This doctor is already middle-aged, and he's only just started practicing medicine.

Chapter 39 Shooting Yourself in the Foot

"Uncle, is the wound not hurting too much anymore? And you've passed gas, right?" On Wednesday, July 29th, at 8:20 a.m., Lu Chengli spoke calmly in front of bed number 3.

Bed 3 is the patient who underwent an appendectomy performed by Dr. Lu Cheng on the 27th. This is Dr. Lu Cheng's third appendectomy.

Lu Cheng's proficiency in appendectomy was not improved through skill points, so his proficiency was not high. He relied entirely on his basic skills, which meant that Lu Cheng was not absolutely confident in performing the procedure.

"The pain stopped yesterday, and I even passed gas. Dr. Zeng and the others said that Dr. Lu, you rested yesterday."

"But Dr. Zeng made me start drinking porridge after examining me," the patient, a middle-aged man in his forties, explained with a smile.

He was hospitalized for a few days and learned from other patients that Lu Cheng was a very meticulous and responsible doctor. He thought that Lu Cheng would come to check on him on the first day after his surgery, but he didn't expect that Lu Cheng would be resting.

"It's okay, you can start drinking porridge as soon as you fart, but you need to pay attention to your diet. Today you can start with semi-liquid foods, such as egg drop soup."

"Avoid soft foods, especially fried and raw or cold foods for now. You can get out of bed and walk around now. You don't need to go far, just walk around the emergency room area. But please remember to avoid the emergency room trolleys, be careful not to bump into them..."

"Where are your family members?" Lu Cheng asked after giving his instructions.

"My wife bought me breakfast and then went to work. My mom will come over later to watch me; she's taking the kids to school." The middle-aged man chuckled sheepishly, then asked, "Can I have steamed eggs for lunch?"

People around forty years old are middle-aged, with elderly parents to care for and young children to raise, and they still have to work to earn money. This is a period of relatively high pressure.

"Steamed eggs are fine, but I would recommend a thicker porridge, such as lean meat porridge."

"There's nothing else special about it. Your wound is simple. Changing the dressing every two or three days is enough. And you only need to pay attention to rehabilitation such as turning over and getting out of bed to walk. You don't need to do tendon function training like the other patients."

"If you recover well, you can be discharged tomorrow and go home to rest. Would you like that?" Lu Cheng asked.

If an appendicitis patient has no problems with their legs and hands, they can get out of bed and walk very soon after the surgery.

"What will I do when I need to change my medication, Dr. Lu?" the middle-aged man asked.

"You can come here or find a clinic nearby to have the stitches changed. The stitches can be removed about twelve days after the surgery, depending on the situation. If you are in a hurry to go back to work, you can go back to work normally after resting for about half a month."

"By the way, I remember you work on a construction site. Half a month won't do; it will take at least a month," Lu Cheng quickly corrected his doctor's orders.

"Sigh... there's nothing we can do about it." The middle-aged man sighed helplessly.

He either suffered an external injury or developed appendicitis from drinking while soliciting business; these were things that could not have been predicted beforehand.

Just as Lu Cheng finished checking on this bed, Du Daihua, who was on the day shift, walked in. He was taken aback when he saw Lu Cheng, then smiled and said, "Brother Lu, you're here again?"

"Aren't you on the operating room shift? You didn't have to come."

After Lu Cheng's previous "messing around," his surgical scheduling authority was taken away. Only after receiving a patient did the clinic call Lin Qianlong immediately. Director Lin then contacted Professor Chen Song, who in turn contacted Lu Cheng.

After all, Chen Song was the leader, so he was put in charge of all the surgical scheduling.

Lu Cheng chuckled: "Brother Du, I came to check on the patients after surgery. Can you take me on rounds?"

There are many skills involved in performing surgery, but Lu Cheng was still not completely at ease with the patients after the surgery, so he made a special trip to check on them.

"Since it was Brother Lu who performed the surgery, you must have been the one to guide me," Du Daihua said with a slightly ingratiating smile. He had large eyes and a small nose, and his smile had a unique charm.

Du Daihua is only twenty-nine years old this year, even younger than Lu Cheng. As for his strength and experience, Du Daihua is well aware of his own limitations.

Lu Cheng was able to make a name for himself in the emergency department, and Du Daihua was also eager to learn something from him.

"This patient in bed 3 had their extensor tendon sutured. Today is the second day after surgery. Here are some rehabilitation tips to keep in mind today. Dai Hua, if you have time, please come over and explain them to him..."

"And this patient in bed 4..." Lu Cheng was very familiar with the surgeries he had performed and had written down their rehabilitation plans in advance, so he relayed them without any pauses.

The patients felt even more trusting of Lu Cheng because of his carefree attitude.

The surgical team had only five patients in total, and the examination was completed in twenty minutes. The patient in bed 5 and his family said hurriedly, "Thank you so much, Dr. Lu. If it weren't for you, we would have had to go all the way to the state capital."

"And... we might run into trouble."

After hearing this, Lu Cheng joked, "How come you encountered trouble when you came to see a doctor?"

"Isn't that right?"

“I heard that the patient who came before us had the same condition as us, but was admitted to the orthopedics department.”

"The postoperative recovery is not good...it's pitiful..." The patient did not say that the orthopedic doctor's skills were poor, in order to praise the doctor and put down the patient.

If you haven't had any bad luck, you're lucky.

Du Daihua lowered his voice and said, "Brother Lu, the tendon rupture surgery that Kun Shao and Director Peng treated has been completed, but the postoperative recovery is not very good."

"You can see the difference right there on stage; this is what Xue Xue from the operating room said..."

As Lu Cheng left, he turned his head and lowered his voice to warn, "Now that Director Peng has finished the surgery, don't gossip. Director Peng and his colleagues in orthopedics have the right idea and purpose of wanting to learn surgery to serve patients."

Before they could finish speaking, Lu Cheng noticed that Peng Kun, who had come to assist him, had also arrived late.

However, when he came out of the doctors' lounge in his work clothes and met Lu Cheng and Du Daihua, Peng Kun looked slightly surprised: "Brother Lu, have you finished your rounds?"

"Didn't you turn on your channel at 3 a.m. last night? Why are you here so early?"

"Yes, I slept in the lounge last night," Lu Cheng said.

When Du Daihua saw Peng Kun, he immediately smiled and said, "Brother Lu, Brother Kun, I'm going to write the doctor's orders, change the dressing, and write the medical record. You two chat."

Currently, Peng Kun is working as an assistant in the emergency department due to his 'connection' with Director Peng of the orthopedics department, but that will change next month.

Zhang Tiesheng and his colleagues are all veteran administrators, and they certainly wouldn't want to follow Lu Cheng as his "follower," so his opportunity has arrived.

Du Daihua was well aware of Han Xiaoping's easygoing personality. Zhuang Ge was the "treasure" of the department, and everyone avoided him. This was his opportunity to learn from him.

Du Daihua had seen how Lu Cheng treated Chen Song; being obedient and sensible was a prerequisite...

"Young Master Kun, are you heartbroken? You don't seem very enthusiastic." Lu Cheng asked Peng Kun casually.

"Sigh..." Peng Kun sighed.

"We've run into some trouble in the department."

"Our hospital had originally scheduled Director Xiang Daihong from the State People's Hospital to go to the countryside, but for some reason, Professor Tong from the Hand Surgery Department of Xiangya Hospital also called our hospital."

"But Director Xiang made the decision first... so Professor Tong seemed a little angry after being rejected."

“My dad said if Professor Tong had a seizure and went to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, wouldn’t that be a huge problem…” Peng Kun scratched his scalp.

The Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital also has an orthopedics department, which is a "sister" unit to the orthopedics department of the People's Hospital.

But these days, brother units are competitors, and the previous rankings for Peng Haibo have ironically sent a huge burden to the county's central hospital...

With Professor Tong around, admitting patients would be a real hassle.

"Professor Tong? Which Professor Tong?" Lu Cheng's tone tightened.

"Professor Tong from Xiangya Hospital, I don't even know his full name, let me look him up..."

A few minutes later... Lu Cheng and Peng Kun were also completely baffled.

(End of this chapter)