The Surgeon's Studio

When Dr Shen returned to the operating table, Su Yun had taken over his position.

“Pardon me, but the subsequent procedures are rather challenging. I’ll be more comfortable with the help of my assistant,” Zheng Ren said politely, but that was all he provided before he dove right back into the operation.

The phrase, “my assistant”, left Dr. Shen in a daze.

Even Department Chief Kong did not have an assigned assistant. How had this young doctor gotten one of his own?

Dr. Shen left the operating table dejectedly and went into the operator console room, where he stood in place, feeling completely at a loss. He stole a glance at Department Chief Kong from time to time, fearing the man’s anger and castigation.

However, a few minutes passed and Department Chief Kong had not looked over at Dr. Shen. His focus was entirely on Zheng Ren and Su Yun operating. Dr. Shen got even more worried.

Could this be the lull before the storm?

“Come over here and observe,” Department Chief Kong suddenly said.

“…” Dr. Shen was stunned. Department Chief Kong was not being his usual self.

He had made a serious mistake today; was he not going to be berated for it? Instead of receiving a full-blown lecture from Department Chief Kong, he was being called over to observe the operation?

‘How is this possible?’ thought Dr. Shen.

“Don’t be disappointed,” Department Chief Kong said in a benevolent tone, which was a rare thing. “Do you know who the assistant is?”

‘The assistant? Isn’t he just a handsome-looking chap that looks like a girl? Is he the son of someone important?’ thought Dr. Shen.

“I don’t know,” Dr. Shen answered honestly, not reckless enough to blurt out his speculations.

“He was the one who performed a heart transplant on mice two years ago and published the study in The Lancet,” Department Chief Kong said.

“Ah!” Dr. Shen exclaimed, astounded by the mere mention of The Lancet.

In order to earn his doctorate, he had to publish a journal that would be indexed in the Scientific Citation Index (SCI). However, the whole journey from conducting the study itself to getting it published was not an easy task. The only other option was to pay for one.

Dr. Shen’s heart dropped when he estimated the cost of a decent quality journal to be at least 50,000 yuan.

That sissy had managed to publish in The Lancet two years ago?

A journal in The Lancet in conjunction with a good impact factor would earn most people their doctoral degrees.

“Look at what they’re doing.” Department Chief Kong sat directly in front of the operating console room display, his eyes glued to the screen.

Dr. Shen finally regained his composure and began observing the procedure carefully. ‘What are they doing?’

The thrombolysis went through fine but was not that effective. Onscreen, the contrast media had moved forward less than 1 centimeter.

What were they doing? What else could be done at this point?

Something was not right. The microcatheter should not be that thick. Was he hallucinating? Dr. Shen adjusted his glasses and leaned forward.

“You don’t get it?” Department Chief Kong’s tone became much more serious.

Dr. Shen’s heart sank. It would be excusable if he could not perform this procedure. However, if he could not even understand what was going on… Department Chief Kong would kick him out of the operating console room then and there.

Beads of sweat suddenly began forming on his forehead. He could feel a chill run down his spine, as if someone was holding a knife against his neck.

“Is that a large catheter?” Dr. Shen had finally figured out what it was after a few seconds.

“Why is he using a large catheter?” he blurted out almost immediately after as if shocked by his own revelation.

“Look for yourself!” Department Chief Kong was very unimpressed with Dr. Shen, irritation growing in his tone.

Tears filled Dr. Shen’s face while an ache throbbed in his scarred heart.

‘How the hell would I know why he is using a large catheter to navigate through such a thin blood vessel?’ thought Dr. Shen.

Nevertheless, his sanity kept him from voicing it out loud in front of Department Chief Kong lest he receive the chief’s wrath.

On the screen, the large catheter was inching forward slowly and gradually filling up the blood vessel, each step taken with caution.

This would result in injuries on the inner walls of the blood vessels due to friction. If the walls were punctured, there would be bleeding.

Even though the injury would not be fatal, local hematoma would be inevitable. In more severe cases, the hematoma formed due to deformation of the ophthalmic artery in the posterior cavity would result in compression on the cranial nerves.

‘What was Department Chief Kong trying to do, ordering him to observe such a risky procedure?’ thought Dr. Shen.

Countless thoughts flashed across his mind. Dr. Shen was considered the cream of the crop, which was why he had been able to obtain a graduate research fellowship under Department Chief Kong. If not for his impeccable memory, he would not have been able to outshine all the other applicants.

He could remember every single book that he had ever read, as well as all the operations he had observed.

Nonetheless, there was not a single procedure he knew that fit the operation that was happening before him.

He subconsciously leaned toward the screen as if it would allow him to have a clearer look, as he had no idea what was going on.

Despite being physically closer to the screen, he still had no clue.

The large catheter maneuvered through the narrow artery carefully and decisively without any signs of stopping.

Were they asking for trouble?

‘That can’t be the case. If that was his intention, why hadn’t Department Chief Kong stopped him from doing it?’ thought Dr. Shen.

He immediately replayed the entire process of the operation from memory, stunned by the realization that he had missed out on the action performed right after thrombolysis.

What had they done within that particular time frame? Why had they chosen to use a large catheter?

After asking himself the question a few times, Dr. Shen was becoming more and more anxious. He closed in a few more centimeters and stared at the screen intensely, his eyes fixed on the moving large catheter.

“The artery is being blocked by high molecular weight hyaluronic acid and the suction force of a microcatheter is insufficient to remove it. That’s why they are trying it with a large catheter,” Department Chief Kong explained, knowing that Dr. Shen could not understand what was going on.

Uhm…

Suction? They were removing the high molecular weight hyaluronic acid that was blocking the ophthalmic artery?

The mere thought of such a solution was so baffling that it stunned Dr. Shen. He stared at the screen blankly with both of his hands supporting his weight on the console.

Even though the large catheter was moving very slowly, it eventually closed the short distance to the blockage in the ophthalmic artery after several minutes.

At that point, it stopped moving forward. Zheng Ren held the catheter absolutely still while Su Yun connected it to an open syringe and started suction.

Resistance was considerably strong. Su Yun faced some difficulty when he tried to pull the syringe by hand.

Everyone in the room tensed up.

Three hours had already passed. This was Lin Jiaojiao’s last chance to regain sight in her right eye.

They had to succeed! Department Chief Kong unintentionally clenched his fist, his palm filled with sweat.

Dr. Shen was also on edge. He had connected the dots after hearing Department Chief Kong’s explanation of the operative procedure. Had he known, he would not have agreed with Zheng Ren’s current plan of action.

However, after running a few scenarios in his mind, Zheng Ren’s procedure seemed to be the only feasible solution.

They had to succeed! Dr. Shen began to get nervous. He pressed his full weight on both hands against the table and leaned forward.

“You should just bury yourself in the screen,” Department Chief Kong said from behind him.

Only then did Dr. Shen realize that his face was almost stuck to the glass.

Was he close to licking the screen?

He literally did just that…

At that exact moment, a phone camera clicked. Despite not comprehending what was going on in the operating theatre, a nearby nurse had found Dr. Shen’s posture amusing and immortalized it on her phone.

“Hey, Brother Shen, you looked great the way you licked the screen!”

Missing the nurse’s joke, Dr. Shen shuddered and straightened his back at Department Chief Kong’s remark.

As he turned away from the screen, there was suddenly a minor reaction in the ophthalmic artery. It was moving!

Department Chief Kong could not parse it, though. When he lifted his head, he saw Su Yun putting down the 50 mL syringe and connecting a pressure injector to the large catheter.

Was it done?

Maybe.

They would only know after radiography.