted back toward the left by a few millimeters. The patient's vital signs remained steady, with no abnormalities.

If it weren't for the preoperative CT that caught the issue, and if the 912 medical staff's clinical fundamentals weren't solid, we might have missed the heart torsion outright, and this patient would have been overlooked.

Even many doctors would regard this as a congenital right-sided heart.

"Zheng Lao Ban, where should we send the patient next?" Director Xu asked.

"ICU or a regular ward is fine; the most dangerous moment is intubation. Once past that, the patient just needs to gradually recover." Zheng Ren said.

The Hepatobiliary Director Li thought it over and still sent the patient to the ICU. What a joke—if a patient with a twisted heart accidentally stimulates the vagus nerve during repositioning, how would we handle cardiac arrest?

If we sent them to a regular ward, would we have to arrange special monitoring?

Zheng Ren didn't worry about those matters; seeing the patient wake, he smiled and said, "If there's nothing wrong, we'll head out first."

"Sure, get in touch if anything comes up."

Arriving at the changing room, Su Yun asked, "Boss, are you sure?"

"Pretty much; if a cardiac hernia were to occur, symptoms would have shown up already—it wouldn't wait until the heart slowly returns to position." Zheng Ren said fairly confidently.

"Who gave you that confidence?" Su Yun asked doubtfully.

"I speak vaguely; tell me not to use the tone you'd use when explaining a patient's condition when talking to me. My answer definitely still won't do—what exactly do you want?" Zheng Ren said.

Su Yun spread her hands and looked up.

【They say……】

Zheng Ren picked up the phone.

"Nothing's wrong? No way."

"Okay, Director Lin, I got it."

After the brief exchange, Zheng Ren hung up, brows furrowed, seriously pondering.

From the call, Su Yun already knew what had happened; he was also doubtful, thinking that according to Chang Yue's inquiry into the medical history there shouldn't be any problem—maybe something was missed?

Really strange; Su Yun was also unusually earnest in his thinking.

Indeed, there was no clue at all; Zheng Ren went over everything. Just now, Director Lin said the various samples taken from the cafeteria only had minor issues, which have been ordered to be rectified. But those minor issues refer to mold, bacteria, etc., completely unrelated to metallic copper.

What on earth is going on…… Otherwise, why not go check on the students under observation at Er Zhong? Zheng Ren had that idea.

Before Zheng Ren could decide, the phone rang again.

This time it was Fan Tian Shui calling.

"Chief Zheng, someone wants to move the machine." Fan Tian Shui said in a low voice, sounding a bit urgent.

"Huh? Move the machine?" Zheng Ren asked doubtfully; having no leads, hearing Fan Tian Shui say that made him suddenly think the machine might have malfunctioned.

"Wait, I'm heading over right now." Zheng Ren said, "Are they school people?"

"Supposedly so; they said if we don't let them move it, they'll call the police."

"I'll contact Director Lin; you… try to stall. By the way, don't hang up yet, don't hurt anyone, Old Fan!" Zheng Ren said, then hastily hung up.

These days have been truly exhausting; Zheng Ren sighed.

"At a time like this, moving the machine must be shady!" Su Yun said firmly.

"I was thinking the same; maybe something's wrong with the juicer." Zheng Ren quickly changed clothes, sorted his thoughts, and asked, "What's the pH of the orange juice?"

"Normally it's 3–4; the lower the pH, the more acidic. Fresh-squeezed juice could be concentrated, driving the pH even lower." Su Yun said.

"Possible! I recall two copper poisoning cases where the copper parts of a soda machine were exposed, soaking in cola with a pH around 2, causing the poisoning." Zheng Ren said, "Hurry up, call a car, let's get there right away."

……

……

Note: Source of literature on conservative treatment for cardiac reversal: NEnglJMed2014; 370: e30