Chapter 3059: with translation of chapter title

The bespectacled man walked out of the Hospital gates, feeling somewhat dejected, head down, not expecting anyone to speak to him.

Just having been dressed down by a woman, with no way to retort, plus the events of the past few months left him feeling bewildered. Without comparison there is no harm, and indeed that's the case.

It seemed as if white mist surrounded him, and the bespectacled man could not see the road ahead at all.

Director Zhou caught up and asked, "What's your name?"

The bespectacled man jumped, turned around, saw Director Zhou, quickly turned, and respectfully said, "You are Director Zhou of Southern University Fu Yuan, Greeting Greeting. I've long heard your name, like thunder in my ears."

"Which Hospital are you from?" Director Zhou asked again.

"Director Zhou, I'm Xia Yong, a doctor from the General Surgery Department of Jin Tang Hospital... previously." The bespectacled man said softly, feeling dejected.

Jin Tang Hospital is located in the city center, a tertiary Grade A public Hospital in Jinhai Shi, with overall staff quality still quite good. Even within Jinhai Shi, it can rank among the top five.

I see you're down; let's have a chat. People always go through bumps and bruises, don't give up. In the face of time, this isn't a big deal. Years from now, when you look back, it won't even amount to a small mound of dirt." Director Zhou said with a smile.

"Thank you, Director, I... I'm... okay now." Xia Yong sighed.

"Being a doctor, one always encounters things; not just you, I've had my share of mishaps in my lifetime." Director Zhou said, "But to put it bluntly, who can avoid making mistakes? We're human, not machines. And besides, would machines suffice? Can the images taken by machines directly give a diagnosis?"

Xia Yong sighed.

Snowflakes drifted down from the sky; Director Zhou tightened his clothes and laughed, "Walking and talking, these old Bone of mine can't take it."

"Director Zhou, thank you, I'm fine; you should head back first." Xia Yong said.

"I used to be a department head; when junior doctors have problems, I'm used to giving them advice. If you don't mind, feel free to talk to me; in the entire Jin Men medical circle, I also have some connections." Seeing Xia Yong's pitiable state, Director Zhou comforted him.

"Director Zhou, this is my own fault." Xia Yong gave a wry smile. "Three months ago, during resuscitation, I removed a metal foreign object from the patient. I didn't manage to get it all out; I think I missed a foreign object less than 1 cm. Later the patient developed a right lower lung substantive lesion, and underwent a lung lobectomy Shou Bing at your Hospital."

"Uh..." Director Zhou stared for a moment. Metal foreign objects are the hardest to find. Wearing Lead clothing, one searches bit by bit under the equipment in the Radiology Department. Often you see something in a certain spot, but you have to open the tissue bit by bit to distinguish where the foreign object lies amid the bloody mess.

It's normal to miss something; before Shou Bing we must explain clearly to the patient, and most patients will understand. But often, amidst the bloody mess, it's impossible to locate a metal foreign object just a few millimeters in size; even Director Zhou cannot be certain he can achieve a hundred percent success.

"Then what? How did it lead to a lung problem?"

"I'm unlucky, actually it's deserved; my work is subpar." Xia Yong said, "After the Shou Bing at your Hospital, we found that the substantive mass originating from the pulmonary Vein was a metal fragment, not large, a few millimeters, which led to the patient losing a lung lobe."

Xia Yong's tone was full of guilt and regret. He didn't continue, but Director Zhou knew his heart was full of Hypotheses. If only he had been more careful then, if only his luck had been better then.

However, removing a lung lobe due to a metal foreign object is truly rare.

"Please explain the situation in detail; this is not common." Director Zhou's habit kicked in, and regardless of Xia Yong's mental state, he first pursued the explanation.

I looked at the medical record; the chest CT showed: metal foreign object residue in the right lower lung. The right lower lung shows a punctate high-density shadow, with clear Clarity, size about 0.2 cm * 0.3 cm, CT value about 2647 HU.

"Pre-operative diagnosis was metal foreign object retention in the right lower lung. Afterwards, a thoracotomy exploration was performed; intraoperatively, a hard nodule was seen in the medial basal segment of the right lower lung, which felt metallic upon fine needle probing, and a wedge resection of the right lower lung was performed. Opening the lung tissue revealed a metal foreign object about 0.4 cm * 0.2 cm * 0.2 cm located in the right lower lung Blood Vessel."

"You this..." Director Zhou also summed up.

There are not a few patients with metal foreign objects; most are factory workers injured by metal shavings.

"Later I thought, maybe there was a problem spot on the left thigh; the patient didn't mention it, I thought it was just a skin break, so I didn't pay attention. I only removed the foreign objects on the abdomen, and just did a quick scan of the thigh under fluoroscopy and called it done. I'm too careless; it's all deserved." Xia Yong sighed.

"Later, the Teacher at Southern University Fu Yuan said, considering the metal shavings from the left great saphenous Vein, femoral Vein, external iliac Vein, common iliac Vein, inferior vena cava, right atrium, right ventricle, pulmonary Artery, they ultimately lodged in the right lower lung Blood Vessel."

"What does your Hospital say?" Director Zhou asked.

"They didn't say anything, but the patient's family wouldn't let up, and our Hospital didn't either, just dragging it out day by day."

In principle, resolving this would be somewhat troublesome, and the responsible parties should be reprimanded or the like, but it shouldn't lead to resignation, right?

"How did you end up like this?"

"Sigh..." Upon saying this, Xia Yong sighed deeply and said, "I... I altered the medical record."

Upon hearing the four words "altered the medical record," Director Zhou's heart jumped. Is this Xia Yong stupid? Since something happened, how could he alter the medical record!

This is a major taboo; the key is that altering it cannot be justified.

It can only lead to more and more problems, the more problems, the more explanation needed, and the more explanation, the more troublesome the problem becomes.

In the end, it directly caused a collapse.

"You..." Director Zhou also sighed.

"Our Director at the time sought me out, hinting that I should do it." Xia Yong gave a wry smile. "Forget it, it's all in the past; no need to talk about it."

Director Zhou understood why the Director hinted, what benefits could be gained, and what the cost was—everything was clear.

This is passing the buck, pushing the blame onto junior doctors—a practice most people find despicable.

But when junior doctors face such a demand from the Director, it's also difficult. Either they stubbornly refuse to do anything, or they follow the Director's hint to alter the medical record—either way poses problems.

Nowadays medical records are electronic; if there's a problem they're directly sealed. Wanting to modify them on a computer involves backend data, making it hard to do without leaving traces.

This poor guy is really unlucky; a single metal fragment has caused such a big fuss.

"If we don't say, the life of a doctor needs to be good; usually before Shou Bing we should wash our hands more."

Director Zhou shared his own experience, not a joke but spoken seriously. As he spoke, he extended his hand, both arms slightly reddening.

"Look, this is my habit." Director Zhou smiled helplessly and said, "If I don't scrub my hands five times before going on stage, the Shou Bing won't go smoothly. Over the years, the stiff brush has scrubbed my skin and flesh almost raw."