Chapter 687: This Was The Difference
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Mu Tao had a lot of dreams. He dreamed that he was lying on a beach in Sanya, enjoying the warm sunlight. It was so warm. The sunlight dispersed the cold from his body, making him feel extremely comfortable. Just as he was about to turn over so that the other side of his face was facing the sunlight, Elder Wu’s figure appeared in front of him. Elder Wu was holding a book in his hand. With his back facing the sunlight, he walked toward him. Mu Tao was stunned for a moment and was a little absent-minded. Where was this place? “Mu Tao, why are you still lying down? Did you give up?” Elder Wu said very seriously. It was just like many years ago when Mu Tao had just entered the postgraduate student examination and met Elder Wu for the first time. This was not a dream. In his sleep, Mu Tao realized that he was not dreaming. He immediately scrambled up to his feet. “You said that you wanted to be the best interventional doctor. How could you forget so quickly?” Elder Wu’s voice was low and distant. It was like the morning bell and evening drum. Mu Tao lowered his head in shame and looked at the book in Elder Wu’s hand. The New England Journal of Medicine was the journal that Mu Tao could not forget. It was where the new TIPS surgical method had been published. Mu Tao suddenly woke up under the double pressure of The New England Journal of Medicine and Elder Wu. It was as if he had jumped from one s.p.a.ce to another. He suddenly found himself in an unfamiliar operating theater, having fallen asleep in his seat. Wasn’t he at the Mayo Clinic? He was still in a daze but then remembered that he had returned from the United States and was in the midst of earthquake relief. Through the leaded gla.s.s, he saw the circulating nurses in the operating theater busying themselves without touching the floor. A figure that he would never forget in his dreams stood in front of the radiographic film viewer, resting his chin on his hand as he looked at the radiographic films. Even though he was wearing a sterile mask and hat, Mu Tao could still tell who this person was at the first glance. Zheng Ren, Chief Zheng, the small chief resident from Sea City in the Dibei Province! So it was just a dream… It was really a dream… Mu Tao gradually recalled the previous situation. He had performed a lot of interventional embolization surgeries for severe pelvic fractures, but the number of injured people from the front line only increased rather than the other way around. No matter how anxious he was, he could not speed up the surgical process. Then…it seemed that Zheng Ren had also come. Right, why did he come? Didn’t he have a n.o.bel Prize project on hand? Why did he come to the frontline? Mu Tao continued to recall. He sat there and watched Zheng Ren’s surgery. It was the same interventional embolization surgery for severe pelvic fractures. The patients’ conditions were similar, but Zheng Ren’s surgical techniques amazed him. No matter how tortuous or thin the branches of the internal iliac artery were, no matter how successful the superselection was, it was impossible to tell how delicate his technique truly was. But just by using the simplest techniques and being witnessed by those around him, the surgery was completed. Mu Tao cursed himself in his heart. How could he be so disappointing? He fell asleep at this exact moment! But no matter what, he was almost forty years old. He was tired from the journey and flew from one side of the world to the other. He did not even take a hot bath before he rushed to the many villages and towns hospitals at the frontline and began to perform the surgery. He was wearing a lead ap.r.o.n. The continuous surgeries consumed too much energy. Mu Tao did not think about this, nor did he self-examine himself. Instead, he looked at the operating theater. Zheng Ren began to disinfect, and the circulating nurse was practically ‘flying’ around. The girl glanced at Mu Tao. She did not even have time to greet him. She shouted, “If Doctor Zheng needs anything, call me.” After that, she ran out of the operating room and went to check on the aseptic bags that had been brought up. There were few people, and the task was heavy. Everyone was very busy. Mu Tao knew this, but he did not move. He crossed his hands and rested them on his cheek. He looked at the screen in front of him and outlined in his mind what he would do if he was by the operating table. Of course, there was no problem with the femoral artery cannulation. Placing the artery sheath was also a routine operation. The micro-guide wire entered directly instead of the conventional guide wire. This was a method that he was confident in. Some doctors did not pa.s.s the test. The thicker blood vessels at the front were more adapt for the thick guide wire. The guide wire entered, with the micro-guide wire followed from behind. He did not need the thick guide wire. Yes, Chief Zheng would not use it even if he wanted to. And then… Just as the simulation reached the next step, Mu Tao’s eyes lit up, and the image on the screen began to move. Uh… Was it in position? Mu Tao estimated that he was at least ten to twenty seconds behind. His hand speed was really fast, so fast that it felt unreal. Was it because he was young? Mu Tao found an excuse for himself in his heart, but his eyes were glued to the screen. Sure enough, the micro-guide wire and micro-catheter were already in place. There was no need to do anything else. The moment he stepped on the line, he immediately started the contrast. The branches of the four internal iliac arteries were bleeding. The smoke-like contrast agent silently told Mu Tao this. Let us begin the selection. Mu Tao’s eyes did not blink as he entered a meditative state. In front of him was his lifelong opponent. And now, it was his first time seeing the other party’s surgical skills with his own eyes. He had to see what his level was like! The micro-guide wire went in. A 70-degree blood vessel branch did not stop the micro-guide wire at all. Others could not see it, but Mu Tao could. At the position where the blood vessel branch was angled, the surgeon’s wrist and fingers which could not be seen must have made a move. Then, the power was transferred to the front end of the micro-guiding wire so that when it pa.s.sed through the blood vessels, it would suddenly change its angle to achieve the surgeon’s goal. The force, angle, and movement was perfect. Everything was perfect. Those who were slightly less perfect would not be able to tell that the micro-guide wire had made such a movement. Could he achieve it? It would probably be difficult… The superselection ended very quickly. Then, the micro-guide wire entered and started the embolization. What surprised Mu Tao was that after the embolization was over, the surgeon did not even bother to confirm with the angiography. He directly took out the micro-guide wire and catheter and carried out the next step of surgery. He was really full of confidence. Mu Tao did not think that the surgeon was operating against the rules. He was extremely confident in his methods and skills. If it was at a normal time or place, the surgeon would probably do an angiogram to confirm it. But now, time was of the essence. If he was confident, this step could be omitted. Mu Tao asked himself, would he do this? No…because if he did not confirm it, he really did not know if the embolism would succeed. The process of the second vascular branch embolism was the same. During the selection process, the more difficult position was just a movement of the wrist and fingers, and the power was transmitted to the micro-guide wire, crossing at an almost 90-degree angle through the extremely difficult blood vessel. Mu Tao looked like he was watching a horror movie. His eyes were still unblinking, but his heart was raging with turmoil. The four blood vessels were completely blocked in a few minutes. The technique… Other than the invisible movement, all of them were textbook standard and ordinary techniques. Looking at them separately, there was nothing special about it. He took a look at the time. 11 minutes. This was the biggest difference between them!