Chapter 52: The Meaning Of Being A Doctor!
“Director Lin, what did you say? Our department was reported? Why were we reported?” In the lounge, Lu Cheng had just put on his white coat when Director Lin Qianlong walked in from outside and surprised Lu Cheng with his opening words.
Lin Qianlong raised an eyebrow at Lu Cheng but didn’t reply.
Lu Cheng’s gaze retracted, and he began to quickly search his memory of patient consultations: “Director Lin, why don’t you just tell me directly, what did I do wrong?”
It’s quite normal for a doctor to be reported by a patient. It also depends on whether the report is valid.
“The report is against our department, not specifically against you, Xiao Lu, but the reason for the report is related to you, Xiao Lu.”
“It’s a patient who was transferred from our department in May. When he was having a follow-up for his tendon injury with Director Peng Haibo in orthopedics, he encountered a patient from our department who had surgery and was also there for a follow-up.”
“They claimed we refused to treat them!” Director Lin said.
Lu Cheng: “…”
“Director Lin, our department didn’t perform tendon suturing in May, did we? Why would this patient report our emergency department and not orthopedics?”
Director Lin said helplessly: “The problem is, orthopedics still doesn’t do tendon suturing, but our emergency department does!”
“Although it’s an invalid report, the Medical Affairs Department has to accept it, and I spent half a day talking to him.”
“The patient’s intention was that our service attitude was poor. Fortunately, I didn’t tell him that you used to be an orthopedic doctor, otherwise, he would have reported you too.”
“They wanted us to compensate them. It was originally a matter that could have been resolved for three thousand yuan, but they spent over six thousand…”
Lu Cheng’s slightly raised heart settled: “The Medical Affairs Department didn’t approve this invalid report, did they?”
“Of course not. The Medical Affairs Department has records of surgical permission applications. Those orthopedic patients are still complaining. It was impossible to do it at the time…”
“Professor Chen indeed only came to the Emergency Department in July. If these basic principles aren’t followed, no one will dare to do anything.”
“As for me, I apologized at least a hundred times…” Director Lin patted his thigh, also extremely helpless.
Zeng Huanqi happened to walk in at that moment, holding four bowls of noodles. He squeezed into the room and, upon seeing Director Lin, hesitated for less than a second: “Director Lin, you’ve come at the right time, breakfast is here.”
“There’s one for you too. I’ve already eaten and will be off duty soon to go home and rest.”
Director Lin saw there were four bowls and didn’t suspect anything. He directly opened the bag and asked, “Zeng Huanqi, who is on ward duty today?”
“It’s Dai Hua today, he’s already on his way,” Zeng Huanqi glanced casually in Lu Cheng’s direction, answering very naturally.
Although Zeng Huanqi had connections, he also had “sensible” written all over his forehead and remained silent.
“Dai Hua, good!”
“The recent medical records need to be written in detail. I received word that comrades from the Health Bureau will be coming in a couple of days to check medical records. Don’t get picked as a typical example.”
“Xiao Lu, your medical records are written well, help review the on-shelf records later!” Director Lin picked at his noodles and then asked, “Are Professor Chen and Professor Tong still enjoying their little pleasures?”
“Mm, they’ll probably be here soon…” Zeng Huanqi said.
“Director Lin, Du Daihua said he’s arrived, so I’m going off duty now. I didn’t rest well yesterday.” Zeng Huanqi expressed his hunger in a fresh and refined manner, with sound reasoning.
Director Lin nodded and permitted: “Then go rest. Even though you’re off duty, you still need to be prepared for standby duty. Currently, with Professor Chen and Professor Tong here, our department’s surgical volume has increased…”
After breakfast, Lu Cheng immediately took Du Daihua to do rounds.
Currently, the surgery group has a total of four patients. Patient 1 is undergoing spleen preservation surgery with Lu Cheng as the chief surgeon. This is the eleventh spleen preservation surgery in the hospital and the first performed by a doctor from this hospital.
Patient 2 is a patient undergoing extensive debridement. After the surgery by Chief Surgeon Zhang Tiesheng, Patient 3 is Lu Cheng’s first case of flexor tendon injury in District Two, with surgery quality personally overseen by Professor Tong Yuan’an.
Patient 4 is a tendon rupture that Professor Tong Yuan’an personally operated on on July 1st, and the recovery is currently excellent.
Since the on-duty doctor was Du Daihua, Lu Cheng routinely accompanied him on rounds, paying particularly close attention to Patient 1 and performing a very detailed physical examination.
Finding no issues, Lu Cheng settled down: “Auntie, this is the third day after surgery. My physical examination hasn’t found any abdominal tenderness, which indicates that the hemostasis was quite effective.”
“The chance of re-bleeding later is not that high. Today, you can get out of bed and walk with crutches, not just for going to the restroom.”
To be the chief surgeon for an operation, being able to perform it is a secondary matter; first, one must understand the complications of a particular surgery.
This was something Chen Song had tested Lu Cheng on before. Lu Cheng had a good ability to memorize, which is why Chen Song allowed him to conduct rounds alone.
If Lu Cheng didn’t know about complications such as postoperative oozing, re-rupture, peritonitis, or spleen leakage, and didn’t know how to check for them, then Chen Song would definitely not dare to teach Lu Cheng how to be a chief surgeon.
“Thank you, Doctor Lu.” The auntie was very happy.
“According to Doctor Zeng, who was on duty yesterday, you are the first doctor in our hospital to operate on me for this condition. In the past, in my situation, they would have just removed my spleen?” The auntie, around forty-eight or forty-nine years old, had a kind face.
Du Daihua explained: “Yes, Auntie, you had an acute spleen rupture. You were in danger of life due to the referral and required emergency surgery.”
“In the past, we performed splenectomy for this type of disease. Spleen preservation surgery is difficult, and generally, only Zhou Hospital can perform it routinely.”
“In our county and other county hospitals, they directly perform resection. Doctor Lu recently learned spleen preservation surgery from Professor Chen at Xiangya Second Hospital.”
“Otherwise, you would have had to have your spleen removed.”
The auntie’s expression changed slightly: “Will a person be okay if their spleen is removed?”
Lu Cheng said: “There won’t be major problems, but a person’s immunity will decrease, and they are prone to anemia.”
“For the sake of saving a life, it’s unavoidable, but if the spleen can be preserved, preservation is prioritized.”
“The reason we chose splenectomy before was that it was unavoidable. Firstly, spleen preservation surgery is indeed very difficult to perform. If handled improperly, it can lead to re-rupture, with increased risks of re-shock and infection.”
“It would be more painful for the patient, so it’s better to just remove it.”
“Auntie, you shouldn’t engage in strenuous exercise either, right?” After giving instructions, Lu Cheng told Du Daihua: “You can stop this auntie’s antibiotics today. Seeing her condition is quite good, let’s also stop the intravenous pain medication and switch to oral analgesics.”
“Doctor Lu, thank you.”
“You’re amazing!” The auntie touched her stomach, her face full of smiles, harboring a sense of luck.
“I’m not that amazing. In our emergency department, patients are transferred out every day.”
“For example, the patient with multiple combined injuries who came in this morning died on the way to being transferred.”
“There was nothing I could do. I didn’t even dare to let the patient into the operating room; I couldn’t manage it,” Lu Cheng replied bluntly.
“Doctor Lu, but you are a good doctor!” The auntie blinked her eyes.
Although ordinary people hope that the doctors they encounter are all divine healers and the people they meet are all good people, that’s just a hope.
Everyone’s ability has a limit.
Lu Cheng smiled back: “It’s all what we should do. If we can do it, we will do our best. If we can’t, then there’s nothing we can do.”
“Auntie, please rest well. In your case, if you recover well, you can be discharged home this weekend. You don’t need to change dressings after discharge; just wait for the stitches to be removed!”
Being able to perform surgery, having skill points is one thing; secondly, the sincere gratitude from patients, the smiles on the faces of patients and their families, are things many professions cannot experience.
“Doctor Lu, have some fruit…” The auntie politely invited, but Lu Cheng had already walked towards Patient 2…
In the lounge, Tong Yuan’an asked Chen Song: “Aren’t you going to take a look at the spleen removal surgery that Xiao Lu is performing as chief surgeon?”
“I’ve already seen it all. There’s nothing special, what’s there to see?”
Chen Song said with disdain: “Tong Yuan’an, you don’t think I’m like you, trying to trick you by saying Xiao Lu learned spleen preservation surgery quickly, do you?”
Director Lin appeased them with a smile: “Both professors are excellent teachers, so please don’t argue. It’s all the same for Xiao Lu who he follows.”
“No!” Chen Song’s tone was firm.
“Director Lin, you should handle this matter…” Tong Yuan’an turned his head.
