Surgery Godfather

Chapter 288: Chapter 0272: Survival Instinct

“Check the umbilical cord, it might be entangled by the amniotic band.”

Professor Zhang gently lifted the baby’s hand, his hand holding the umbilical cord, just like how he started to touch the neck before.

“You, Xiao Yang, investigate the umbilical cord.”

Upon receiving the order from Professor Zhang, Yang Ping began to inspect the umbilical cord, looking carefully, bit by bit. There seemed to be no problem on the surface. Yang Ping lightly touched the cord with his hand.

“Micro scissors!”

Yang Ping was about to gently cut open one part of the cord with micro scissors, but Director Mei stopped him: “Don’t move, the umbilical cord must not be disturbed!”

The cord was the source of oxygen and nutrients for the fetus, how could it be casually disturbed? Besides, an Orthopedic doctor had no business messing with the cord. Director Mei’s action was light as he stopped Yang Ping’s hand.

Yang Ping was quite embarrassed and looked towards Professor Zhang. Professor Zhang looked down at the cord and also touched it with his hand: “There’s a hidden constriction ring here, let him open it so you can see.”

How could Director Mei distrust Professor Zhang’s judgement? He withdrew his hand. Yang Ping delicately opened the surface of the cord to reveal the constriction ring inside.

“The problem lies here!” Professor Zhang pointed it out for the directors to see.

Both directors took turns to look under the assistant’s eyepiece and were stunned. There wasn’t just a constriction ring, there was also partial necrosis of the cord. Perhaps it hadn’t necrotized the blood vessels yet, so their blood flow had been uninterrupted.

Once this constriction ring tightened, the gap became very small and the tissues at both ends fused together, making it look completely normal from the outside.

“You have to remove this section and re-anastomose the umbilical cord. Let’s first loosen the constriction ring and see.” Professor Zhang told Yang Ping.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated on ṅοѵǤᴑ.сο

Yang Ping loosened the constriction ring. The blood vessels inside had necrotized a bit as well. Professor Zhang took a look under the microscope.

“Feel the fetal heartbeat!”

Director Mei felt it and the signs were immediately clear. The fetal heartbeat had indeed sped up. This old man’s skills were truly extraordinary. He wasn’t even a gynecologist, yet he knew that the problem lay in the umbilical cord.

“I have patients waiting in the clinic, perform the procedure yourselves. Cut off all of the necrotized parts and leave them behind. Then re-anastomose. If you keep them, the blood vessels in the cord could become clogged due to necrosis.”

Professor Zhang began to take off his clothes and gloves. Director Mei, taking advantage of him not having left yet, hurriedly asked: “Professor Zhang, how did you know that the problem was with the umbilical cord?”

“The miracles of mankind are far more complicated than you imagine. This act is a self-protection instinct of the human body. Didn’t you see how his hand was always around the cord as if he wanted to grasp it? Whether it’s after birth or inside the mother’s belly, when in desperate circumstances or left without any support, the latent instincts become aroused, leading to certain behaviors that are hard to understand. He is trying to save himself, he wants to live. The critical problem was not addressed by you all, and you were about to close the uterus. How could he consent?”

After finishing, Professor Zhang hurriedly left, leaving behind the half-understanding Director Mei. Director Ke wanted to ask more, but he was too late.

The room full of people was left in a daze. Could a tiny fetus really try to save itself? What kind of theory was that? Was he telling a bedtime story?

“I don’t understand, it’s like a supernatural event.” said the anesthesiologist.

Director Mei came to: “It is indeed so, there are fetuses who have heard that their parents don’t want them, want to abort them, and they are so desperate that they wrap themselves with the umbilical cord. The secrets of human beings, there are many that medicine currently can’t unravel.”

“Is the old man a god?” Director Ke exclaimed.

“Otherwise, how could he be the leader of the expert group?” Director Mei was also impressed.

Sometimes you have to admit the value of experience. With age comes wisdom. Problems you ponder over for half a day can be solved by others in minutes.

Yang Ping exposed the whole necrotic part of the umbilical cord – it was not very long, about one centimeter. But the fetus was just thirty centimeters long, so this one centimeter was quite significant. He carefully touched the other parts again, they should be fine now.

“We need to cut and re-anastomose the umbilical cord. That will complicate things. Let’s communicate with the family.”

This time it was Director Mei’s turn to go out and talk. The surgery today was complicated.

Zhong Mingfang was waiting outside, anxious. Every so often he’d look towards the operating room door, hoping his wife would be wheeled out. Each time someone was wheeled out, he’d rush over – but it wasn’t her!

Some relatives even thought he had malicious intentions. When their family’s patient was wheeled out, he rushed over. Especially when it was a woman who had just gone through a c-section, he rushed over faster than the husband, nearly getting beaten up.

Both Zhong Mingfang and his wife were graduates of Southwest Political and Law. Upon graduation, he wanted to continue his studies, but his financial situation didn’t allow it. His wife gave up postgraduate studies to work and financially supported Zhong Mingfang while he got his master’s degree. Afterwards, they opened a law office together, and were quite well-known in G city.

Their biggest regret in life was their inability to have children. After much effort, they had managed to conceive a baby through artificial insemination using their own sperm and eggs. But now they were facing such a situation.

Alas, fate lacked this one thing and it couldn’t be helped.

The door finally opened: “The family of He Liru!”

Zhong Mingfang rushed over quickly: “Here, Director Mei!”

“There’s a new situation. Your child’s umbilical cord also has a hidden constriction ring, and it’s necrotic. We have to cut it and re-anastomose it.”

“Is the adult okay?” Zhong Mingfang was very nervous.

“The adult is temporarily stable and can tolerate more surgery. If we don’t take this step, it’s like giving up on the fetus. This step will take another hour. Are you willing to continue? The patient is still stable, there’s risk, but we can try.”

Now he had to decide by himself. As long as the adult was fine, they should go ahead. His wife was determined to have this child, and he also wanted it. Things had come to this point.

“Alright! You all have worked hard.”

“It’s our duty. The bedside doctor will come over to you to sign a new informed consent form. Our surgery will keep going, and we won’t delay.”

Things really had their ups and downs. Zhong Mingfang now realized how helpless one could feel when they get sick, and this strong sense of dependency on doctors. He felt conflicted, he didn’t want anything to happen to his wife, but he also wanted the child.

If he had to choose one between the two, he’d choose his wife; if he could choose both, of course that would be great. However, he didn’t know if fate would grant him that chance.

Now he heard that his wife was still stable, but their child was in trouble. The doctor was trying to cut the umbilical cord and join it together again, just the thought of it gave him a headache.

A young female doctor came out with an informed consent form for surgery and asked Zhong Mingfang to sign it, because they hadn’t considered the operation to cut and join the umbilical cord again.

These doctors, they seemed to be always revolving around his wife’s situation. They hadn’t even had lunch yet. He asked cautiously, “You guys haven’t had lunch yet, right?”

“Oh, no, your wife’s situation is urgent. The director said we’d eat after the operation is finished,” the young doctor said casually.

They were really working hard. Zhong Mingfang felt a bit guilty. He didn’t know if they would accept his invitation to go for a meal, but he also didn’t have time. He was going to be with his wife soon; anyhow, he was all muddled up.

Usually he was quick-thinking and logical, but now his mind was a mess, a boiling mess.

Director Mei returned to the operating room: “Let’s cut it and re-anastomose.”

This umbilical cord was just like a little rat’s tail. But to Yang Ping, this was an easy task.

Director Ke was glad that he asked his colleagues from orthopedics for help. Otherwise, in this situation, they could only do the surgery, close her up, and go home. The fetus would die in the womb in a few days and perhaps there could be an intrauterine infection. It was horrifying just thinking about it.

“Cut?” Yang Ping confirmed again.

We can’t just cut. It’s your patient, you need to give the go-ahead.

Director Mei permitted him: “Cut.”

They cut the necrotic part and under the microscope they re-anastomosed the umbilical arteries and veins. The fetus had strong healing abilities, far beyond what an adult could accomplish. Essentially, they didn’t have to do anything after anastomosing the blood vessels; there was hardly a chance of vascular crisis.

Otherwise, if a vascular crisis occurred, and the fetus was in the womb, they would have to open the womb and operate again.

Anastomosing the blood vessels was straightforward, and there were just two blood vessels. It only took a few moments.

“Re-anastomosis done?”

“Done!”

Dr. Yang from orthopedics was indeed skilled, just like an experienced driver once he was behind the wheel.

Director Mei checked the fetal heartbeat. It was good, and the blood flow was also good. He observed for several minutes before he finally felt relieved: “Close up the uterus.”

“Artificial amniotic fluid!”

Since opening the uterus would cause a loss of some amniotic fluid, they needed to add artificial amniotic fluid to maintain the volume. Otherwise, the fetus would be at risk again due to a lack of amniotic fluid after surgery.

Director Mei watched closely while suturing, he felt a bit paranoid.

Really, the little one had finally quieted down.

Was Professor Zhang Zongshun right about the fetus’s instinct to survive?

Director Mei felt it would be worthwhile to seriously look up some information, ask his friends and former classmates, and conduct proper research on this issue.