Chapter 30 Striving to Conduct Level 2 Surgery

Although the old lady was in pain and sweating on her forehead, her face contorted, she still tried to squeeze out a smile that looked worse than crying.

"Young man, I was wrong this morning, please don't take it to heart with an old lady like me."

Under someone else's roof, one has to bow one's head.

This morning, just being called "auntie" by Zhou Can felt like a grave had been dug up in her family.

Now, to seek Zhou Can's forgiveness, she referred to herself as an old lady.

This old lady's ability to seek benefits and avoid harm was indeed formidable.

What shone in her eyes was a full desire to survive.

This morning, in a moment of satisfaction, she had said many sharp and harsh words, seriously offending Zhou Can. Now she had to apologize quickly; what if she ended up on the operating table and Zhou Can gave her a few extra cuts?

What then?

In fact, she was merely being overly suspicious and mean-spirited.

Zhou Can was not as petty as her. He would never desecrate the noble profession of a doctor or joke about a patient's life.

"Rest assured, this morning was just a misunderstanding, I won't take it to heart."

Zhou Can graciously waved his hand.

Getting an apology from the patient was enough.

Seeing this sharp-tongued old lady bow her head still felt quite satisfying.

"What a kind person! Young man, you really are a great person! Can you take special care of this old lady and not require family members to come? Is that possible?"

The old lady pretended to be pitiable and pleaded desperately.

"How can we proceed without family accompanying? Who will take care of you if you're admitted? First, let's take her out. Xiao Luo, this is nonsense; how can a patient who does not meet the operation conditions be pushed into the operating room?"

Dr. Xu, noticing that Zhou Can was a newcomer and not experienced in dealing with troublesome patients, put on a stern face and played the villain role.

Indeed, the old lady responded to this approach.

Hearing that she would be taken out, she panicked immediately.

From morning till now, she had been queuing and seeing doctors, dragging her sick body for nearly a day, and had only just managed to persuade Dr. Luo outside to agree to perform surgery in the Emergency Department.

Now, when she was about to have surgery, losing the opportunity due to the absence of a companion, she naturally was unwilling to give it up.

"Wait, I'll call them now, I'm going to call now. Please, don't take me out!"

Seeing that the leading doctor was very strict, playing pitiful and desperately pleading didn't work, and she had to honestly call her family.

The call went through.

"Daughter..." The old lady had just uttered the word daughter, then lost control of her emotions and couldn't continue, choking up.

Compared to the strong, fierce image she had in the outpatient hall that morning, it was like she was a completely different person.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

A gentle and slightly languid voice came from the other end of the phone.

It's hard to describe, her voice was sweet, with a hint of laziness.

"I...sob..."

The old lady started to cry first.

Zhou Can saw that this wasn't helping; the operation room in the Emergency Department was extremely busy. Given the old lady's uncontrollable emotions, it would be hard to express the situation quickly.

"Maybe I should speak to your daughter instead!"

Zhou Can gestured with his hand.

The old lady, with her lips pursed and eyes red, handed him the phone.

"Hello, I am a doctor from Tuya Hospital."

"What happened to my mom?"

The woman's voice trembled, clearly panicked.

Suddenly hearing that her mother was sick and in the hospital, she was understandably very nervous.

This also showed that the mother-daughter relationship was not bad.

Why didn't the old lady want to tell her daughter about her serious illness?

"Your mother has cecum stones and needs surgery immediately. However, according to hospital regulations, considering the patient will need to be admitted and there are risks associated with the surgery, family accompaniment is required."

"Ah... Is my mom's condition serious? She never told me! Doctor, I am coming right away. Which department of Tuya Hospital should I go to?"

The old lady's daughter suddenly heard her mother was seriously ill and was particularly anxious.

"We are in the Emergency Department of Tuya Hospital. Come straight to the operating room. When can you get here?"

Zhou Can asked.

"About two hours at most! I will ask for leave from my boss and come right away."

The mother and daughter probably didn't live together.

A two-hour drive, at least covering more than a hundred kilometers.

"Okay, take care on your way."

Zhou Can hung up the phone.

After returning the phone to the elderly lady, he looked towards Dr. Xu.

In situations like this, if family members agree to come for support, surgery can be performed immediately, or it can be deferred until the family arrives.

"Doctor, I have already signed the consent form for the surgery, please proceed with it quickly!"

The elderly lady pleaded again.

Dr. Xu did not agree immediately, but seriously explained, "We can perform the surgery in the Emergency Department. However, from your examination results, although the intestinal obstruction is serious, it is not immediately life-threatening. If you are not in a hurry, you can get specialized treatment. The specialists have better techniques and more advanced equipment, and can perform laparoscopic surgery. The incisions would be smaller, and recovery faster, though it would be more expensive."

Laparoscopic surgery is classified as a Level 3 procedure.

It requires higher technical skills from the doctors and more advanced equipment.

From this aspect, specialists, because they focus on specific fields, indeed have much better medical skills compared to the Emergency Department.

"No, no, I want it to be done here."

The elderly lady shook her head repeatedly.

She was quite suspicious and probably thought the doctors were trying to trick her into paying more for the surgery.

So she rejected it without even thinking.

"If you insist on having the surgery in the Emergency Department, we can only perform the conventional procedure, do you agree?"

"Yes."

"Alright, we will arrange it then."

Dr. Xu didn't say more.

"Notify the anesthetist to come and prepare for pre-operative anesthesia, and call nurse Ye Tingting to help. Tang Ling, start preparing the patient for surgery."

Cecum stone surgery, though it's just a Level 2 procedure, still requires at least five medical staff.

An anesthetist, the main surgeon, an assistant, an instrument nurse, and a circulating nurse.

For tasks like cleaning the skin of a female patient, it's better to have female nurses perform them.

Soon, the anesthetist arrived, went through the patient's details, had a brief discussion, confirmed everything was fine, and had her sign.

Then, the anesthetist administered an epidural anesthesia.

"Anesthesia successful, patient's vital signs are normal, surgery can proceed."

Dr. Xu was already standing at the main surgeon's position.

Zhou Can watched with envy.

The previous two surgeries were just minor ones.

Especially the one for the patient with a forehead injury, it was only a Level 1 surgery, among the simplest.

This appendectomy, however, is a solid Level 2 surgery.

And it's one of the more difficult ones in Level 2 procedures.

If he could get a chance to train in this surgery, it would be significant for Zhou Can.

According to related rules, there's a provision in the assessment of doctors' surgical capabilities: Completing 80% of surgeries at the same level qualifies them as competent in surgical skill, granting them permissions to perform such surgeries independently.

What does that mean?

It means, if Zhou Can could independently handle 80% of this appendectomy, he could earn the permission to perform Level 2 surgeries.

Of course, since he has not yet obtained his medical license, nor registered as a practicing doctor, he cannot practice medicine alone.

But having strong backing is beneficial!

Working under the guidance of a senior doctor is still fine.

This becomes significant here.

The hospital implements a three-level accountability system.

Zhou Can, merely a resident in training, his supervising doctor and the supervising doctor's superior are all accountable for his actions.

If he were to cause a patient's death, Dr. Xu would bear the primary responsibility.

Obviously, considering the potential impact on his career, Dr. Xu would keep a close watch on him.

He definitely wouldn't let him undertake any higher-risk tasks.

If Zhou Can could demonstrate the ability to independently perform Level 2 surgeries, it would be a different story.

At the very least, in Dr. Xu's view, he would be qualified to access Level 2 surgeries.

In future, such tasks would confidently be assigned to him.

This is exactly what Zhou Can needs.

In the Emergency Department's operating room, most are Level 1 and Level 2 surgeries.

Having only a Level 1 surgery qualification would definitely cause him to miss many opportunities. Skills like dissection, separation, and suturing are difficult to practice and improve.

If he could also perform Level 2 surgeries, that would be great.

Zhou Can could easily earn two to three hundred Experience Points by spending a day in the operating room.