Chapter 842: 829 Reminder

Zheng Ren changed his clothes and walked out of the changing room.

The surgery went very smoothly, just as I had anticipated.

Just as I stepped out, I saw Director Luo of the Department of Gastroenterology. Zheng Ren froze for a moment—was the gastroenterology department coming to pick up a patient? But even if they were picking up a patient, Director Luo wouldn't personally come.

"Hello, Director Luo." Zheng Ren had things on his mind, but he didn't forget to greet Director Luo.

"Boss Zheng, how did you come out? How's the surgery?" Director Luo asked, puzzled.

He rushed over to watch the surgery.

Before the operation, Zheng Ren personally went to fetch the patient—first, to keep the patient from getting nervous and affecting the live broadcast; second, to inform Director Luo, since the old director had said he'd come to take a look at the surgery.

Because the internal medicine shift change is rather tedious and usually ends around nine, this was only possible because Director Luo sped up the process countless times.

But before he could even enter the operating room, he saw Zheng Ren coming out.

"Is there a problem with the surgery?" Director Luo stared intently at Zheng Ren and asked.

"Surgery? TIPS surgery?" Zheng Ren said, "It's done. In a few minutes, Xi Bao'er will bring the patient out."

"……" Director Luo looked at Zheng Ren, speechless.

"Has TIPS surgery become this fast in the hands of young Boss Zheng?"

"No need for you to come personally." Zheng Ren smiled, "I did the surgery broadcast at Xinglin Yuan; later I can watch the recording—it's very convenient."

"You did a surgery live broadcast? That's just messing around!" Director Luo didn't know why, but he suddenly got angry.

"Huh?" Zheng Ren blinked.

"Young people, stay grounded, don't be rash." Director Luo shook his head, "My former senior brother once had a problem with a surgery live broadcast. He never became an academician, and to this day he still resents it. Every time they evaluate candidates, his live‑broadcast failure is brought up by competitors, and they slap him in the face—slap, slap."

Director Luo looked at Zheng Ren with a complex expression and earnestly advised, "Success or failure in surgery is normal; no one can always succeed. You must be careful—even an appendectomy can kill someone, let alone a TIPS procedure. If more than fifteen punctures are made, people will use it against you. If the surgery fails, that will be the biggest blot on your résumé."

Zheng Ren knew Director Luo was looking out for him, but he didn't know what to say, so he just smiled to ease the awkwardness.

"Xinglin Yuan?" Director Luo suddenly realized his tone was off—he was speaking to a Nobel Prize nominee, not a young doctor who needed his support.

"Yes, Director Luo." Zheng Ren walked over respectfully, his tone gentle and humble, "I'll remember your words, Director Luo. Thank you for the reminder."

"I'll go check. By the way, Boss Zheng, what's your surgical volume like?" Director Luo asked.

"Ten to fifteen cases." Zheng Ren said.

"Only ten to fifteen a week?" Director Luo was puzzled.

"Um… Director Luo, you misunderstood—it's per day. If there are many patients and we work a bit extra, we can do thirty."

"……" Director Luo said nothing, patted Zheng Ren on the shoulder, furrowed his brows, and walked off—apparently to go watch the surgery video.

The patient's son had been watching nearby, still not used to the tension of seeing his mother enter the operating room, when Zheng Ren came out.

After Director Luo left, he approached, looking anxious and fearful, and asked, "Doctor Zheng, my mother…"

"The first stage of the surgery is done; it went very well. Rest assured, the symptoms will soon ease." Zheng Ren said with a smile, "After three to five days, once the second stage is done, you can take your mother home."

"……" The patient's son felt he'd been lied to. From his hometown to the imperial capital, whenever anyone mentioned that whatever‑whatever‑PUS surgery, they said it was especially difficult, with a very high failure rate.

But from his own experience, the surgery was clearly simple! All those doctors are just full of themselves, exaggerating, making a simple operation sound hard. The patient's son thought, his face darkening slightly.

"When you go home, eat warm, soft, bland food." Zheng Ren earnestly instructed, "You must pay attention to this!"

"Oh oh." The man, blunt and casual, gave two vague "ohs," not sure if he remembered.

"I once saw a patient with liver cancer accompanied by portal vein tumor thrombus. The surgery was successful, and the portal vein tumor thrombus was also cleared. But after she recovered, she started playing mahjong every day, not eating meals, and even snacking on seeds." Zheng Ren gave this example as a warning, "Seeds are hard; they can scrape the gastric vein, causing massive vomiting of blood, and the patient couldn't be saved." (Note 1)

"Um……"

"TIPS surgery resolves portal hypertension. Once structural lesions have formed, they cannot be reversed retrogradely." Zheng Ren said, "Just pay attention—if everything goes well, refractory ascites will disappear and the risk of vomiting blood will also drop."

"Thanks……"

"Alright, that's it. I'll still be doing rounds these days." Zheng Ren said.

After saying that, Zheng Ren saw the operating room door open, and Xiao Aolifu pushed the patient out.

"Take your mother home. From now on, care more for the elderly—don't wait until they're sick to start caring." Zheng Ren added, chattering on.

After saying that, he prepared to return to the department, without checking whether the patient's family had listened.

Zheng Ren himself knew he'd said too much, but for the sake of "as long as Mother is home, it's still home; if Mother is gone, home is gone," he didn't mind adding one more reminder.

It's just idle talk, nothing more.

Returning to the ward, Chang Yue saw Zheng Ren back so early, wasn't particularly surprised, just asked casually how the surgery went, then got to work.

Zheng Ren's surgeries going smoothly is the norm; after six months working together, Chang Yue has never seen him botch a surgery.

Soon, Professor Su Yun also returned, the patient's postoperative condition was stable, and Zheng Ren prepared to check in a while.

After surgery, Zheng Ren always feels uneasy if he doesn't take an extra look at the patient's condition.

Su Yun entered, smiling, and said, "Boss, we finally have definite information on that matter."

"Hmm?" Zheng Ren looked at his smug smile, a little surprised, "What's up?"

"Do you still remember the people who caused trouble in the pediatric emergency department?"

"Oh? Any changes?" Zheng Ren perked up immediately.

It's not because of gossip, but this sort of thing—if the hospital truly doesn't distinguish right from wrong and just dumps the blame on doctors, then such a hospital isn't worth staying in.

"The patient's mother turned out to be a nurse at the Women and Children's Hospital next door. The child had been hospitalized for treatment a month ago; it's a rare congenital blood disorder, and the whole treatment process has been circulating online." Su Yun said, "Seeing that they couldn't be saved, she turned to other thoughts."

"No wonder, everything's so practiced." Zheng Ren said.

"The Medical Department of 912 is still very efficient—before long, everything is cleared up." Su Yun said, "Now the online public opinion has shifted. The troublemakers have been fired, and the 912 Medical Department is seeking her out to sue. I don't know if it'll lead to criminal charges, but this time it looks like they're serious."

"Phew." Zheng Ren let out a breath.

……

……

Note 1: Last year a patient. Vomiting blood, at consultation said without surgery they'd live at most six months. After four surgeries, very successful, tumor gone, portal vein tumor thrombus gone. One could say, his life really was good. But less than five days after discharge, the patient's family called me, saying massive vomiting blood.

Because there was nothing else, he went home to play mahjong and crack seeds, scraped the gastric vein, and died a few hours later.

Time, exactly half a year.

This matter is especially fated.