Path of Medicine With a System

Chapter 83: Getting old

Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu

Wang Dehua reluctantly agreed to allow Zhang Fan to perform the knee replacement surgery which he typically monopolized. Sometimes, always trying to compete with others would cause yourself to suffer.

Chen Qi hurriedly went to finalize all of the pre-surgery preparations and left immediately as he was afraid that Wang Dehua would change his mind.

In less than 10 minutes, Chen Qi spread the news through the entire orthopedic department #2 that Zhang Fan would be the primary surgeon the following day for a knee replacement surgery. Although everything in the department still seemed quiet, all the doctors—both high-ranking and low-ranking—were waiting to observe the situation.

Back in orthopedic department #1, Gao Shijun had just become the director recently, and he still had many conflicts with his main rival. That was why Zhang Fan’s first surgery being a major hip replacement surgery hadn’t caused much ruckus at the time. However, orthopedic department #2 was different as Wang Dehua had personally taught all the attending physicians here. Thus, orthopedic department #2 was able to maintain a balance where everybody obeyed orders and did what they were supposed to.

But today, things were different. A resident doctor from orthopedic department #1 was already about to begin a knee replacement surgery. Did that mean that orthopedic department #2 was too rigid and inflexible, or that the attending physicians in orthopedic department #2 were unskilled? Everyone would have a sense of danger, worrying about more skilled juniors taking their place. Such a thing would be quite commonplace at a hospital, where skills were the most important. It was also quite cruel. Sometimes, even an older veteran doctor would have to bow to and obey someone who was seven or eight years younger just because the latter was a department director.

Maybe some doctors didn’t need to care too much about the superintendent. However, every doctor absolutely had to care about the department director. The director would be your direct boss, being completely in charge of how much money you could receive. Chasu City Hospital was a large hospital, so the department directors were almost all the oldest in their department. Very few doctors were older than their department directors. The ones who were older were typically the doctors who didn’t have much sense of presence.

The cruelty of the competition for the position of director at a large Class A hospital couldn’t be experienced until you were of a certain age. This was the pity of reaching middle age. If you didn’t work your hardest, you might get pushed out and isolated, and even if you worked your hardest, you still might end up injured all over, silently leaving or hiding in a corner, never making another sound again as if you were nothing but a visitor, quietly observing the rise of a new generation.

On the next morning, orthopedic department #2’s daily morning meeting had a severely depressed atmosphere. Discussions here were typically lively, but not today. Everyone discussed their surgery arrangements and plans as tersely as possible. They were all waiting for Zhang Fan’s surgery to begin.

Meanwhile, Wang Dehua couldn’t be bothered to care about this right now, as he was feeling mysteriously frustrated today. Every single doctor was present today for the meeting without a single absence. Wang Dehua felt frustrated by this for an unknown reason, extremely frustrated.

Zhang Fan began the knee replacement surgery. It would be impossible to stop an already arranged surgery in normal circumstances. Firstly, various hospital departments would have all prepared for the surgery already, and secondly, it would be impossible to explain it to the patient and family members. Thus, Wang Dehua washed his hands and then folded his arms without saying a word. He observed Zhang Fan being incredibly precise in his disinfecting despite his young age.

The more precise Zhang Fan’s movements were, the more uneasy Wang Dehua became. ‘Could it be that I’m jealous?’ Wang Dehua then couldn’t help but shake his head. ‘No, I don’t think I would be jealous of such a young brat. How old could he possibly even be? I must be getting tired. I’ve been director for three years now, but haven’t taken even a single vacation day! It’s about time that I took some time off!’

Zhang Fan had finished the preparations for surgery. However, Wang Dehua seemed to be in a daze as he sat on the anesthesiologist’s chair, so Chen Qi called out, “Director Wang, let’s begin.”

“Oh, sure, let’s begin.” Wang Dehua hurriedly went over to the primary surgical assistant’s position, which he had taken for himself from Chen Qi. He was extremely unused to being the primary surgical assistant as he hadn’t worked in this position for so many years already. He was far more used to being the primary surgeon.

The knee was one of the largest and most complex joints in the human body. There was a phrase that the legs would age faster than the person themselves. This phrase was actually referring to the knees.

Why was a knee replacement surgery so difficult? That was because the knee would need to withstand the body’s weight. Many factors would have to be taken into consideration when reconstructing a knee joint.

First would be the amount of force used. If improper force was used on the knee during incision, the body would tilt, leading to spinal deformity appearing after a period of time in this improper posture. Second, the angle was also critically important. Both the external and internal rotation angles had to be considered. Even a millimeter’s worth of miscalculation might cause serious injury to the patient.

Anyone who wasn’t highly familiar with knee surgery wouldn’t even be able to finish the simplest pre-surgery preparations. It would take several days for anyone to memorize all the necessary force requirements and angles. But as for familiarity, Zhang Fan was actually even more familiar with all knee surgery requirements when compared to Director Wang Dehua. This was because Zhang Fan could practice surgery in his System any time that he wanted. He had simulated knee surgeries so many times that he was more than skilled enough to handle a real knee surgery.

Zhang Fan inserted the intramedullary guide into the medullary cavity, aligned the intramedullary guide with the femur, measured the space inside, and installed the external rotation device. He then cut the bone, tested, and installed the artificial knee joint, which was followed by him checking the knee joint force tolerance, steadiness, and ability to extend. Zhang Fan then washed and cleaned the joint before using bone cement to fix the artificial joint in place. After this was yet another inspection.

The old patient’s medical expenses were fully covered by the government. Thus, only the best of the best imported medical equipment that Chasu City Hospital had access to was being used for his surgery. Zhang Fan found imported medical equipment extremely easy to use, and enjoyed the feeling a lot.

The surgery was highly successful, and Wang Dehua’s forehead was covered in sweat—he was truly astounded by Zhang Fan. When the surgery began, he had been constantly staring at Zhang Fan’s surgical scalpel, and was prepared to shout “Stop!” at any moment that Zhang Fan showed any sign of even a tiny mistake.

However, contrary to his expectations, Zhang Fan performed every minute action from start to finish even better than Wang Dehua could. Wang Dehua could tell that Zhang Fan was even more familiar with knee joint surgery than he was, just as if he had been practicing on a daily basis. Zhang Fan’s scalpel excellently slid past muscles, avoided major blood vessels, and softly cut through the ligament with clean incisions. His positioning, force, angles, and everything else was incredibly well-practiced, perfect to the point where not a single mistake could be found.

Not only could the Wang Dehua from 10 years ago not compare, he knew that he couldn’t even compare to Zhang Fan with his current skill level. Zhang Fan was just that amazing with his well-practiced, perfect knee joint surgery movements. Wang Dehua opened his mouth slightly, wanting to say something, but found that his mouth was incredibly dry. He could only mechanically follow Zhang Fan’s movements and passively assist him.

Chen Qi, who was no longer participating in this surgery, instead stood on a small chair behind Zhang Fan’s back as an observer. Thus, he had an even clearer view than Wang Dehua did. Chen Qi saw everything with perfect clarity, more than any of the three surgical assistants could.

Although Chen Qi had been Wang Dehua’s primary surgical assistant for hundreds of knee joint surgeries before, he could tell that Zhang Fan’s movements were lighter, swifter, and more perfect than even Wang Dehua’s movements. ‘This Zhang Fan must be a demon! How old can he even be? He’s already so amazing at his young age?’ Chen Qi was truly astonished. However, he wasn’t worried at all about Zhang Fan becoming a future threat and competitor, as Zhang Fan was far too young still—by the time that Zhang Fan reached attending physician rank, Chen Qi would have already retired.

Chen Qi was different from Wang Dehua, who only cared about competing with others. Chen Qi had left orthopedic department #1 to join Wang Dehua in orthopedic department #2 solely for personal benefits—in other words, so that he could obtain more money. He never would have followed Wang Dehua if it weren’t for the fact that he could become the vice director.

In comparison, Wang Dehua cared more about medical skills. Zhang Fan’s exquisite medical skills hit Wang Dehua with the impact of a nuclear bomb, destroying all pride he had in his own medical skills that he had worked so hard for half his life to obtain.

The biggest difference between Wang Dehua and Gao Shijun was open-minded tolerance. Back when Gao Shijun had met Zhang Fan for the first time, Gao Shijun had been equally astonished. However, Gao Shijun’s first reaction was an endless wave of admiration for Zhang Fan’s talent.

The surgery was very successful, yet the atmosphere was extremely heavy, with not a single person talking. Zhang Fan was self-absorbed in the pleasure of finally being able to perform surgery again. Wang Dehua was self-absorbed in his endless self-pity and loathing. Meanwhile, Chen Qi wisely kept his mouth shut. He definitely wouldn’t say a single word at this time, as he understood Wang Dehua quite well. Wang Dehua was extremely prideful, but all that pride would turn upon and hurt him now.

At the same time, Yuan Tao and Luo Jin were too scared to say anything. Was Zhang Fan really just a resident doctor? Was he really just a new rotation doctor? Although there were legends about how amazing he was, this seemed too ridiculously amazing! His movements were so well-practiced that there wasn’t a single pause, and his techniques were exquisite to reaching the realm of godliness!

It was now time for sewing the surgical sutures at the end of the surgery. Wang Dehua let out a big sigh as if he had just been released from hell. “Sigh! I’m tired, I’ll be leaving first!”

At this moment, although Wang Dehua was only 50 years old, he dragged himself out of the operating room unsteadily and crookedly as if he was a far older man. Chen Qi followed after him.

“Doctor Zhang, how about I sew the surgical sutures for you?” Yuan Tao finally spoke up after the director and vice director left the operating room. It didn’t seem appropriate to address Zhang Fan as Little Zhang, but he would lose too much face by calling him Teacher Zhang.

Outside the operating room, Wang Dehua supported himself against a wall as he remarked, “We’re getting old! When I saw how his hands didn’t slow down or tremble one bit when holding the scalpel, I realized that I’m getting old. I intend to take some vacation time. Please take charge of the department for the time being, thank you!”

Chen Qi, who was behind him, opened his mouth, but was unable to say a single word. He had achieved his objective, yet he couldn’t feel happy about it at all as he saw how wretched his long-time coworker, boss, and friend was!