"Doctor Liu, can I really be cured?" Wang Mingxing spoke up as they were waiting for Zhou Shuwen to enter the room.
Liu Banxia nodded with a smile. "Yes, you can be cured. Just focus on recovery after the surgery. Don’t overthink it. I can’t even roller skate yet; you’ll have to teach me."
"If my illness can’t be cured, tell my dad not to stay single. He can’t manage on his own." Wang Mingxing forced a smile.
Hearing his words, Liu Banxia felt an unexpected pang of sadness. "Stop talking nonsense. That’s your business; what does it have to do with me? You can tell him yourself after the surgery. By the way, your dad said he still owes me a barbecue. We’ll go to your house to celebrate the day you’re discharged."
"Get a good night’s sleep. When you wake up, you’ll still be a fine young man. Your pre-operative examination results were quite good, and we caught this early, so don’t worry."
"Mhm," Wang Mingxing acknowledged with a smile.
The anesthesiologist began their work.
When Liu Banxia turned around, he realized Zhou Shuwen had quietly entered the operating room at some point and was nodding at him.
"Director Zhou, I was being too talkative again..." Liu Banxia said, a little embarrassed.
Zhou Shuwen glanced at Wang Mingxing, who was now under general anesthesia, and then spoke. "Pre-operative communication with the patient is very important. A strong will to live can be a great help during the surgery and recovery."
"In traditional Chinese medicine, there’s the concept of ’mind-healing.’ Although we can’t quantify these things, countless clinical cases have validated them. An optimistic patient has a significant advantage over a pessimistic one."
"Thank you for your guidance, Director Zhou," Liu Banxia said respectfully.
Qi Wentao, who was supposed to be resting that day, hadn’t wanted to miss observing this surgery. Seeing the interaction between Zhou Shuwen and Liu Banxia, he grew extremely annoyed.
He firmly believed that he, not Liu Banxia, should be the one participating in the surgery. If Liu Banxia hadn’t snatched all the patients that day, he would have been the one to diagnose Wang Mingxing.
"Old Jiang, you came to join the fun too?" Zhou Shuwen said, noticing Jiang Tao.
Jiang Tao stepped forward and pressed the microphone button. "I came to express my thanks to Liu. He’s very popular with our colorectal department’s patients. Please finish up quickly; we need Liu to continue changing dressings for us this afternoon."
"Haha, alright, I’ll try to be quick," Zhou Shuwen replied with a laugh.
He was also quite curious. He figured Liu Banxia had connected with the colorectal department because of Shi Lei, but Old Jiang had very high standards.
Their conversation frustrated Qi Wentao even more. Changing dressings? Big deal. Anyone can do that! I’ll go too and compete with Liu Banxia! He secretly resolved.
"Shi Lei, open him up," Zhou Shuwen said in a deep voice, turning around.
Shi Lei didn’t hesitate, taking the scalpel and making a midline incision in the patient’s upper abdomen. Liu Banxia watched intently. Having gone through intensive basic practice yesterday, he could see more nuances than before.
Moreover, Shi Lei was now effectively the chief surgeon, and Liu Banxia had been smoothly promoted to first assistant, supporting Shi Lei.
Shi Lei’s scalpel moved not quickly, but with exceptional stability—experience not gained overnight.
Of course, Liu Banxia felt that if he stacked a few dozen more points in agility and spirit, then holed up in the dream space for a couple of days, this level of skill might be achievable.
"Liu Banxia, why didn’t we opt for the less invasive laparoscopic approach for this surgery?" Zhou Shuwen suddenly asked.
"Because we can’t yet determine the extent of the patient’s pancreatic lesion. If only a part of the pancreas is affected, we only need to remove that part. An open procedure also allows for a clearer view of any spread or metastasis to other organs," Liu Banxia said quickly, his hands never stopping their work.
"Although the current procedure is more complex, it’s better for the patient’s prognosis. And if the patient is fortunate, we can do even more."
"Then how do we determine the lesion’s boundaries?" Zhou Shuwen asked without pause, posing a second question.
"It will be very tricky. There are no clear indicators. We can only carefully excise a small piece of the pancreas and send it to pathology for rapid low-temperature testing. If the margins are unclear, we’ll have to continue excising and sending samples," Liu Banxia replied.
"We must also be extremely careful during the resection because the pancreas is very soft. Any error during removal could compromise the entire surgery."
Zhou Shuwen nodded. "Acceptable."
DING! Experience points +200, Pancreaticoduodenectomy skill proficiency +200, Diagnostics skill proficiency +200.
Even as Liu Banxia intently watched Shi Lei’s operation, a part of his mind was elsewhere.
As expected of a hegemon-class major surgery. Just a small Q&A session earned him so much skill proficiency.
Liu Banxia had often engaged in these "Zhou-style Q&As" while assisting Shi Lei in surgeries, so his answers flowed smoothly. However, to the observers, his performance seemed extraordinary.
Many people had mixed feelings. Did Director Zhou’s "Acceptable" truly mean just that? Others had assisted in surgeries before, and often, there were no final comments after the Q&A; it would simply end.
And Qi Wentao? He felt as if he’d swallowed five lemons whole—an unbearable sourness in his mouth and heart. Even Liu Banxia’s slightest achievement now felt like a deep provocation to him.
Jiang Tao also felt a stir of complicated emotions. Could it be that Zhou Shuwen, like him, had seen Liu’s potential? That would be problematic. If they were to truly compete for him, he’d likely lose.
At this moment, Shi Lei finished the laparotomy, and Zhou Shuwen began a careful examination.
"Conclusion?" After examining thoroughly for a moment, Zhou Shuwen withdrew his hand and asked abruptly.
"No obvious metastases found in the pelvis, peritoneum, small intestine and colonic mesentery, or liver. No ascites in the abdominal cavity. Gallbladder is distended," Shi Lei reported.
"Decompress the gallbladder, ligate the defect. Make a Kocher incision, mobilize the pancreatic head and duodenum," Zhou Shuwen instructed.
Without any hesitation, Shi Lei first addressed the gallbladder, then incised the peritoneum lateral to the duodenum, mobilizing the second and third duodenal segments along with the pancreatic head anteriorly from the retroperitoneal space.
Although Zhou Shuwen wasn’t performing the surgery himself, Liu Banxia felt he was benefiting greatly from watching Shi Lei’s technique. It was also clear that Shi Lei held a significant position in Zhou Shuwen’s esteem; otherwise, he wouldn’t have allowed Shi Lei to handle the operation up to this point.
He was somewhat envious of Shi Lei’s good fortune right now.
Now that the head of the pancreas was exposed, the atmosphere in the operating room grew tense.
The same was true for those observing from outside; as doctors, they all understood the critical nature of the next steps.
Any surgery is an assault on the human body. Even removing a common lipoma carries certain risks.
Every vital organ plays a unique role in the body’s overall function. Within the abdominal cavity, only the appendix is somewhat of a bystander; all other organs bear crucial responsibilities.
The pancreas, hidden behind the peritoneum, isn’t as well-known as the liver, gallbladder, spleen, stomach, or kidneys. However, its exocrine secretions contain alkaline bicarbonate and various digestive enzymes that neutralize stomach acid and digest carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.
What came next was the crucial moment that would determine the patient’s fate.