Chapter 689: Mellow

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“The ship might not be a suitable place to operate on a patient with liver cancer…” Lin Honghou only spoke after he hesitated for a long while.

If this had happened a while back, he would have put his foot down and firmly shot down the notion.

Hepatectomy had to be performed under a strict set of conditions. And the most complicated part about hepatectomy was that the surgeon had to deal with countless blood vessels. The blood supply to the liver was extremely rich too. So, if the surgeon were to make a wrong maneuver, the patient would start bleeding uncontrollably. The hemorrhage the patient suffered from when Lin Honghou was operating on him just now would be nothing compared to the calamity that could take place if the patient were to be operated on right now in the middle of the sea.

This was why even in the operating theaters of tertiary Grade A hospitals, patients had to be carefully vetted through before undergoing hepatectomy. A patient had to undergo so many tests that the test results were enough to form a book before he was eligible for hepatectomy.

Ling Ran shook his head and said, “If we don’t operate on him right now, we won’t be able to do so when we’re back.”

The hemorrhage the patient suffered from just now was considered very serious. Considering the fact that the cancer might spread too, if they were to wait until they were back on the land to operate on him for a second time, his survival rate would definitely plummet.

And Ling Ran reckoned that the patient’s cancer was at most at the early or intermediate stage. He believed that it was better to take the risk to operate on the patient on the ship.

Of course, that was only if someone was capable of carrying out the surgery.

Lin Honghou could not wrap his brain around the notion no matter what. After he heard what Ling Ran said, he continued to shake his head. “You guys might not understand the risks involved in operating on a patient on a hospital ship. Even though the hospital ship can stop in an area where there’s no storm, and the position of the operating theater on the ship is meticulously chosen, the probability of the ocean rising in sudden bursts is too high. Even if you guys want to operate on the patient, you will have to wait until our ship docks at the harbor where the coast is clear.”

Ling Ran thought about it for a few seconds and said, “The patient might not be able to afford the wait.”

“It’s still better than dying in the operating theater, isn’t it?” Lin Honghou said through gritted teeth, implying that this matter was no longer up for discussion.

Ling Ran, though, glanced at Lin Honghou with a baffled expression. “We just need to treat the patient.”

“It’s hepatectomy… Aren’t you worried that the ship might suddenly sway, causing you to poke a hole in the patient’s liver with your scalpel?”

“There’ll always be unexpected risks. We’ll just have to find a way to handle them when it comes to that.” Ling Ran wore a calm expression. Even though he liked to have things in control, he knew how to deal with unexpected circumstances during surgeries a lot better than Lin Honghou.

Lin Honghou really wanted to tell Ling Ran that things were not that easy. But then, he suddenly recalled the way Ling Ran carried out barehanded bleeding control just now.

The biggest risk of hepatectomy was the possibility of hemorrhage. A person could even say that hemorrhage was the biggest risk of any kind of surgery. As long as a surgeon was good in bleeding control, he would have ample time to manage other problems.

Of course, not all surgeons were made equal when it came to bleeding control.

Lin Honghou knew how to perform bleeding control too. His expertise was trauma-related surgery, and he had encountered many incidences of hemorrhage. Take the surgery just now as an example. Even if Ling Ran did not join the surgery, Lin Honghou might be able to handle the hemorrhage too. He just had to eliminate all the other parts where the bleeding point might be before he searched the most unlikely part, such as the spleen. Of course, the patient might have bled a lot by then. However, the patient was relatively young, and he might be able to stay alive even if he were to lose 405 to 541 ounces of blood.

In conclusion, Lin Honghou did not give up trying to control the patient’s bleeding just now because he still had the confidence to handle the situation. This skill was also one of the skills that thirty-five-year-old experienced attending physicians would excel at, after all.

Unfortunately, compared to Ling Ran, his skills were nothing.

As Lin Honghou gazed at Ling Ran, he could not help but imagine what might happen if Ling Ran were to operate on the patient on the ship. When Ling Ran used the scalpel or forceps during the surgery, the ship would sway, and a stream of warm blood would gush out. Ling Ran would then reach out and carry out barehanded bleeding control before he sutured the bleeding point. Then, he would carry on with the surgery.

Lin Honghou had no choice but to admit that he did not feel that there was any problem in this.

Of course, if the surgery went this way, the patient’s prognosis would not be good. However, his survival rate would be higher than if they were to wait until they dock at the harbor.

Lin Honghou lowered his head a little. He did not feel like playing along with Ling Ran, but it would be bad faith to go against him. Hence, he had no choice but to stay silent.

As Huo Congjun gazed at the way Lin Honghou’s expression kept changing, he suddenly kind of felt like laughing.

Why did junior doctors feel that they were facing their teachers whenever they saw senior doctors? Why were experienced doctors able to oppress inexperienced doctors like experienced kung fu masters in sects? At the end of the day, this was attributed to the fact that senior doctors were more skillful.

Take what Ling Ran was doing right now as an example. No matter how much Lin Honghou wanted to refute Ling Ran’s statement, unless he had lost his rationality, he would not be able to find a way to do so.

Huo Congjun would not be worried even if Lin Honghou were to lose his rationality. When had doctors ever been afraid of lunatics?

Ling Ran worked quietly.

He had to do more than treat the patient’s liver cancer today. He had to deal with all the prior damage before carrying out hepatectomy.

From Lin Honghou’s perspective, Ling Ran was practically showing off his skills.

Take the patient’s blood vessels as an example. Ling Ran sutured them effortlessly. ‘We are on a ship for God’s sake. Doesn’t he feel pressured at all?’

Ling Ran also lifted the patient’s spleen, which Lin Honghou had dealt with just now, and worked on it. The spleen went from being as disfigured as a northern steamed bun to a curvy, smooth, and shiny southern steamed bun.

Lin Honghou watched as Ling Ran operated on the patient, and his expression slowly mellowed down. The remaining fury in his mind was frozen in time too. It was just like what happened when bucket after bucket of ice cubes were being poured onto a bonfire. In the beginning, the bonfire would still cackle, but eventually, only the sounds of ice cubes hitting the ground would be heard.

Soon, the person responsible for pathological examinations called.

“It’s a malignant tumor,” the circulating nurse said after picking up the call. There was admiration in her eyes.

Ling Ran nodded. He then shifted and said, “Then, let’s start severing the hepatic ligaments. Doctor… Sir, have you carried out hepatectomy before?”

Lin Honghou’s cheeks became extremely flushed. “No… Never.”

“Come and help out.” After Ling Ran said this, he looked at Lin Honghou’s assistant who had been helping him out all the while. “Do you need to rest for a while?”

“No.” The other party was excited, but he did not dare to show it.

Ling Ran nodded. He then observed the patient’s liver for a while more and said, “The tumor coverage shouldn’t be too large. We need to pay extra attention to the hepatic portal vein and the inferior vena cava…”

Ling Ran started operating on the patient as he spoke. After a few maneuvers, he started barking orders at Lin Honghou.

“Sever the round ligament.

“You need to work on your fingers’ flexibility.

“Make a knot with both hands. Make sure that the knot is secure.”

Ling Ran could be said to be very used to this. As he frequently carried out freelance surgery nowadays, he always had to work together with doctors from other hospitals in the operating theatre. It was unavoidable that those doctors would ask him all kinds of questions or ask to try out various maneuvers.

Sometimes, when Ling Ran was in other hospitals for freelance surgery, he would play the role of a babysitter instead. This was because even though doctors from some of the hospitals wanted to act as chief surgeon for certain surgical methods, there were no doctors in those hospitals who were capable of supervising them. Hence, those hospitals had no choice but to spend a sum of money to hire a babysitter from a larger hospital.

Ling Ran had never been a calculative person when it came to the roles played by himself and his assistant during surgeries. He was also willing to offer opportunities to other doctors, especially when surgery was going well.

Even though Lin Honghou did not make any request, Ling Ran had never been a person who discriminated against one weak doctor from another. Since he had given other weak doctors opportunities to perform crucial maneuvers, he was not about to deprive Lin Honghou of the chance to learn something.

Hence, it was inevitable that Lin Honghou had to receive a reward: working under Doctor Ling’s guidance.

Even though Lin Honghou was reluctant, his body moved along to Ling Ran’s orders…

It was as if there were two conflicting entities within Lin Honghou’s being—his body and his mind.

His body kept consoling his mind, giving kind words of advice. ‘You’re carrying out a hepatectomy right now!’

His mind chucked. ‘It’s important for a person to follow his mind. So what if it’s a hepatectomy?’

His body did its best to convince his mind. ‘You’re dumber than a pickled radish. If this didn’t happen, you might have to have s*x with a senior doctor for a chance to try out hepatectomy.’

His mind chucked. ‘Well, you’ll be the one doing it, it has nothing to do with me.’

His body chuckled. ‘We’ll have pork intestine for dinner tonight, and right after that I’ll make you observe an intestinal obstruction repair surgery with the patient being an old man.’

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