Chapter 512: A Breakthrough Surgery and Its Aftermath

Observing for half an hour is the standard practice during surgery when facing certain uncertainties.

Especially with monitoring blood flow—this determines how well the organs and surrounding tissues receive oxygen and nutrients, something you can’t judge immediately.

For example, if someone’s limb gets bitten by a venomous snake or spider, the right move is to tie off the limb near the heart to stop circulation. The aim is to keep the venom from spreading to critical organs and the nervous system.

A lot of people don’t know that if you keep a limb tied up for more than thirty minutes, you actually need to loosen it for a bit before tying it again.

Because if a limb is cut off from blood flow for longer than half an hour, irreversible tissue death can set in.

Likewise, when you’re monitoring blood supply to less visible organs and tissues, you should continue observing for at least thirty minutes to make sure everything is safe.

Also, with patients like this one, looking at how much urine they’re passing and the color can help with diagnosis.

Qiao Yu, Pu Dingdong and the others watched Zhou Can take the lead and pull off a high-level, never-before-attempted surgery. Aside from being excited, they were filled with pride and respect.

The stronger Zhou Can became, the more they basked in his glory.

For them, his success was also a motivation. With the boss being this capable, they couldn’t afford to fall too far behind. It pushed them to work harder.

Half an hour slipped by in no time.

Director Feng kept a serious look on his face, glancing from the expelled urine to the monitors, then to the patient’s pupils and the inside of the abdominal cavity.

As Tuyu Hospital’s top anesthesiologist, his skills were exceptional.

Whether it was rescuing critical patients or judging someone’s condition, he had a wealth of experience.

“Let’s close the cavity! The patient’s blood flow is good and all organs are functioning steadily. Judging by the results, Zhou’s strategy was spot on. We can definitely use this approach as a reference for other surgeries in the future.”

After personally double-checking everything, Director Feng was satisfied with the outcome.

“Zhou Can, why don’t you close up? We’re way too slow compared to you.”

Even though Director Xueyan wasn’t formally the chief surgeon, her status spoke for itself.

Director Bu, on the other hand, was just a figurehead and didn’t actually direct anything during the operation.

“No problem!”

This was the first truly innovative surgery Zhou Can had poured so much effort into. Of course, he wanted to see it through to a good result.

Handling the closure himself would help minimize the risks.

If the closure isn’t done right, infections could develop or the wound might take ages to heal—always a headache.

Plus, with this being their first time trying such a surgery, Director Xueyan and the rest thought it could make great material for publicity if it succeeded. But if the wound wasn’t stitched properly, an ugly scar would ruin things.

Twenty-five minutes later, Zhou Can delivered a perfect suture on the patient’s incision.

[Innovative surgery completed. Pathology Diagnosis +.]

Looking at the unexpected flood of pathology diagnosis experience, Zhou Can was left a bit stunned.

He honestly couldn’t believe it.

It really felt like a lucky pie had fallen straight from the sky.

Who knew that carrying out an innovative and successfully executed surgery would net this much pathology diagnosis experience?

What a fantastic surprise.

Thinking it over, this surgery required comprehensive diagnosis skills—understanding blood circulation, organ function, repairing the aorta, and then putting all that to creative use.

And then he also had to ensure the operation succeeded and the post-op recovery matched his expectations. Only then would he get the ten thousand experience points.

Actually, that’s fair enough.

[Congratulations! Your Pathology Diagnosis skill has advanced to Level 6. Current experience: 1. This is comparable to a junior Chief Physician. You can now diagnose complex cases across all departments and have expertise in Pediatrics, Cardiothoracic Surgery, General Surgery and Critical Care.]

His pathology diagnosis instantly jumped to level six.

He had dreamed of this for years, but to reach Chief Physician level in his twenties—before even hitting thirty—was almost unreal.

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You have to know, this accomplishment is worth far more than any official title.

This was genuine, hard-earned medical skill.

Some Chief Physicians with top credentials only have slightly better diagnostic skills than Attending Physicians. There are plenty of academic-type chiefs like that.

That is to say, those Chief Physicians have very strong theoretical backgrounds.

Take a certain Chief of Urology—they might know everything about their specialty, or even a very niche field, and have published top-level papers.

But if they spend little time actually treating patients, their hands-on experience can be pretty lacking.

When tricky cases come up, diagnosing or treating them can be a real struggle.

Pathology diagnosis is actually the most important clinical skill—maybe even more crucial than surgical technique.

Even with surgery, you first need to know what disease the patient has, what caused it, and how to operate for the best result.

If your pathology diagnosis skills are weak, then no matter how good you are in surgery, you’re just the muscle.

You end up cutting wherever someone else tells you to cut.

After gaining level six in pathology diagnosis, Zhou Can noticed something important.

It seemed the system had sorted him into specializations.

Right now, he was skilled in four major medical departments.

Cardiothoracic Surgery was specific, while General Surgery, Pediatrics, and Critical Care were broader.

These all have huge coverage across the medical field.

Just Pediatrics alone can branch into almost every area of medicine.

General Surgery is actually the root of all surgical specialties. Every top department you see now evolved from General Surgery.

Early surgeons only handled simple limb treatments and surface wounds.

As for open-chest or open-skull surgeries, look at how Ancient Hua Tuo met his end and you’ll get the idea.

Cao Cao: “You’re saying you want to crack open my skull? I’ll cut your head off first and use it for a ball! Guards, take this traitor out and execute him for treason!”

Even in Western countries, surgery learned through war and necessity.

Back then, even straightforward amputations had notoriously high death rates.

Not to mention some Western con artist who invented a so-called psychiatric treatment where a nail was hammered into the skull, destroying the brain. Plenty of patients ended up brain-dead because of that.

Yet back in those times, this sham surgery was promoted widely everywhere.

Zhou Can’s pathology diagnosis skill, even after the system ranked his specialties, still made him little different from a generalist.

He was just a bit less competent in some special fields—like OB/GYN, neurology, or orthopedics.

After all, his career hadn’t been that long yet. His internship lasted a year but didn’t bring much hands-on work; mostly, he ran errands. He was lucky though, getting lots out of three years of standardized residency that counted as full work experience.

Then, since becoming a full doctor, it’s only been just over two years.

All together, he had barely five years of true work experience. To have achieved this much was no less than miraculous.

“Mastering a hundred fields is no match for excelling in one. I’ll keep digging deep into these core specialties first. Once my graduate results are out, if I get in, I’ll focus on orthopedics too. As for the rest, they can wait.”

Zhou Can mapped out the next steps for his future.

The higher his skills climbed, the more he realized that mastery beats mere competence.

Even if every other field lagged behind, as long as you were a true expert in at least one, you could make a real difference for your patients.

But, honestly, if you only knew one narrow specialty, you’d definitely need favors from colleagues all the time.

So, being broadly skilled had its perks—for now, he liked having options.

“Director Bu, Director Xue, once this patient wakes from anesthesia, can we move him straight to the monitored ward for a few days? The surgery went fine, but there are still uncertainties. His family’s clearly well-off and won’t mind spending a little extra.”

Seeing the patient’s situation, Zhou Can discussed post-op care with the two chief surgeons.

He didn’t think this patient needed the Critical Care Department’s ICU—a monitored bed in Cardiothoracic Surgery would do.

These monitored wards, also called ‘small ICUs,’ were well equipped and provided great care.

Their rescue abilities might not match that of the true ICU.

After all, the Critical Care Department was more specialized, had better hardware, and stronger teams.

“I have no objections.”

Director Bu looked to Director Xueyan.

“Agreed,” Director Xue nodded.

This kind of request was usually given the green light.

……

In the blink of an eye, five days passed since the operation and patient Chen Zhongzhi was recovering well.

Almost every major step during surgery was handled by Zhou Can. The patient was young, got the best care in a monitored ward, so speedy recovery was to be expected.

The surgical wound had already begun to heal after five days.

But with surgeries this deep, it’d take at least three months for complete recovery. Still, under normal conditions, the patient could go home after half a month.

As long as he didn’t push his luck—no picking at the wound or doing anything strenuous right after the stitches came out—he’d be fine.

That afternoon, after his shift, Zhou Can headed over to Cardiothoracic Surgery as usual to lend a hand.

There was no choice. After that last livestream, the department nearly burst at the seams with new cases. Even the Emergency Department was swamped, with a surge in chest pain and tightness patients.

This famous doctor effect had done wonders for the hospital.

With one memorable operation, Zhou Can had made a name for himself. Though just a junior resident doctor, many families and patients called him an expert.

It honestly made him feel a little embarrassed.

The hospital’s higher-ups were all beaming lately, and even the usually no-nonsense Deputy Director Bai had reportedly started to smile.

It made sense—the hospital was growing, getting stronger, and for the leaders, that directly meant real achievements.

In Director Zhu’s eyes, Tuyu Hospital was like his own child.

Who doesn’t want their child to succeed?

“Dr. Zhou, you’re here! And early today, too!”

The young and pretty nurses all liked greeting Zhou Can for a quick chat.

Even though they knew he had a girlfriend, that never stopped them.

After all, even married guys instinctively enjoy talking to a beautiful woman. It’s just human nature.

If a man manages to keep a straight, serious face around an attractive woman, there’s a nine out of ten chance he’s just pretending.

And the last one probably isn’t interested in women at all.

It’s the same for women—older ladies can’t help but like good-looking men.

Of course, there’s a line—morality and the law keep that fondness within healthy boundaries.

“Just thought I’d stop by to see how you’re doing!” Zhou Can replied with a smile. He rarely put up any airs around other staff, unless someone was really pushy and wouldn’t take a hint—that was when he’d finally get cold.

“I heard Cardiothoracic Surgery admitted eight critical and difficult cases today—is that true?”

“Absolutely! There are lots of patients and families waiting just for you. One even wanted to thank you face to face! I told her you probably wouldn’t be here till after seven.”

The nurses paused their work, eager for a chance to chat with Zhou Can.

Maybe not for romance, but even knowing him a bit meant you could ask for his help someday.

If their families ever had a heart or chest condition, Zhou Can could give them special attention—maybe even operate himself.

Especially for tough surgical cases that average doctors might struggle with.

Having Zhou Can as the lead surgeon meant peace of mind, less work for them, and a much lower risk.

He could even save the family a good deal of money.

“If any patients or their families try to give me gifts or thank me, please help turn them down. Tell them it’s our duty as medical professionals, no need to go out of their way. But if anyone gives me a hard time, do me a favor and say something nice on my behalf—help keep complaints to a minimum. I’ll buy bubble tea for everyone at your nurse station tomorrow.”

Having extra cash, Zhou Can never minded spending some to maintain workplace harmony.

Strong ties with the nurses saved him from a lot of unnecessary trouble.

“Haha, Dr. Zhou, you’re hilarious!”

“We’re going to take you up on that—let the others know!”

The three nurses grinned at the mention of free bubble tea.

“A gentleman never goes back on his word. Tally it up and send me the order; I’ll have the shop deliver it.”

Nodding, Zhou Can waved goodbye.

“I’m off to check on some key patients now. Catch you later!”

“See you!”

They waved back.

Heading for the inpatient ward, Zhou Can began his rounds with the main patients, checking on their overall condition and catching any problems before they got serious. For difficult cases still lacking a clear diagnosis, being in the hospital gave time to gather more clues.

Now that he was officially an ‘expert,’ things just felt different.

Most patients and their families now greeted him warmly and treated him with deep respect.