Chapter 250: A Miracle in Neurosurgery: The Parasite Unveiled

It’s hard to even imagine a parasite that long living inside someone’s head.

An adult’s head circumference is only about 54 centimeters, yet this tapeworm could wrap all the way around it.

Just thinking about how it had been squirming around in the patient’s brain for years makes my skin crawl. It’s incredible that the only symptom was vomiting. Honestly, that’s a small mercy.

“What I can’t figure out is, how did he end up this sick before finally coming to the hospital? With a parasite that size in his head?”

Wu Baihe looked calm as ever, gazing at the tapeworm resting on the tray.

As the top chief physician in neurosurgery, he’s performed countless challenging surgeries. Removing brain parasites is nothing new to him.

After seeing so many cases, he’s become unfazed and composed.

“He wasn’t left untreated, you know. He went to several hospitals but no one found anything. It was Zhou Can who spotted it, then ordered a dynamic CT of the brain. It took a long time but eventually he found that parasite. Sometimes you can’t rely too much on CT scans. If you box yourself in, you’ll fall into a diagnostic blind spot.”

Director Shang let out a heavy sigh as he spoke.

“Look, this is the old CT brain scan from another hospital—it doesn’t show anything abnormal.”

Wu Baihe took the CT scan and studied it carefully.

“Yeah, nothing obviously wrong here. Maybe just the slightest irregularity in this area, but it’s so easy to overlook.”

As the topic came up, Wu Baihe grew more talkative.

“It’s not just that you shouldn’t rely on CT scans. You can’t fully trust MRIs either. I’ve made mistakes myself from putting too much faith in MRIs. Sometimes, I think a color ultrasound is even more useful for diagnosis. These days, I often ask patients to have an ultrasound, even when they’ve already done MRIs. Sometimes the patients or families don’t get it—they say, ‘We’ve already had an MRI, why do another scan?'”

The most experienced doctors tend to prefer the simplest examinations.

Ultrasound and X-rays have always been the mainstream medical tests.

When MRI technology emerged, it became the new trend in medicine. Around that time, people in China lacked confidence, so hospitals spent a fortune on MRI machines just to boost their reputation.

Because the technology was so expensive, hospitals pushed doctors to order as many MRI exams as possible to recoup costs.

Especially for patients suspected of having tumors or those with unknown causes, almost everyone got one.

Once you enter a large hospital, an MRI is practically a required test.

The cheapest MRI is several hundred yuan, high-resolution ones cost two or three thousand each.

MRIs certainly have diagnostic value, but still, there are plenty of patients whose illnesses can’t be found with them.

“I totally agree with Director Wu. If there weren’t so many interests involved, I’d want to set restrictions in our department. There’s no need to send every patient for an MRI. Money doesn’t grow on trees. I think MRI only has two real advantages: high resolution to spot deep lesions, and no radiation, which means no harm to doctors or patients.”

Unlike scans that use radiation, MRIs work by scanning the body with an external magnetic field, making them relatively safe.

For certain special patients, MRI scans truly are a blessing.

But CT and X-rays produce considerable radiation.

Director Shang’s medical ethics are absolutely top-notch.

You can see it in the way he treats his patients day to day.

Take this patient with the brain parasite—he actually wasn’t qualified for admission at first. But after being begged by the family, Director Shang personally called the inpatient department and arranged an extra temporary bed.

Then, to get the patient into surgery sooner, he set aside his frustration with the neurosurgery nurses and immediately called the neurosurgery doctors the next day to coordinate.

Every action shows just how much he cares about his patients.

They say a good doctor is like a parent, but that’s easier said than done.

Living it out means facing all kinds of troubles—sometimes risking your own reputation or getting in trouble with the hospital for going the extra mile.

“It’s not like we need to give up entirely on thorough care; just make sure our doctors don’t go overboard with unnecessary tests.”

Wu Baihe gave his perspective.

Thanks to this shared topic, the two chief physicians found themselves getting along much better.

An unexpected bonus, really!

After extracting the tapeworm, Zhou Can focused on cleaning the wound, stopping the bleeding, and carefully checking for any more parasites.

“Directors, I’ve removed the tapeworm. But I’m not sure if there are still any eggs or larvae left in the patient. Should I go ahead and suture the wound, or do you want to do something else?”

Zhou Can asked.

The scientific name for the tapeworm is Spirometra mansoni sparganum.

As adults, they live in the intestines of cats and dogs, and occasionally in humans.

Their eggs pass out in the stool and hatch into larvae in water. Once eaten by Cyclops water fleas, the larvae develop into procercoid larvae.

These then infect wild animals like frogs and snakes.

So you can see, they need Cyclops as an intermediate host to fully develop.

There’s definitely no Cyclops living in a human body.

So, in theory, the worm shouldn’t be able to multiply inside a person.

But in medicine, nothing is ever absolute—no one can say for sure.

“I’ve checked the extracted adult worm. Both the head and tail are intact—it hasn’t snapped or broken off anywhere.”

Wu Baihe used a magnifying glass to examine the extracted worm thoroughly.

Experience really does matter in diagnosis and treatment.

Zhou Can’s experience with cases like this just doesn’t compare to Wu Baihe’s.

But now he knows—any time he removes a parasite, he needs to make sure the whole thing is out, piece by piece.

At least this time, he managed to pull the worm out in one go.

No sections were left behind.

That saved a lot of potential trouble.

Wu Baihe then used the magnifying glass to double-check the wound itself.

“No eggs found so far. Let’s suture the wound. Even if there are still eggs laid in the cranial cavity, we can do another surgery if the patient’s strong enough after recovery. If everything’s normal and we later find larvae in the brain, there’s no need to rush into another operation. Simple observation is fine. Honestly, our bodies are home to billions of bacteria, viruses, and even parasites—they’re lifelong companions.”

Humans and animals aren’t that different.

Having parasites, bacteria, or viruses in your body isn’t always a disaster.

In many cases, it’s possible for both sides to coexist just fine.

“Alright, I’ll close the wound.”

Zhou Can nodded and quickly began suturing.

“Director Wu, thank you so much—as well as Director Wen. Thanks to you and the three OR nurses for working overtime for our gastroenterology patient. It’s way past dinner—if no one minds, let me buy you all a meal.”

Seeing the patient’s successful surgery, Director Shang finally relaxed.

Thinking back on how he had complained about neurosurgery earlier this afternoon, he felt even more embarrassed.

“Hmm… help the nurses order food for me, will you? I’ve got another surgery starting soon, so I’ll have to skip dinner. Don’t worry, I’m used to late shifts. I keep snacks in my office—I’ll grab a quick bite between cases. Once I’m done, I’ll combine dinner and a midnight snack.”

Wu Baihe explained, then removed his mask.

Before leaving, he said to Zhou Can, “Drop by neurosurgery whenever you have time. Director Wen and I both think highly of you. If you can lend us a hand, that would be even better.”

Normally, Wu Baihe is a reserved and aloof person—he rarely says anything like that.

But he really appreciates Zhou Can’s skills and character, which is why he’s so fond of him.

“Of course. I’ll come by!”

Zhou Can was busy suturing, so he didn’t dare lose focus.

He replied without even looking up.

He had no idea that Wu Baihe’s appreciation was making the three neurosurgery residents secretly jealous.

After all, neurosurgery is the pinnacle of the surgical department—a place countless residents dream of entering.

With what Wu Baihe just said, Zhou Can could get in whenever he wanted.

After Wu Baihe left, Director Shang’s impressive presence returned.

He immediately ordered dinner for everyone.

Once Zhou Can finished the operation, he called over all three neurosurgery nurses and even invited Dr. Guan from anesthesia to join them for food.

Doctors and nurses really do have tough jobs.

They’re rarely picky about food or clothes.

Getting a hot meal on time is a luxury for them.

“Zhou Can, if I’d known you were so well-connected with the neurosurgery chiefs, I wouldn’t have stressed myself out! Next time gastroenterology needs support from neurosurgery, you’re in charge of coordinating.”

Just like that, Director Shang handed the job over to Zhou Can.

“Well… it’s one thing to ask the neurosurgery chiefs for help occasionally, but if I bother them too much, they’ll start avoiding me!”

Zhou Can half-joked.

The others couldn’t help but snicker.

Qiu Chengyu nearly spat out his food trying not to laugh, ending up in a fit of coughing.

“You don’t always need a chief to help out—sometimes an attending is enough. The point is, you clearly have connections there, so you’ll be way better at this than we are. At least for the next couple of months during your gastroenterology residency, this job’s yours.”

Director Shang was genuinely intimidated by the neurosurgery nurses and doctors.

No matter what, he wasn’t taking the job back from Zhou Can.

Worried Zhou Can might feel put upon, he added, “Don’t worry—you won’t work for nothing. From now on I’ll mentor you more closely, from pharmacology to all types of diagnosis and treatment in gastroenterology.”

He didn’t spell it out, but the message was clear: Zhou Can would get full training.

Hearing that, Zhou Can lit up.

He happily blurted, “It’s a deal, no take-backs!”

Clinic rotations aside, what he most wants to learn is pathology and pharmacology.

A lot of practical treatment tips and experience only come from hands-on clinical work—not textbooks.

With Director Shang promising to teach him everything he knows, Zhou Can would be a fool to say no.

“Wait—you’re agreeing way too fast. Did you have this planned all along?”

Director Shang teased.

“Come on, you’re not just the head of gastroenterology; you’re a university professor and the best teacher around. No take-backs.” Zhou Can knew his status in Director Shang’s eyes had skyrocketed, after showing off his surgical skills and strong bonds with the neurosurgery chiefs.

Chief physicians can be pretty practical sometimes.

Having a resident like Zhou Can—with high influence and great potential—means solid returns for their department.

“Dr. Zhou is incredibly popular in neurosurgery! All the chief physicians admire him, and so does our nursing team. Too bad, even with Directors Wu and Wen trying to keep him, we couldn’t persuade him to stay.”

A young operating room nurse joked.

From the look on her face, she seemed genuinely disappointed that Zhou Can wouldn’t join neurosurgery.

“With Dr. Zhou so popular, I bet there are plenty of young nurses and doctors crushing on him in neurosurgery!”

Xie Lin’s big mouth blurted out whatever came to mind.

The nurse who spoke turned pink, as if Xie Lin had hit the nail on the head.

“Ha, there really are a lot of ladies with a crush on Dr. Zhou. Too bad he’s already taken—leaving our neurosurgery nurses and doctors secretly heartbroken!”

An older nurse laughed.

“Sigh, that’s a shame. I was hoping to chat with Dr. Zhou about life and see if we’d hit it off! No such luck. Still, I hope I can come to you with medical questions, Dr. Zhou—you won’t avoid me, right?”

Xie Lin gave Zhou Can an exaggeratedly hopeful look.

“Cough, cough… If I know something, I’m always happy to share.”

Zhou Can couldn’t believe he was getting teased by all these nurses and doctors, even over a meal.

Sure, he was popular with the unmarried nurses and doctors, but he never thought of himself as a heartthrob. He knew himself well enough.

Sometimes it’s best to just take these compliments in stride.

Never let them go to your head.

After eating, he spoke to Director Shang about scheduling a venography for the cirrhosis patient.

This time, to his surprise, Director Shang agreed right away.

He hadn’t expected that at all.

But since it was already after hours, the request would have to wait for tomorrow.

……

The next morning, just as Zhou Can arrived for rounds, good news came.

The patient in bed 11—the brain parasite case—had already managed a little rice porridge and was doing well, with no more vomiting.

Their overall energy had improved too.

But with such long-term malnutrition and poor appetite, she couldn’t eat a big meal all at once. Recovery would have to be gradual.

The wound on her head was small. If everything continued to go well, she could be discharged as early as tomorrow.

Curing such a complex case made Zhou Can really happy and gave him a huge sense of accomplishment.

He’d handled nearly every part of her diagnosis and treatment on his own.

Next up was the spleen venography for the female lawyer.

Hopefully they’d uncover the problem.

Plus, the stomach cancer patient under Zhou Can’s care was scheduled for interventional surgery today.

That was Director Shang’s very first case of the day.

This poor woman had trusted the wrong people—he could only hope the surgery went well and she’d recover soon.