The lips of the CT room chief twitched. “Oh? What surgery?”
“PJS.” Su Yun smirked—an expression that invited a slap to the face.
He name-dropped the rare genetic disorder with no further explanation.
Although Dr. Kong was a department chief in one of the top Class Three Grade A hospitals, he had never heard of Peutz–Jeghers syndrome, and the CT room chief could only vaguely remember seeing a scan of a patient with the disorder.
Seeing both of their stunned expressions, Su Yun turned around and continued observing Zheng Ren’s work, occasionally taking down notes.
Research Graduate Liang’s eyes twinkled.
Brother Yun and Boss Zheng were impressive. They had both managed to leave his own boss speechless multiple times.
What an impressive feat!
Ten minutes later, the CT room chief finally hit the nail on the head and asked, “Su Yun, are you referring to Peutz-Jeghers syndrome?”
“Yes.” Su Yun’s fingers were a flurry as he recorded the key points of Zheng Ren’s operation. His attention was split between tasks as he continued, “Old Chief Wang performed the bowel resection and passed the baton on to Dr. Zheng to remove the polyps.”
“How many were there?” the CT room chief asked curiously.
“78.” Su Yun remembered the exact number.
“That many?” the CT room chief exclaimed.
“They were more than 10 cm long. Dr. Zheng will remove the others after the patient recovers from the first surgery. Those can be done laparoscopically to minimize damage.”
“Amazing! Youth these days really do make me feel like I’m past my prime,” the CT room chief lamented.
“It’s just this one guy,” Su Yun muttered softly.
The chief shook his head, thought for a moment and nodded.
Their arrival had not even garnered a reaction from Zheng Ren. It could have been interpreted as a sign of disrespect, but the CT room chief was not so petty.
Moreover, Su Yun had mentioned that the man was going to assist the general surgeon. This piqued the CT room chief’s interest.
“What is Dr. Zheng doing?”
Department Chief Kong shook his head and maintained a stoic expression.
“Comparing the periodic 64-slice CT and MRI scans of hepatic cirrhosis-cancer patients to identify suspected cancer tissues, followed by a retrograde reconstruction for tomorrow’s surgery.”
The CT room chief’s response to the technical jargon was a muted sound of acknowledgment. He said nothing else as he stared at Zheng Ren’s manipulation of the system.
This differential diagnostic technique had never been taught in any radiology course.
This man had managed to discover a new method.
No wonder he had tamed the wild horse known as Su Yun.
Greener pastures were essential.
A few minutes later, Dr. Liang brought several stools over for the two chiefs out of consideration.
Su Yun refused the offer, remaining behind Zheng Ren and recording each step as if it was an experiment to him.
Professional and focused, meticulous to a fault.
From his seating position, the CT room chief found his view partially obscured. He dragged his stool forward to the controls.
The movement caught Zheng Ren’s attention.
He glanced to his side and saw an unfamiliar man.
The CT room chief did not start with an introduction but a question. “Dr. Zheng, how will you differentiate this area?” He pointed at the area highlighted on the screen.
“For that, I’ll need to compare it with the contrast-enhanced MRI arterial imaging.” Zheng Ren shifted the viewer’s position so the other man could have a better look.
The conversation between the two men dragged on for another 30 minutes.
Zheng Ren explained the technique he was using.
Research Graduate Liang could not grasp the concept, but the CT room chief did and even provided his input for alternatives.
It was a melding of intellectual thoughts and ideas. In the end, even Department Chief Kong joined in on the discussion.
Zheng Ren had the basic principles down, but his technique was not mature.
The two chiefs had decades of experience. Although Department Chief Kong’s surgical skill was impaired by his age and dexterity, he was still a fountain of knowledge and real-life experience.
The same went for the CT room chief. His experience in scan interpretation and clinical diagnoses gave Zheng Ren insight into the field.
Research Graduate Liang was baffled. He had already been amazed by Boss Zheng’s CT scan reconstruction a few days ago.
The man could perform emergency rescues, interpret scans much better than he could and even manually operate the machine to perform retrograde reconstruction.
Of course, he was only a research graduate, so the comparison was lopsided.
He was no Su Yun to begin with.
However, the scene right now stunned him. Boss Zheng was seated between Department Chief Kong and his own boss. The three men were deep in thought. Occasionally, there were sudden bursts of discussion about obstacles they were facing.
‘Is Boss Zheng on the level of a department chief?’ Research Graduate Liang wondered.
Boss Zheng’s knowledge, expertise and experience seemed to rival that of one. With additional external input, he was like a refueled Bugatti Veyron speeding toward the finish line, leaving everyone in the dust.
Research Graduate Liang had no hope of even catching a glimpse of its silhouette, let alone catching up.
Off to the side, he noticed Su Yun typing on his phone, a furrow appearing on his forehead as he did.
Brother Yun was also a talented genius who willingly chose Dr. Zheng as his mentor. Research Graduate Liang decided that comparisons would only bring him harm.
To lead a comfortable life, one had to curb their competitiveness.
30 minutes…
An hour…
Three hours…
Clock-out time for CT room personnel…
The evening lights flickered on…
The silence of night…
The discussion had gone on for almost ten hours and all parties had gained invaluable insight.
Reconstruction of the CT scans was complete. Everything was perfect.
The two department chiefs felt intellectually satiated—a feeling that had long eluded them.
One by one, problems had been met with solutions, and at the end of the day, they could only hope for success in practice tomorrow.
Department Chief Kong let out a joyous laugh.
The sound echoed down the empty corridor.
Discussion with the young doctor had rejuvenated the old man’s spirits.
“Chief Kong, do you want to be the third author?” Su Yun asked.
Third author…
A department chief from the nation’s top Class Three Grade A hospital, asked to be the third author?