1 The night shift
"Hey, Yu Yan" An Ke shouts trying to wake yu yan up from her deep sleep.
"What is it, I haven't slept for twenty good hours please just let me be," Yu Yan mumbled as she shifted from one position to another on the bunk bed.
"I really hate having to wake you up every time, why is it so bloody hard to wake you ?" An Ke complained sighing in annoyance.
"I don't know, just let me sleep in peace please I am very tired," Yu Yan mumbled in response, still half asleep.
"There is an emergency patient in the emergency department and you are the only one not busy right now," An Ke insisted
Yu yan quickly sprung up from the bed, she grabbed her white coat and packed her hair into a ponytail as fast as she could.
"Why didn't you say that sooner?" she ran downstairs as quickly as she could with her friend An Ke running behind her.
She arrived at the emergency department after taking the elevator to the first floor and running into the emergency department with An Ke still struggling to catch up with her.
When she got to the ER she scanned around for a patient who was still left unattended then her eyes caught a patient who was being examined by one of the nurses.
She quickly rushes towards him.
"Give me his update", Yu Yan said to the nurse she saw examining the patient.
"The patient is a 40-year-old man, he was brought in by his wife, he passed out due to liver cirrhosis caused by excess drinking" Song Yi a nurse in her 40's replied.
"Blood pressure and pulse rate?" Yu Yan asked as she tore apart his shirt and applied pressure to his abdomen, she figured out that the swelling in his abdomen was severe, from the feeling and the swelling in his abdomen, she had already made a diagnosis.
"His blood pressure has just increased from 129 mmHg to 135 mmHg, his pulse rate is above 150" Nurse Song Yi answered
"Schedule him for immediate surgery, we will have to perform laparoscopy and paracentesis on him and then wait for a liver donor, where is his wife?" Yu Yan asked while scanning the surrounding for his wife.
"She is at the reception" she replied as she prepared the patient for surgery.
Yu Yan rushes to the reception to inform the patient guardian about the surgery but when she got to the reception she only saw one woman so she assumed that she is the patient's wife.
She was pacing about frantically while rubbing her palms together and ruffling her hair anxiously.
She walks up to the woman with a smile to reassure the patient's guardian.
"Ma'am your husband has liver cirrhosis which has led to ascites in the abdominal cavity, we would need to carry out a liver laparoscopy and paracentesis and to do that you need to give us your permission," Yu Yan informed as soon as she got to her, the woman was quite startled when she suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Are there any risks involved with the surgery?" the patient's wife who was now confused not knowing how to decide asked.
"There is some risk such as infection, damage to internal organs and blood clot and there are no major or serious risk associated with the surgery but I will try my best to get rid of any risk," Yu Yan replied assuringly but not definitely.
She knew she had no other choice but to trust this doctor who has promised to do her best for her husband, so she decided to trust her.
"Ok, I agree " she replied
Yu Yan signalled to the nurse at the reception to give her the document the guardian needed to sign for the surgery to the place, the nurse passed it to her then she gave them to the patient's guardian to sign.
After confirming the guardian's permission, she hurried into the changing room to change into her surgical gown, then she scrubbed her hands and proceeded into the surgery room.
Before she could enter the operation, she was held back by An Ke, she turned back to see who it was that was holding her gown.
"You don't have an assisting surgeon how are you going to perform the surgery all by yourself," An Ke said with concern written on her face.
"Don't worry it is a simple procedure for even a resident general surgeon, I can still do this with my eyes closed and if only you were not suspended from surgeries you could have assisted me but now that you can't there is nothing else we can do about it" Yu Yan replied and smiled confidently.
"Alright but be careful,"
She nodded her head and entered the operation room with her hands raised upward.
With only nurse Song Yi there to assist her and the key members of the surgical crew she began the surgery, she made an incision below the belly button and inserts the cannula to inflate the abdomen.
"It seems like his ascites is far worse than we thought, are you okay Yu Yan," Nurse Song Yi asked with her eyes fixed on Yu Yan who yawned as she was examining the area of surgery.
"I am okay, I will move on to perform the paracentesis, pass me the paracentesis catheter," Yu Yan said then she stretched her hand forward.
Nurse Song Yi passed the catheter to her then Yu Yan connects it to the drainage bag after draining the fluids in the peritoneal cavity, she proceeds with the remaining steps of the surgery.
After two hours, she completed the main part of the surgery, then she left nurse Song Yi to stitch the opening and transfer the patient to the intensive care unit.
As soon as she exited the operation room after washing her hand, she saw the patient's wife who was pacing frantically in front of the operation room, she walked up to her even before she noticed that she was already out.
"The surgery went well, however, all we did was fix the temporary problem but your husband still needs a liver transplant," Yu Yan said with a reassuring smile on her face.
"Liver transplant! when can his surgery be scheduled?" She was expecting that her husband's condition might escalate to that point but she still prayed it wouldn't reach that point.
"Ma'am it depends on when we find a donor for him, although his condition has gotten better without an immediate liver transplant the paracentesis will have to go on for a while and the worst situation could end up happening," Yu Yan briefed while trying to maintain a positive outlook as best as possible.
"Ok doctor, thanks for your effort," she bowed her head to thank Yu Yan who quickly held her up before she bowed her head.
"There is no need to thank me it is my pleasure and my duty ma'am," Yu Yan responded, then she walked away.
She went back to the reception where she found An Ke already asleep, she taps her shoulder in an attempt to wake her up.
An Ke woke up and was surprised to see Yu Yan standing in front of her.
"Are you done?" An Ke asked as she fully opened her eyes reluctantly.
"As you can see" She took her seat next to An Ke.
"I don't how it is possible that you are the only working general surgeon in our team at this time, my presence here is basically just for decoration," An Ke complained with annoyance echoing in her voice.
"Although it isn't fair to me, they are only helping me become better if Chen Kai was here, he would have helped me even if he is not on a night shift," Yu Yan said with a hint of longing in her tone.
"Well this is indeed the perfect time to miss that boyfriend of yours," she remarked
"What I need right now is sleep, I am off to bed," she yawned then she stood up from her seat to leave the reception.
"I am coming with you" An Ke shouted behind her
On their way, they met the patient's wife who was about to leave the hospital, she thanked both of them and leaves.
Nurse Song Yi who had already transferred the patient passed her night shift to another nurse and made her way upstairs to sleep.
