Surgery Godfather
Chapter 518 - 471: Searching For a Needle in the Ocean

Chapter 518: Chapter 471: Searching For a Needle in the Ocean

Although Xu Zhiliang had a stutter, he was exceptionally smart.

He was able to join Yang Ping’s team because of Yang Ping’s astute judgment. Otherwise, he would still be biding his time in the emergency department.

He had no interest in going abroad. All he wanted was to stay in the ward quietly, studying earnestly under Yang Ping’s guidance.

Just like a newcomer in the martial arts world, studying secluded with a master for years, he could stand on his own in the proverbial world of jianghu. And this master was Yang Ping.

Whilst Yang Ping could perform surgery anywhere, Song Zimo was the best assistant. Xu Zhiliang still needed to hone his skills; he was better suited to stay behind.

Especially since Yang Ping was going to Japan for surgery, with the operation posing a high risk, any lack of coordination could introduce a considerable risk to the procedure. Xu Zhiliang was very self-aware.

Self-knowledge is valuable.

Only then could one see their path clearly without being blinded.

"I’ll stay behind while you guys go out. We have me and Li Guodong at home."

Graduate student Li Guodong was equally dedicated to learning. Led by him and Xu, several other graduate students and standardized trainees could manage the department perfectly in a few days. There was no need for the embarassment of Director Han needing to step in personally.

"Keep in touch at all times, don’t hesitate to disturb us," Yang Ping urged.

They were all astute individuals, part of the same team, open and straightforward with each other. There was no need for beating around the bush nor wasting time.

When it came to medical issues, the first response when confronted with difficulty was to consult one’s superior.

Even late into the night, when the senior doctors were engaged in work to benefit humanity, they should not be hesitant to make decisive phone calls.

Any serious surgeon, carrying multitiered tasks, needn’t worry about unanswered phone calls.

Phones at full charge, placed next to the pillow on vibrate and ring, were standard practice.

Years of training also form reflexes. The moment the phone rings, they would wake up instantly, their minds crystal clear within seconds and ready to jump into action.

"Go out and see the world. I will be on duty. Guodong, work a bit harder," Director Han appeared in the general orthopedic doctors’ office.

Yang Ping rushed to make tea.

"We’re usually very busy, it’s rare for us to get to go out over the course of the year. A few days’ absence won’t cause any trouble, Guodong and I can handle it," Director Han sat down comfortably, leaning onto the backrest, his fingers habitually tapping on the desk.

Yang Ping offered the tea with both hands, "That’s unacceptable."

Director Han was displeased, "You think I’m too old? I’m not boasting, I can definitely handle several surgeries overnight, no problem."

"You guys, the comprehensive surgery department, are holding up well. Over at the Overseas Chinese Building, Tian Yuan is managing. The trauma orthopedics is led by Tan Boyun, Gao Yuan is thriving in Sports Medicine, the Spinal Joint department has been gradually progressing. I’ve been phased out by you all for almost a year. The other night the phone rang late, I got up in a sweat, feeling so happy inside thinking you young guys finally needed me for something. I was preparing to get dressed and work hard, but found out it was not the hospital calling," Director Han slowly sipped his tea.

Everyone laughed at his mimicking.

"After hanging up the phone, I felt so disappointed. It’s been a long time since I did a proper surgery, you know how sad that makes me," Director Han mimicked a sad expression.

"This time, whatever happens I want an opportunity. Guodong, have the department stocked with provisions, we’ll work hard for a couple of days," Director Han instructed Li Guodong.

"You all go ahead, I’ve been wanting to perform a surgery but always seem to have no chance. Now is a good time for me to indulge," Director Han dismissed the topic with a wave of his hand.

After all this was said, Yang Ping didn’t see the point in persuading further. He could only privately remind Li Guodong to take good care of the Director. After all, someone almost 60 shouldn’t overwork like a young person.

"Xiao Yang, I’ve picked out the anesthesiologist you wanted, a Doctor from Nandu Medical University. Let him try it out these few days. Right now Fatty is the only one handling the anesthesia in the Comprehensive Surgery Department and he’s overwhelmed,"

Fatty had always been single-handedly carrying the responsibility of anesthesia in the Comprehensive Surgery Department. Thankfully, his physical fitness was decent, and he never fell sick nor took time off.

However, this couldn’t go on forever. The department had just set up and was developing in a workshop manner, now it needed to upgrade.

With the support of Dean Xia and Director Han, it seemed that Yang Ping could achieve anything he set his mind to.

This was also why Yang Ping refused to go to 301 and Xiehe Hospitals; even if Professors Qin and Liang favored him very much, they couldn’t represent the whole hospital, certainly not as liberally as Sanbo.

As long as Yang Ping makes a request, Sanbo Hospital will do their utmost best.

Even if Yang Ping doesn’t make a request, Dean Xia and Director Han will rack their brains to provide the best services.

The whole orthopedics department was escalating speedily. They had recruited over a dozen doctoral students at once to inject fresh blood. After these students finish their rotations in the various orthopedic wards, they must spend a year in Comprehensive Surgery Department.

According to Dean Xia’s plan, not only the orthopedic doctorate students, but all newly recruited surgery doctorate students would have to go to Comprehensive Surgery Department for a special training for a year.

After a few years, Sanbo Hospital will have cultivated numerous excellent surgeons.

Yang Ping also understood Director Han’s mindset, his desire to indulge in the thrill and also to create opportunities for everyone to network and learn.

After managing things within the department, Yang Ping pulled up Ning Qi’s brother’s imaging scans for discussion with Director Han. Professor Zhang Zongshun was also invited for his input.

There isn’t a completely identical case in the world.

Everyone’s experience is precious. For example, Professor Zhang Zongshun, who has practiced medicine for over fifty years, and has abundant experience.

Even with the system at his disposal, Yang Ping humbly kept learning from others. Learning is endless, and it’s invaluable to learn even one thing from a person.

The system merely provided a plethora of cases, but it did not teach him how to think, or make decisions.

These skills had to be fostered by Yang Ping himself.

Professor Zhang arrived in the office, removing a large sports bag from his back. Once placed on his desk, the bag seemed rather heavy.

"Old Zhang, what’s this? Are you on vacation?" Director Han asked.

Professor Zhang sat down. "Vacation, no. I’ve arranged a duel with Su Butong. This is my training gear; I’m going to train later."

"Yang, whenever you are free, bring some people with you to the staff house at the Tri-Bo Hotel. There, you’ll serve as field doctors for us. I’ve arranged a duel with Su Butong, the time is yet to be decided." Professor Zhang seemed eager to challenge himself.

Su Butong was Professor Su Qingyun’s father and Su Yixuan’s grandfather.

Last year, Professor Zhang and him engaged in Tai Chi push-hands. Both used excessive force and ended up falling down together. As a result, Professor Zhang suffered from a hip fracture, and Professor Su had a spinal compression fracture.

"Old Zhang, you haven’t removed the intra-medullary nail from your hip yet, have you? And you are already gearing up for a fight? Be careful! You are eighty years old, why don’t you engage in less violent activities?" Director Han advised him.

But Professor Zhang was stubborn: "This is what I enjoy. If I’m not allowed to do it, why bother living to be a hundred?"

"You..." Director Han was silenced.

This old man sure was stubborn!

"Director Han is right, take it easy." Yang Ping also advised him.

Professor Zhang hummed: "You must think I’m incapable just because I broke my hip last time. But let me tell you, it was different last time. We both got too carried away and thus the accident. This time, it will be a civilized and regulated fight at the staff house of Tri-Bo Hotel, where there are soft pads and we’ve hired an official referee. Moreover, with you as our doctor on site, even if something happens, we could just move to the operating room for another surgery. It won’t be a big deal."

"Fine, fine!" Director Han waved his hands dismissively.

"As for Su Butong, he’s always bragging about how he knocked me down and he only fell accidentally. In reality, I knocked him down, and it was me who tripped and fell. I can’t accept that, so we have to fight again." Old Zhang was getting worked up as he spoke.

What a hassle! Two old men in their eighties doing Tai Chi push-hands.

In plain language, it’s a fight.

A simple twist could result in either a strained muscle or broken bone.

"When will you be free? Whenever you can serve as our field doctor, we will hold it then." Professor Zhang waited for Yang Ping’s response.

Yang Ping calculated his schedule. If it could be postponed, he would postpone it. As time passed, the two old men might cool down, forget about it completely, or their stubborn persistence might fade away.

First he needed to appease them, buying some time to persuade both sides.

Based on what happened last time, with both of them going all out, accidents were inevitable.

"I’m pretty tied up these days, let’s discuss it after I return from Japan." Yang Ping replied seriously, he couldn’t let Professor Zhang know he was attempting to postpone.

"Alright! Just let me know ahead of time when you’re free. Also, keep our duel in mind—it’s very important—we’ve already hired the referee." Professor Zhang reminded Yang Ping.

"Let’s look at the film, let’s look at the film!" Director Han quickly shifted Professor Zhang’s focus back on the matter at hand.

"The tumor is really small and located in a very tricky place. Look, it’s on both the upper spinal cord and medulla oblongata. Two tumors, both very small, one is only 1mm in diameter, the other 2mm. The one in the medulla oblongata is right in the nerve nuclei. Luckily, we’ve found no metastasis from the PET-CT scan. If we can fully remove it at this stage, we might even be able to completely cure it. This case is more challenging than Old Feng’s, the tumors are too difficult to locate. It’s like sending a satellite to search for an ant, using a cannon to kill a mosquito." Professor Zhang squinted, pointing out the biggest challenge of the surgery.

The visibility alone was extremely difficult. After delving into such hazardous areas, it’s likely that the tumors would not be found.

A 1-2mm tumor, even after overcoming obstacles to reach the upper spinal cord and the inside of the brainstem, it would be hard to spot them.

A satellite may find it easy to locate a car, but locating an ant would be impossible.

"Prior to surgery, we need to find a way to stain the tumor, finding a dye that has affinity with this type of tumor —" Professor Zhang took off his glasses and cleaned them.

Director Han shook his head: "Easier said than done. We can’t wait too long now, there’s no time to screen for a dye. Even if we did have time, success isn’t guaranteed."

"I doubt the fluorescent imaging techniques would be effective either, due to the tumor’s small size. Indocyanine green, 5-ALA, fluorescein sodium – I fear none of them would cut it." Despite his age, Professor Zhang closely followed international cutting-edge tech.

"Even if there are excellent imaging substances available, it’s still very difficult to locate the tumor. Such substances are useful in outlining a tumor, but probably ineffective for locating such small tumors." Song Zimo also couldn’t think of a good solution.

"For this location, it’s literally like finding a needle in a haystack. Are nanoprobes or multiphoton fluorescent excitation methods worth considering?" Director Han turned to look at Yang Ping.

"The thing is, we can’t just experiment. If we try, we might lose the patient. Exposition is high risk, location is a high difficulty – combining the two, it increases the difficulty exponentially." Yang Ping shook his head.

Director Han agreed that Yang Ping was right. This kind of surgery, with such low success probability, if they were to use unproven experimental tech, it would only introduce more uncertain variables.

"Why are you shaking your head? You managed to handle your master’s surgery last time, didn’t you? You must have some method to handle this surgery. If you were not at least eighty percent confident, would you stir up such a fuss to go to Japan?"

Director Han drank his tea, calm and composed.

Professor Zhang was initially very concerned, but after hearing Director Han’s words, he ceased to worry: "Just say it, are you sure you can handle it?"

Yang Ping thought about it: "I have some degree of confidence."

"Good, let’s adjourn! I need to get on with my training." Professor Zhang stood up, pulling his backpack on.

"Trying nanoprobes might be worth it. Every structure in the body has a specific arrangement. You could investigate the gaps between nerve nuclei and enter through these gaps. Don’t forget about my fight, don’t make me chase you up." Professor Zhang added before leaving.