Healing Doctor

Chapter 118 looks simple, but it's actually not feasible.

"Last night..." Zhao Xiangming blushed and said awkwardly, "I drank a bit too much, but that's not what I wanted to talk to Dr. Xiao Ji about."

Director Liu was still somewhat protective of Ji Xiang. He stared at Zhao Xiangming, carefully analyzing his micro-expressions, trying to find some clues.

"Hey, what are you thinking?" Zhao Xiangming wasn't stupid; he read Liu's expression and "understood" what he meant.

Zhao Xiangming thought that Director Liu was worried that he was coming to cause trouble for Ji Xiang.

"What do you mean?" Director Liu asked.

"Yesterday, Xiao Ji performed... the surgery under my supervision."

After saying this, Zhao Xiangming blushed.

He and Professor Ma studied that surgery all night, but they still couldn't figure it out.

But Zhao Xiangming vaguely felt that the ceiling that had confined him for many years was beginning to loosen, and that he needed to make progress technically.

"Director Zhao, thank you for your guidance." Ji Xiang suddenly turned around and said politely.

Zhao Xiangming's first thought was that Ji Xiang was being sarcastic and mocking him.

But when he and Ji Xiang looked into each other's eyes, he saw a clear and transparent gaze, and he knew in his heart that Ji Xiang understood what he meant.

Ji Xiang is, after all, a resident physician and doesn't even have a medical license. He's the one performing the surgery? And it's a level four surgery, he'd probably be sued to death.

From a certain perspective, it seems that I can also consider it as surgery I performed myself.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xiangming straightened his back slightly.

"I sent the video of that surgery to Xiao Sui, who used to work in our department. He works at a hospital in Ningbo." Although Zhao Xiangming was thick-skinned, he had a sense of propriety; he changed the subject. "After watching the surgery, they invited me to participate in a surgical competition!"

"Huh? Your interventional radiology department also holds a surgical competition?" Director Liu asked in surprise.

"Pah, what are you saying?" Zhao Xiangming showed no mercy to Director Liu, unlike his treatment of Ji Xiang.

"You surgeons' surgical competitions are unreliable; you even record them."

"All our interventional procedures are recorded on the computer; we can just take them out. Unlike you guys who go through all that trouble."

Director Liu automatically filtered out Zhao Xiangming's trash talk. He thought of something, frowned, and asked, "Was the invitation to compete recorded or live?"

"A video recording is fine; the surgical procedure stored in our DSA mainframe is sufficient."

So that's how it is!

"Dr. Xiao Ji, can I borrow you for two days?" Zhao Xiangming said directly.

Director Liu didn't speak, but looked at Ji Xiang.

Ji Xiang was unsure of the gravity of the matter. He held his breath and entered the system space.

For medical matters, you should definitely consult the system NPCs.

Ji Xiang entered the system's operating room and recounted the events of the day to the system NPC.

"I see." The system NPC nodded. "The interventional radiology department should have had competitions for a while now."

"Teacher, is this kind of competition really that meaningful?"

The system NPC pondered for a few seconds, then suddenly said, "Dr. Xiao Ji, you know which department I'm in, right?"

Cardiothoracic surgery.

"Hmm." The system NPC nodded. "My lifelong dream is for cardiac surgeons to be able to perform hybrid surgeries. Cardiac surgeons and interventional surgeons are a perfect match. It's just a pity that people have limited energy, and there are very few people who can truly master both and be proficient in both."

Ji Xiang remained silent, listening attentively as the system NPC told him his story.

"But even I can't do it." The system NPC was clearly disappointed.

"Teacher, how about having a cigarette? I'll keep you company?" Ji Xiang asked, noticing that he was in a bad mood.

"Let's go." The system NPC walked slowly towards the changing room with his hands behind his back and his waist bent.

When he arrived at the locker room, he didn't smoke. Instead, he picked up a white Ganoderma lucidum and smelled it deeply.

"Teacher, is it because I can't use the system to draw cards?"

"Smoking is harmful to your health, just smell it and that's enough, why bother?" the system NPC laughed. "Let's not talk about me, let's talk about you. I have a question for you."

Ji Xiang sat upright.

"You've already grasped the basics of partial nephrectomy. Now, let me ask you, what are the drawbacks of this surgery?"

"The biggest drawback is postoperative bleeding, and it takes a long time to occur after the surgery," Ji Xiang replied. "I think even at LV9, I can't guarantee 100% no postoperative bleeding; I can only desperately increase my luck stat."

"There's a way to make up for this shortcoming as much as possible. Would you like to learn it?"

Ji Xiang suddenly remembered a passage from Journey to the West: "You monkey, you don't learn this, you don't learn that, what are you going to do!"

Does the system NPC have to hit me three times with a ruler before coming back in the dead of night to impart the secrets of immortality to me?

Thinking this to himself, Ji Xiang smiled and said, "Teacher, let's learn!"

"The passive skill rewarded by the mission was modified by me on short notice," the system NPC said.

"Hybridization?"

"Hmm." The system NPC nodded. "Cardiac surgery... let's not talk about that. Let's talk about partial nephrectomy first. The best surgical method is to first use interventional surgery to embolize the blood vessels supplying the tumor, and then remove it."

The system NPC spoke calmly, but his words struck Ji Xiang like a thunderclap from a clear sky.

"Teacher, is it the other way around?" Ji Xiang asked abruptly.

"That's it," the system NPC said. "By embolizing any blood vessels that might bleed in advance, we can avoid bleeding during the operation and also prevent postoperative bleeding."

"That's just the first point. Another point is that we've been studying tumor hematogenous metastasis during surgery for many years. Clinical data shows that embolization before resection reduces the probability of metastasis by 63.2%."

"!!!"

"In short, there are many benefits."

Ji Xiang was excited when he thought about the benefits, but then he realized that it was somewhat unreasonable.

"Teacher, if it's so good, why hasn't anyone done it before?"

The system NPC's expression became extremely strange, with a hint of sadness, helplessness, and compassion.

"Essentially, interventional surgery still causes damage to the patient's body, and even wearing a lead apron during surgery cannot completely prevent it. Patients are particularly likely to develop baldness and thyroid disease after the age of fifty."

"There's also a tumor," Ji Xiang added.

"Yes," the system NPC replied. "In addition, the branches of medicine are very complex nowadays, and any one branch requires a lifetime of research. If you learn urological surgery, you won't have time to learn interventional surgery. It's really difficult to integrate the two."

"But when it involves collaboration between two departments, things become complicated. Who takes the lead, and whose fault is it if the patient has postoperative problems? There are bound to be many such issues."

"It seems like a natural progression, but in reality, it's almost impossible to implement."

Ji Xiang wanted to ask why he could quickly grasp the concepts by learning within the system, but he swallowed the words back.

If you've used cheat codes, don't try to act innocent after getting the benefits.

Faced with the helplessness of the system NPC, Ji Xiang didn't even understand the basics. He just noted down the problem so he could ponder it in his clinical practice later.

The system NPC didn't continue on that topic, but began to explain the principles of the surgery to Ji Xiang in detail.

Ji Xiang became increasingly insightful; he realized that surgery could be done in this way!

The principle is simple; the system NPCs mainly focus on the details.

After finishing his explanation, the system NPC took a deep, reluctant sniff of the white lingzhi mushroom. "Let's go, let's try performing two surgeries."

Ji Xiang nodded and clicked on the system menu, but he couldn't find a similar technique.

"Teacher..." Ji Xiang was speechless.

Without similar techniques, how can I upgrade myself?

"What's wrong?"

"There's no spell."

"Just perform the surgery," the system NPC said. "Because it's a hybrid surgery, setting it to a fixed procedure would waste too much energy. After discussing it, Zhou Congwen and the others decided to make it passively activated."

Ji Xiang's mind flashed to the young professor who was about his own height, with bright, star-like eyes, and who had dug up all the bamboo shoots on the mountain.

Upon reflection, Ji Xiang concluded that the "superior doctor's gaze" definitely originated from Zhou Congwen's template rather than from a system NPC.

However, these are unrelated to the surgery.

Ji Xiang and the system NPC arrived at the corridor of the operating room, and the system NPC led him to the innermost operating room.

"A hybrid operating room, also known as a combined operating room, is a comprehensive integration of 3D imaging technology from equipment such as DSA, CT, and MRI with surgery in a Class 100 laminar flow operating room."

This allows for the combination of minimally invasive interventional surgery and traditional open surgery, thereby resolving various complex surgical procedures, reducing surgical risks, and saving surgical time.

"The first hybrid operating room in China was built at Fuwai Hospital in Beijing in 2007."

Whenever Ji Xiang heard the system NPCs talk about cardiac surgery, his words were tinged with regret and disappointment.

Even powerful system NPCs have their share of troubles.

Upon entering the operating room, the system NPC first explained the machines in the hybrid operating room to Ji Xiang, and then began surgical training.

After putting on the lead apron, Ji Xiang noticed that the system NPC was also wearing a suit weighing several dozen kilograms and asked worriedly, "Teacher, the lead apron is very heavy, can you bear it?"

After asking the question, Ji Xiang chuckled to himself.

This is the system space. System NPCs may be just a piece of data or program code. I've asked a lot of questions.

"Although I'm old, I'm in excellent physical condition. In reality, I can even perform surgery for four hours while wearing a lead apron," the system NPC said calmly. "To become an academic giant, you first need a solid foundation. Do you know what else you need?"

"What?" Ji Xiang asked curiously, pricking up his ears.

"You need to live a long time."

"..."

"This has nothing to do with the surgery. You'll understand it gradually later. Now let's begin the surgery."

The system NPC smiled and began teaching Ji Xiang how to perform surgery.

……

……

Ji Xiang emerged from the system's operating room, his base stamina not yet depleted.

It was daytime, after all, so he couldn't just lie down and sleep. As for the stamina potion, Ji Xiang didn't want to waste it either.

The lights flickered, and the operating room was quiet. Director Liu turned his head to look at himself.

Ji Xiang recalled what Zhao Xiangming had said before, and it all seemed like a long time had passed.

Faced with Zhao Xiangming's invitation, what should Ji Xiang do?

At this moment, Ji Xiang remembered the problem that the system NPCs were all troubled by—the division of labor and cooperation between the two departments.

As a system NPC who serves as the teacher, Ji Xiang knows that he still needs to figure out and experience the rest on his own.

This is what is meant by "knowledge gained from books is ultimately superficial; true understanding comes from practice."

(End of this chapter)