Chapter 330: A Close Call in Pediatrics

After finishing her call with Zhou Can, she immediately began to track down every medical worker who’d had contact with the patient. The list was compiled and double-checked for accuracy.

As a department director, her competence was unquestionable.

From Director Tang’s thorough investigation to her arrangement for individually contacting every staff member involved, her remarkable abilities were plain to see.

Director Yan, now past 65, had already left work and was at home, playing with her little grandson.

For many elderly people, the dream is a peaceful life filled with moments like this.

Growing old often brings loneliness, making it hard to connect with children. Generational gaps in thinking and lifestyle only widen the divide.

Plus, as elders, they often try to impose their own values and habits on their kids.

If the children are still young, maybe that’s fine.

But once they’re adults, stubborn insistence like that only sparks conflict.

That’s why almost all elderly folks share one trait—they love their cute, innocent grandkids. Playing with them rekindles an inner childhood joy and unlocks fond memories from years past.

Having a home full of children and grandchildren is real happiness for an elder.

Director Yan’s grandson was barely over two, impossibly cute and quick-witted for his age.

He let out laughter that could melt anyone’s heart and spoke in an adorable, childish voice, which brought Director Yan endless delight every time his grandmother teased him.

“Grandma, up!”

“Alright, my little sweetheart! Let Grandma hold you!”

Director Yan scooped him up, hugging him tight and showering his soft little cheeks with kisses, unable to resist his charm.

Just then, her phone rang.

“Let Grandma take this call, okay? Be good, don’t move!”

“I won’t move!”

He answered in his tiny voice and really did stay still, nestled in her arms, tilting his head with curiosity as Grandma answered her phone.

One look at the number told Director Yan it was Director Tang Fei calling. She instantly became more serious.

Answering, she greeted her with a smile. “Director Tang, is something up?”

“There really is. Earlier today, did you see a fainting elderly woman in Clinic Room 17?”

“Yes! The new clinic doctor, Xiao Zhou, was treating her granddaughter. The old lady heard the diagnosis and was so shocked by the severity, she fainted. Xiao Zhou got a bit flustered—probably lacks experience. When I heard, I went to help. The old lady seemed fine afterwards, right?”

Director Yan’s first thought was that something had happened to the old lady.

And that the family might be coming after the hospital.

Incidents like this weren’t uncommon.

You could hear the slight condescension in Director Yan’s tone toward Zhou Can.

No experience, a little panicked—that was her impression of Zhou Can.

If Zhou Can had heard that, he’d probably burst out laughing.

He’d actually been worried about the patient collapsing in the clinic, which would have looked bad. Calling another doctor for help is just routine procedure.

“That old lady’s granddaughter has just tested positive for the new Bunya virus! Dr. Zhou believes the grandmother may have also contracted it, so he asked me to notify every staff member who’d had contact with her. Make sure you all take preventive measures and isolate if needed. We can’t risk spreading it to anyone’s family.”

The moment Tang Fei finished, Director Yan went white like she’d seen a ghost and nearly tossed her grandson aside in panic.

“Waaaah…!”

Startled, the little boy slid to the floor and let out a piercing wail.

Her daughter-in-law, reading in the next room, and her son, still working overtime, had no idea what just happened.

They rushed out to see what was wrong.

“Mom, what happened? Did Xiao Bao fall?”

“I had close contact earlier with a patient who might be infected with the new Bunya virus. I was holding Xiao Bao just now and panicked about passing it to him, so I pushed him away…”

The thought that she’d kissed her grandson just moments ago made Director Yan want to slap herself.

Even though the new Bunya virus is mostly bloodborne, there have been cases in the news where it spread through unknown contact routes. Sometimes, people who touched the patient’s belongings or even the body all got sick.

Even if the risk was only one in ten thousand, she’d never gamble with her grandson’s life.

“Director Yan! Director Yan, are you alright?”

Back on the other end, Tang Fei could only make out noises and a crying child. She had no idea what was happening.

“I’m fine! For now. But I’m afraid I might already be infected—and that I could’ve passed it to my family. I really let my guard down… Dr. Zhou warned us that it was possibly contagious, but I didn’t take it seriously. If I’ve given it to my grandson, I’ll never forgive myself!”

Director Yan’s regret ran bone-deep.

Only now did she realize how sharp and perceptive Zhou Can really was.

The annoyance she’d felt at being contradicted by Zhou Can twice was already gone—regret had taken its place.

“Don’t worry. The real danger with this disease is that it looks like a common cold, so people miss the best window for treatment. It progresses fast, but Dr. Zhou, even though he’s young, is already well known in Tuyu’s various surgical departments for his excellent diagnostic skills. Next time he’s insistent about something, I’d take him very seriously if I were you.”

Tang Fei managed all the pediatric subspecialties as Chief of Pediatrics.

She’d even earned the highest professional title as Chief Physician.

Even so, she showed a great deal of respect for the senior Dr. Yan.

And when she felt Dr. Yan was at fault, she only offered a gentle reminder.

“This has been a hard lesson, but I’ll remember it. That young man looks gentle enough, but who would’ve thought he’s so capable!” Director Yan admitted the setback had left quite an impression.

Her view of Zhou Can had changed completely.

If someone without skills contradicted her, she’d see it as arrogance. If it came from ability, it was just real professional discussion.

Looking back, Zhou Can had never actually argued with her—he was just being respectful, making way for her as a senior doctor.

Funny how your mind works sometimes.

Annoyed with someone, you see only their faults. Start to appreciate them, and suddenly they seem full of strengths you never noticed before.

“Thank you for the reminder, Director Tang. I need to get Xiao Bao washed and disinfected now. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Of course. Take care!”

After hanging up, Director Yan got her son and daughter-in-law to give Xiao Bao a thorough bath and change his clothes—no need to go into detail.

She, worried she’d infect her family, locked herself up in her room.

There was no question: the whole family would be living on edge for the next few days, barely able to eat or sleep.

Director Yan was terrified after hearing the news. But the rest of the staff who’d been present weren’t much better—everyone was shaken and now saw Zhou Can’s skills in a new light.

At first, some of them thought Zhou Can was just arrogant, twice challenging Director Yan’s diagnoses.

Now, they realized Dr. Zhou was on another level entirely.

What made the new Bunya virus so dangerous was how closely its symptoms resembled a regular cold, making it incredibly hard to diagnose.

The difficulty of diagnosis only highlighted Zhou Can’s high level of expertise.

Meanwhile, Zhou Can had just rushed through dinner and hadn’t even made it back to his apartment when a call came in from Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital.

Busy barely began to describe his day!

“Hello, Section Chief Tang!”

“Dr. Zhou, are you off work now? About the endoscopic lung cancer surgery we discussed yesterday—are you available?”

Section Chief Tang’s voice was careful and polite.

“Absolutely, I just got off and reached my dorm. I’ll head over now—should take me about fifty minutes.” Zhou Can was definitely interested in this endoscopic lung surgery.

It wasn’t just about the extra consultation fee, but the hands-on experience from the surgery was too tempting to pass up.

There really weren’t many doctors who excelled at endoscopic procedures. That’s why Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital had all but begged Zhou Can to help.

A little over fifty minutes later, Zhou Can arrived at Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital.

He barely stepped out in front of the outpatient building before Section Chief Tang rushed over, unable to hide his eagerness.

“At last! The operating room’s ready. Should we head straight in?”

“Let’s go!”

“Right this way!”

As they walked, Section Chief Tang briefed Zhou Can on the operating room’s setup and situation.

They entered, changed into scrubs.

Zhou Can saw the patient was already on the table and properly anesthetized.

Director Hu Wanjun, several assistant doctors, and surgical nurses were all waiting on him. The anesthesiologist kept a close eye on the monitors.

Having so many colleagues waiting for him made Zhou Can feel a little out of his element.

“Dr. Zhou, welcome!”

Director Hu Wanjun put on a humble air, smiling as she greeted him.

It’s never easy to ask someone for help.

When you need someone’s expertise, you swallow your pride.

That’s just life.

“Hello, Director Hu! Hello, everyone!” Zhou Can smiled back and greeted the others.

With nearly ten doctors and nurses in the room, it was the only practical way to say hello.

Endoscopic surgery is especially demanding for the anesthesiologist and nurses. The first and second assistants aren’t under as much pressure.

Most of the real work falls on the chief surgeon in endoscopic operations.

“Everything’s ready and we’re waiting on you to start! Here’s the patient’s test results, Dr. Zhou. See if we need any additional investigations.”

Director Hu Wanjun handed the reports over.

Zhou Can read through them carefully, page by page. In surgery, imaging is everything—especially when it comes to the tumor’s location and size, what areas it affects, whether there’s any spread, and whether what needs to be removed is close to any major organs, vessels, or nerves.

Those are all details the lead surgeon must be on top of.

By the time Zhou Can finished, he already had a good plan in mind.

Truth is, he’d looked at the scans days ago.

“The workup is thorough, Director Hu. I’ve already reviewed it—and it all looks good.” With that, Zhou Can turned his attention to the equipment.

To his surprise, the endoscope the hospital had was the best imported model. All the other gear looked top-of-the-line too.

The operating room itself was a Class 10,000 laminar flow facility.

Xinxiang Maternity and Child Hospital really did have world-class hardware.

Every piece of it had been bought with hard cash.

But a hospital is never just about fancy equipment. It’s the skill of its doctors that really makes the difference.

“Your instruments are seriously impressive!”

Zhou Can couldn’t help but praise the setup.

“If you like them that much, you could always join us. Then you’d get to use them every day,” Section Chief Tang was still half-joking, half-serious.

“I think I’ll stick with Tuyu—I’m used to it. Since everything’s ready, let’s get started. We’ll try to finish by nine-thirty, so I don’t keep everyone up working late.”

Zhou Can didn’t want to linger on the topic.

Section Chief Tang got the message and dropped his recruiting efforts.

“You’ve even marked the incision site already!”

He saw that Director Hu’s preparation was so meticulous, even the surgical incision was pre-marked.

Good thing they hadn’t cut into the patient yet.

“If you’d prefer a different site for the incision, Dr. Zhou, feel free to change it. I’m still not very experienced with endoscopic surgery—my marks might be off.”

Director Hu might have been modest, but in truth she was confident in her skills.

But Zhou Can still picked up a marker from the nurse.

“Director Hu’s choice was solid, but every doctor has their own style. I prefer to make the window from the patient’s armpit.”

He put it that way to save face for Director Hu.

An incision at the posterolateral chest is the classic approach.

It offers the best view for certain major lung resections or when extensive adhesions are expected.

But it’s also more traumatic—cutting through lots of muscle, causing more bleeding, and taking more time. In elderly patients with poor lungs, the side-lying position can compromise breathing.

Even moving the cut to the anterolateral chest is a huge improvement.

While that view isn’t quite as wide, it’s great for upper or middle lobe resections, spares the chest muscles, reduces blood loss, and gets you in quickly.

Supine position on the operating table also makes it better for elderly patients with poor lung function.

Given this patient’s age, if you insisted on a classic incision, the anterolateral approach would make more sense.

This showed that Director Hu Wanjun was still lacking experience in cardiothoracic surgery.

Her judgment and surgical approach tended toward the conservative and inflexible.

“A window at the armpit? That has terrible visibility! Plus, it would make resection even harder and risks damaging the pericardium or liver.”

Director Hu’s skepticism was obvious.

Talk about old-school thinking.

If Zhou Can explained, she’d think he was disrespecting her; if he didn’t, she’d think he was looking down on her. It was a waste of time, but he explained anyway, forcing himself to be patient. “An incision under the armpit is cosmetic, less traumatic, and doesn’t cut any muscle. It’s perfect for small, localized lesions or foreign object removals. For this surgery, it’s actually ideal. Endoscopy is done inside the body—unlike traditional open surgery, the old concerns about field of view or working space really don’t matter.'”

He nearly added, ‘It’s time to update your thinking,’ but stopped himself.

Section Chief Tang worried this could turn into an argument before the operation even started, so he quickly stepped in to smooth things over.