The Enhanced Doctor-Chapter 740 Dilemma

Xu Qixin felt a twinge of worry. The competition with Liu Banxia for the deputy director position had never really bothered him.

He was a chief physician with a wealth of work experience. Although he had been working in private hospitals for the past several years, his technical skills remained sharp.

Despite Liu Banxia having the support of both Chief Director Chen and Chief Director Zhou, it was not entirely up to them.

The decision to bring in so many patients at once was not his idea, but something Shen Liqun suggested, and he simply went along with it.

A part of him was a bit excited, as this was quite a kickoff. It would be noteworthy not only within the emergency center but also throughout Binhai City.

But Liu Banxia put a damper on his mood. One patient with auto-brewery syndrome was set to try fecal transplantation, and the other, bearing a huge mucinous tumor, decided to have surgery.

The two cases were not exactly Liu Banxia's doing, but they were related to him. Today's mucinous tumor surgery in particular commanded the attention of the entire hospital.

He was just beginning to enjoy the glamorous spotlight of his position, only to realize that the attention had shifted elsewhere. How could he not feel disappointed?

There were many surgeons who loved performing plastic surgeries. It is far from a low-level operation. You must design it according to the whole face to achieve true beauty.

Looking at the few people gathered by the observation window, he felt a pang of envy, knowing that many more went to watch Chen Xuehai's live operation.

He looked into the patient's case. Despite the choice being the patient's, he couldn't help wondering if this was a power move by Liu Banxia. The coincidence was uncanny.

Having such thoughts didn't mean Xu Qixin was being overly suspicious; it was a natural human reaction.

When two people are not on good terms, even a meaningless smile could be taken as mockery and be interpreted as a personal attack.

Chen Xuehai's operation was attracting quite a crowd.

The crowd was made up of various surgeons, led by Liu Banxia. As long as they had free time, everyone gathered there. This high-level surgery interested even general and neurosurgeons, let alone cardiac surgeons.

The previous awake bypass graft surgery was impressive enough, but this operation was even more difficult.

"If the TV crew had left a day later, would they have caught this operation?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"That's fate for you. If Old Chen completes this, he would have left a deep impression on the show," Liu Banxia replied.

"But this surgery means a lot to Old Chen. When I saw him just now, he seemed really excited. When have you ever seen him waiting for patients in the operating room beforehand?"

"Indeed, I haven't. But with Liang Xiaolin as his first assistant, can she manage?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"She should be alright. She's grown a lot in the past year. People from medical families are just different; she probably played with heart models as a kid," Liu Banxia said.

"What nonsense are you saying? That sounds scary," Zhang Xiao shook his head.

Just imagine that scene: a little girl playing with a heart model. What would that be like?

"Old Chen, pull yourself together. I've already told Manager Zhou. If you do this, you owe me pig trotters for lunch," Liu Banxia said as he pressed the call button.

Down below, Chen Xuehai glanced at him, looking helpless. He was getting into the zone when this guy disturbed him.

"Doctor Liang, did you play with heart models as a kid?" Liu Banxia suddenly asked.

Liang Xiaolin glanced at him and didn't respond.

"How did you know? She loved playing with them as a kid," Chen Xuehai was somewhat curious.

"Hahaha, Brother Zhang, didn't I tell you? Doctor Liang must have been a fan," Liu Banxia laughed.

Zhang Xiao instinctively moved to the side, not wanting to stand next to this crazy guy and risk lowering his intelligence.

Liu Banxia was just trying to ease the tension a bit. Even though they were experienced surgeons, there would be moments of nervousness.

At that moment, the patient was wheeled in, looking in good spirits.

"Dr. Chen, I entrust my life to you," the patient said.

"Rest assured. And thank you for agreeing to this teaching surgery. It will allow many more people to gain experience," Chen Xuehai responded.

"This might be the only contribution I can make. With my mucinous tumor, by the time it's discovered, it's usually too late to do anything, right?" the patient asked with a smile.

Chen Xuehai nodded, "It's hard to detect in daily life, much like many other diseases. But I need to remind you, if we find the situation too complicated upon opening your chest, we might cancel the surgery. We would consult with your wife about it first."

"Alright, then let's proceed. I'll lie still. Why isn't Dr. Liu here?" the patient suddenly asked.

Whether they were in the operating room or the observation room, all eyes were now on Liu Banxia.

"Hello, I'm not a cardiac surgeon, so I can only stay here. Some of the people from yesterday's car accident wanted to come and cheer for you, but they couldn't make it over here," Liu Banxia said.

"Relax, you'll be fine after a good sleep. If I get the chance, I may really go fishing with you. Although I don't know how to fish, if the fish don't bite, it's not my fault, it's up to the fish."

At his absurd statement, everyone laughed.

"Okay, once I recover, you go fishing with me and I'll treat you to pig's trotters," the patient also laughed and agreed before settling down.

It was then that everyone understood why the patient had asked for Liu Banxia—he must have chatted with the patient last night to calm his nerves.

Although the patient's emotional state wouldn't affect the surgical process itself—it was general anesthesia, after all—it could impact future recovery. There's a somewhat superstitious belief that if a patient has strong confidence in surviving the surgery, the operation itself will go more smoothly.

Anesthesia began, and everyone's expressions turned serious.

The steps taken so far were routine ones for Chen Xuehai and Liang Xiaolin. The real challenge of this surgery was how to remove the myxoma from the heart.

"Prepare to start the extracorporeal circuit," Chen Xuehai said.

The nurses in the operating room quickly got to work.

"Brother Zhang, I'm getting a bit nervous. Once the incision is made, the question is whether they can directly find the tumor's pedicle and remove the entire myxoma, right?" Liu Banxia asked.

"Yes, that's why this surgery is tricky. We still don't know if it has implanted into the myocardium. We'll have to see how it goes; I'm getting nervous too," Zhang Xiao replied.

"Turn up the lights," Chen Xuehai requested after making the incision.

Hearing his request, Liu Banxia frowned. The need for brighter lights meant the surgical field wasn't good.

"It's still not good, the surgical field isn't clear enough, can't find a good angle," Chen Xuehai said after watching for a while.

"Exploration indicates the myxoma is growing too quickly. The atrium, valve, and sinoatrial node have all been affected. From my current angle, it's not suitable for surgery."

"Moreover, it seems to have already implanted, though it was obscured by the tumor and not visible. Based on its current appearance, there doesn't seem to be any infiltration, so the chances of it being benign are high."

Hearing Chen Xuehai's assessment, everyone's hearts grew heavy.

As expected, there was implantation, which greatly increased the difficulty of tumor clearance. Even if the tumor was completely removed, each chamber would have to be carefully inspected; otherwise, recurrence would only be a matter of time.

"Should we stitch it up first?" Liang Xiaolin asked tentatively.

The patient's myxoma, even with the aid of imaging equipment, presented a situation far more complex than anticipated.

"No, we can't. If we stitch it up, it will require a lengthy recovery period before he can tolerate a second surgery," Chen Xuehai shook his head.

"Linlin, make an incision on your side. We'll see how the surgical field looks from there. My position here is too awkward, but this is the only place we can make a cut," he instructed.

Liang Xiaolin didn't waste any time and made an incision on her side.

"Adjust the lights. Forceps," Liang Xiaolin said after making the incision.

Looking at the interface displayed on the screen, Liu Banxia sighed.

The situation was similar to that on Chen Xuehai's side—the tumor obstructed the surgical field. Additionally, the tumor on this side seemed to show some signs of invasive growth. Given the current situation, they couldn't hope to completely remove it. How could they operate without a good surgical field? One wrong cut could kill the patient.

"It's no good on my side either," Liang Xiaolin reported.

The atmosphere in the operating room seemed to freeze. Two incisions had been made, but neither provided a good surgical field, and they were unable to remove the tumor. The only thing left to do was to stitch it up.

But what then? Essentially, this was like signing the patient's death warrant. Even if a suitable heart donor was found, the patient likely wouldn't have the chance for another surgery.

Chen Xuehai felt a surge of anxiety. Although this level of difficulty was among the worst-case scenarios he had envisioned, he hadn't truly expected it to materialize like this.

After thinking for a full five minutes, he looked up at Liu Banxia in the observation room, "Do you have any other ideas? Think about it."

At this point, he had run out of solutions, but he didn't want to just close the chest. He pinned his hopes on Liu Banxia, wondering if he could devise a way out of this impasse.

Just like when the patient requested Liu Banxia before, everyone in both the operation and observation room turned their attention to him.

After all, this young man had pulled off many unexpected feats before. What if he could conjure a new idea this time too?