Surgery Godfather
Chapter 692 - 617: The Truth Revealed

Chapter 692: Chapter 617: The Truth Revealed

"Professor Yang, what do you think is the pathological diagnosis?" Dr. Wen was not ready to give up yet.

It took him a whole day of research to be confident about the diagnosis. How could a surgeon like him figure it out so quickly? It had been no more than ten or so minutes at most.

But from what Yang Ping had just said, it was clear that he already knew the diagnosis. To get to the bottom of it, Dr. Wen felt compelled to ask.

"It is consistent with the pathological manifestation of high-dose radiation injury," Yang Ping answered with certainty.

Dr. Wen’s heart clenched, his insides turning icy cold. He dreaded the thought of running three laps around the hospital in his underwear tomorrow, ruining his gentlemanly image that he had always maintained in the pathology department.

Song Zimo and Xu Zhiliang looked up simultaneously. They hadn’t figured out exactly what it was yet, but from the look on Dr. Wen’s face, they knew Yang Ping’s diagnosis was right.

"Tomorrow at noon, three laps around the hospital. A gentleman’s word is his bond, even if it means outrunning a team of horses," Dr. Wen gritted his teeth and said.

"Wearing briefs!"

"And preferably with cartoons!"

Song Zimo and Xu Zhiliang reminded him.

"I know, I, Wen Ruzheng, always keep my word," Dr. Wen avoided direct eye contact, feeling lonely and pained at this moment.

It was not about running around the hospital in his underwear, but about the blow to his professional dignity.

"We need to investigate the patient’s history further. If it’s true, we don’t know where the radiation source is. It’s lethal," Yang Ping expressed his worries about the radiation source.

The possibility of the source still being on the patient was almost zero. If it were still on him, he would probably have died already. Moreover, those around him, such as his girlfriend, would definitely fall ill and it wouldn’t be just him.

Dr. Wen was deeply ashamed. That’s right, how could he have overlooked the danger posed by the radiation source and waited for Director Han to return before issuing the report? It wasn’t that he lacked a sense of responsibility, but that he had completely neglected this.

Given the gravity of the situation, they could not afford to waste any more time and immediately returned to the Trauma and Orthopedics office.

The meeting had not adjourned yet. Director Tan was preparing for emergency surgery that evening to clean and remove the necrotic tissues from the limbs to prevent further severe infection and toxins from entering the bloodstream.

Professor Zhang and several heads of departments were in conversation. On seeing Yang Ping return, he asked:

"Xiao Yang, have you discovered anything?"

Yang Ping glanced at Dr. Wen, indicating that he should answer.

Feeling a bit nervous, Dr. Wen said, "From the pathology slides, it seems consistent with the pathological manifestation of very high-dose radiation injury."

Yang Ping supplemented, "We speculate that the patient might have picked up a radiation source and kept it in his pants pocket on his right. We need to investigate his history further. If he really picked up a radiation source, where is that radiation source now?"

Radiation source?

The expression on Professor Zhang’s face immediately turned solemn, "We need to confirm this immediately."

Director Tan and the others also became pale. This was a serious matter. Where was the radiation source? Was it still on the patient?

If it were indeed severe radiation injury, the patient’s condition would be even more complicated as the internal organs might also begin to show signs of damage.

"I’ll ask for more information about his history. In the meantime, alert the nurse station to keep everyone from approaching Zhang Tiejun’s ward," Professor Zhang, without hesitation, immediately stood.

Yang Ping wanted to accompany Professor Zhang to the ward, but he absolutely disagreed: "All of you, just stay here. Let’s determine the situation after I get more information."

Professor Zhang didn’t allow anyone else to go with him; instead, he went to inquire about the patient history alone.

If it really was radiation damage caused by a radiation source and the source was still on him, it might harm everyone else. Being eighty, he had nothing to fear.

Reaching the ward, Professor Zhang asked the two training students to leave and return to the doctor’s office.

He also called Zhang Tiejun’s girlfriend out and asked her to take a break in the rest room.

After asking everyone not involved to leave, Professor Zhang began to question, "Zhang Tiejun, I need you to recall carefully if you picked up any metal objects before falling sick? Especially if the object was shiny and beautiful. This is very important to your treatment. Because we think your limb necrosis is due to radiation damage."

At Professor Zhang’s sudden questioning, Zhang Tiejun’s face showed expressions of uncertainty and recollection. He said, "Now that you bring it up, I remember picking up a shiny bracelet many days ago under a bridge in a pile of rocks."

"Where is that object now? On you?"

"No. It was in my pants pocket at the time, but later, I found that the pocket was torn and I lost it somewhere. I didn’t care about it, so I forgot about it. Now when you ask, I recall it."

"Which pocket did you put it in?"

"The right side, I think."

"When did this happen?"

His forehead breaking into a sweat, Zhang Tiejun said, "It should be on the morning of the day I fell sick. I was jogging on the bridge and saw something shiny underneath. Curious, I went under the bridge and found it quite difficult to reach the shiny object. I had to struggle a great deal, and my shoes were all muddy. I almost fell into the river. It turned out to be a bracelet. I thought it was something valuable like a diamond, so I picked it up quickly, washed it in the river, and put it in my pants pocket."

Professor Zhang drew a sharp breath, was it really a radiation injury caused by a radiation source?

There are nearly two thousand lost radiation sources in our country that haven’t been found. Most of these are in the form of attractive metallic items, posing as a potential killer.

So, don’t pick up any unidentified metal items in the wild, especially the pretty ones.

After taking the patient’s history, Professor Zhang let Zhang Tiejun rest, preparing for emergency debridement surgery.

He immediately made phone calls to Dean Xia, Director Han, and Director Zhao at the Medical Service Department. Director Zhao took this matter very seriously and promptly reported it to the G City Police Department on behalf of the hospital.

Professor Zhang returned to his office and told everyone, "I’ve confirmed it, this is a radioactive injury. The radioactive source is no longer on his body. It fell off in Shipo County, and I have already reported this to the Medical Service Department."

If it’s a radioactive injury, then the problem is quite complicated; we need help from doctors specializing in treating radiation injuries, or transfer the patient to a specialized hospital.

The 307 Hospital in Beijing currently has the most experience in treating this type of case.

Dean Xia, Director Zhao, and Director Han lived nearby and they quickly arrived at the department.

This group of old colleagues used to live in the hospital dormitories, and then gradually bought homes nearby.

The orthopedics office suddenly became lively with everyone discussing vigorously.

"The patient is currently running a high fever, what’s our next step?" Director Tan asked for Director Han’s opinion.

"The necrotic tissue definitely needs to be removed, or else there’ll be risks during transport. We’ll stick to the original plan and perform emergency surgery tonight to remove the necrotic tissue. If limb amputation is necessary, then we’ll amputate," Director Han asserted decisively.

"I’ll get in touch with 307 Hospital in Beijing, and we’ll send the patient there tomorrow morning by helicopter," Director Zhao was in charge of coordinating the transfer.

"What did the police say?" Dean Xia needed to follow up on the handling of the radioactive source, as Sanbo Hospital was the one that discovered it.

"They have already reported to the Provincial Hall. The nearest local police will be here soon. The provincial police and radiation experts will arrive shortly. They will need to consult Zhang Tiejun about his activities that day to establish the possible range where the radioactive source could have fallen. Then, the Shipo police will seal off the suspected area, with radiation technicians responsible for retrieval," Director Zhao reported, clearly very busy.

Just as they were discussing the police, they arrived. The first to arrive were local law enforcement, who briefly met with Director Zhao and then, accompanied by Director Tan, went to get further details and investigate the day’s activities.

This was certainly a major public safety incident, and everyone was extremely tense.

Reportedly, the Provincial Hall had already reported the matter to the Provincial Government, and provincial radiation safety experts equipped with recovery detectors had been sent by helicopter to Shipo.

Leaders from the Provincial Department, the Public Security Department, and the Emergency Management Department were also urgently en route to the frontline.

The police were here to gather information to support the search for the radioactive source.

Apparently, there would be three waves of police officers arriving one after another.

Now that the diagnosis was clear, there wasn’t much point in the heads of the various departments staying here. It was a rare case, probably unique in their medical careers.

Professor Zhang, aware of the awkward stance of the department heads, suggested: "The diagnosis is clear. Everyone can take a break. We all still have work to do tomorrow."

Grasping this opportunity, the department heads each returned home, but not before shaking hands with Professor Zhang.

Professor Zhang’s previous insistence on not allowing everyone into the ward had greatly impressed the department chiefs.

Doctor Wen, seeing such a fuss was made, felt terribly ashamed. If not for Yang Ping’s visit to the Pathology Department to look at the tissue sections, he would have waited till tomorrow to report, delaying the matter even more, potentially putting more people at risk.

Dean Xia, Director Han, and Director Zhao were constantly on the phone.

After the police had finished questioning everyone and reported back to their higher-ups, they came to the doctor’s office for a rest. They dared not leave, as they were waiting for the next group of officers to arrive and may need to send in additional information at any moment.

"The area under that bridge is already sealed off. The police there have started a carpet search. I just reported the range of activities we collected, and they will evacuate and secure the area tonight. The provincial experts took a detection robot with them," the police officer updated everyone.

After Dean Xia finished his call, he said: "I have reported the patient’s condition. We will proceed with the emergency surgery tonight as planned, and we’ll transport him to 307 Hospital by helicopter tomorrow morning. The province is directly involved."

"Old Zhang, Xiao Yang, why aren’t you going home to rest? You should leave; we’re here handling this," Dean Xia said once he finally had a moment to chat.

He looked around and said, "Everyone who’s not involved in tonight’s surgery, go home. We’ll all be busy tomorrow."

"The experts at 307 Hospital also suggest performing emergency surgery first and then transferring the patient to their hospital," Director Han said after putting down the phone.

"How did we figure out the diagnosis just now?" Director Han refocused on the matter at hand, given that the patient wasn’t diagnosed until today after multiple department-wide consultations over the course of three days, and nothing about this was mentioned in his medical history before.

"The pathological diagnosis aligns with the symptoms of high dosage radiation exposure. Additional questioning of the patient’s history revealed that he had picked up a metal bracelet before falling ill," Professor Zhang answered.

"This kind of serious radioactive injury is extremely rare, who examined the tissue samples?" Director Han was very concerned about this.

"It was Dr. Wen from Pathology. Wen, come here," Professor Zhang had thought all along that Doctor Wen was the one who examined the tissue sections.

Doctor Wen turned red from embarrassment, his voice changed as he confessed, "I did find it, but I didn’t dare to report it. I was planning to wait until Professor Guan returns tomorrow before reporting it. It was Professor Yang who noticed and reminded me to report it promptly."

Being both honest and reserved, Dr. Wen spoke honestly if he had something to say and kept quiet if he didn’t.

Yang Ping?

Him again!

Both Professor Zhang and Director Han were already used to it.

PS: This case was adapted from the Song Xuewen case from Jilin in the 1990s. Interweaving this case mainly serves as a warning to remind everyone of a safety precaution: do not pick up metal items in the wild. Currently, more than 2000 radioactive sources have been reported lost and not found. Because last time’s recommendation got a good result, today it will be promoted again in the popular select recommendation on Starting Point Client. That’s if the result is still good, there may be more big promotions to come. I humbly ask everyone to vote—monthly votes, recommendation votes, use them up!