I Am Diagnosed as a Medical Titan

Chapter 402: Chapter 261: Live Surgery

The thermal lunch box was empty.

Shen Yu wiped Jiang He’s mouth.

She was doting on Jiang He as if he were a baby.

’Just go on and spoil him.’

Jiang He took her hand and said, ”There’s something I need to tell you.”

Shen Yu said, ”Go on.”

Jiang He said, ”You know that early screening test for pancreatic cancer we developed?”

”Uh-huh.”

”I have a friend...”

After he briefly explained the situation...

Shen Yu said very reliably, ”Leave it to me.”

When they arrived outside Du Xunsheng’s hospital room, Shen Yu had Jiang He wait outside the door.

He waited for a full half hour.

Shen Yu finally opened the door. ”It’s done.”

Jiang He whispered, ”How’s he taking it?”

Shen Yu replied, ”A little too excited.”

”Excited?”

”Mhm, yeah. Go on in, you’ll see.”

Jiang He scratched his head and walked inside.

The moment Du Xunsheng saw him, he burst out laughing.

”Hahaha! Dr. Jiang! You’re here! I have cancer! The king of cancers! Sounds pretty cool, doesn’t it?”

Jiang He: ”?”

”Dr. Jiang, your girlfriend just told me everything. Normally, this thing is already terminal by the time it’s found, but now, it’s been discovered early?”

”That’s right.”

”Awesome! So awesome! Dr. Jiang, you’re a miracle worker!”

Du Xunsheng was still rambling on.

Jiang He pulled over a chair, sat down, and adopted a professional tone.

”Since you’re clear on your current situation, we need to plan your subsequent treatment...”

”Wait, Dr. Jiang. I have a very serious question to ask you first.”

Thinking he was about to ask about survival rates or treatment costs, Jiang He immediately sat up straight. ”Go ahead.”

Du Xunsheng lowered his voice and asked, ”This cancer... it can’t be transmitted through sex, can it?”

Jiang He: ”?”

Du Xunsheng looked heartbroken. ”If it is, I’ll have to break up with my little nurse. I’m a man of principle. I can’t pass this disease on to her.”

Jiang He was rendered speechless for a long moment.

He replied expressionlessly, ”Cancer is not an infectious disease. It isn’t transmitted through any means. However, considering your physical condition, I recommend you limit the frequency of sexual activity.”

”Oh, good, that’s good. You scared me to death. As long as I can still, you know, do it.”

Jiang He suddenly felt that Shen Yu’s success in calming Du Xunsheng down wasn’t just due to her superb psychological skills; Du Xunsheng’s own mental illness probably played a large part.

He said, ”Actually, in your current state, we can’t call it a confirmed diagnosis yet.”

Although Jiang He’s paper on early screening had been published internationally and caused a sensation, it hadn’t yet been validated by long-term, large-scale data in a clinical setting.

Under the current medical system, a single blood report couldn’t be used as the basis for a confirmed diagnosis.

Without that basis, they couldn’t proceed with the next stage of treatment.

Du Xunsheng scratched his head. ”So how can I get a confirmed diagnosis?”

Jiang He said, ”It has to be through a contrast-enhanced CT or an MRI. But you’re at such an early stage that a CT scan right now probably wouldn’t show anything.”

Du Xunsheng was confused. ”Isn’t that a catch-22? The blood test says I have it, the imaging says I don’t. So do I have it or not?”

”You have it. My technique doesn’t make mistakes. So, what you need to do now is come to the hospital once a month for a contrast-enhanced CT scan.”

”You mean... it’ll show up on the scan sooner or later?”

”Yes.”

”And what happens after it shows up?”

Jiang He was silent for a moment.

”At that point, there will be a few options. But for an early-stage pancreatic tumor, the most recommended course of action is direct surgical resection.”

”The surgery... is it major?”

”Very major.”

”How major?”

”If we do a traditional pancreaticoduodenectomy, or Whipple procedure, we would need to remove the head of your pancreas, your duodenum, your common bile duct, your gallbladder, and part of your stomach. Then, we would pull up your jejunum and perform three anastomoses—connecting it to the remaining pancreas, bile duct, and stomach—to reconstruct your digestive tract.”

”Uh, Doctor, that sounds like you’re cutting out a lot of stuff. Is it necessary to remove so much? Can’t you just cut out the small part that has cancer?”

”No. If we cut out less, we won’t get clear margins.”

”Ah... suddenly I don’t feel so happy anymore...”

”Is it possible that no one knew what you were so happy about in the first place?”

”Sorry, sorry.”

”In short, it’s one of the biggest surgeries in general surgery. It’s extremely traumatic, the risk of complications is very high, and even if the surgery is successful, your postoperative digestive function will be affected long-term.”

Jiang He was speaking the truth.

In his previous life, countless pancreatic cancer patients died not only from the cancer’s recurrence but also from the complete collapse of their bodily functions after surgery.

Du Xunsheng fell silent.

His previous cheerful demeanor finally faded a little.

His voice became quieter as he asked, ”So... is it possible to not have the surgery?”

After a moment of silence, Jiang He said, ”I’m currently advancing research on a targeted drug for pancreatic cancer with the KRAS mutation. If this drug can be developed in time, then you won’t need surgery.”

Du Xunsheng’s eyes lit up again. ”That’s great! Doctor, you have to hurry up with your research! When can you develop this thing? Will it be ready next month?”

Jiang He shook his head. ”I don’t know. Maybe five years, maybe ten.”

Du Xunsheng said, ”I see. In that case, I’ll think about the surgery. Anyway, a CT scan once a month, right? I’ll cooperate.”

He looked up and smiled at Jiang He. ”Doctor, don’t feel pressured. The fact that you told me about this ahead of time, giving me time to tell my mom my bank card PIN and delete my porn stash... I’m already very grateful to you for that.”

Jiang He stood up.

He said seriously, ”I will do my best to speed up the research on the targeted drug. At the same time, I will also research an improved surgical procedure to minimize the trauma. When the time comes, we’ll see which option we choose.”

”Alright. It’s late. Thank you, Dr. Jiang. Oh, wait, Director Jiang~”

”Sigh. Get some rest.”

Jiang He walked out of the hospital room.

’If possible, I really hope I can develop the targeted drug for pancreatic cancer sooner. But if I can’t develop it in time, surgery is always the final option.’

「Since his rebirth.」

Modifying the Whipple procedure had always been one of his major goals.

Now that he had the title of Deputy Chief Physician, he could finally give it a try.

’After I get back from Ruijin, I’ll have to attempt this massive surgery. Of course, it’s also the surgery I was most skilled at in my previous life... If I were to reveal all my techniques from that era in 2008 all at once, they’d probably dissect me for research. I can only reveal them according to a plan, step by step, in stages. I’ll try to complete all the modifications within three surgeries.’

Seeing Jiang He come out, Shen Yu asked, ”How did it go?”

”It’s fine. Come on, let’s go to the nurses’ station.”

Shen Yu was a little confused. ”Aren’t we going home? What are we going to the nurses’ station for?”

”I’m taking you to get a vial of blood drawn before we go home.”

Shen Yu stopped in her tracks, a look of exasperation on her face. ”Dr. Jiang, why is it that every time I come to the hospital to see you, you have to draw a vial of my blood? Are you a vampire or something?”

Jiang He didn’t bat an eye. ”Several recent international papers have indicated that the extreme ice storm climate in Baltimore can cause drastic changes in the body’s internal pressure and temperature, leading to short-term abnormalities in the morphology of some peripheral blood cells. You just got back from there, so I need to collect some baseline data to prevent any stress-induced immune reactions.”

Shen Yu was completely baffled.

Bombarded by a pile of professional jargon, she had no way of telling if he was serious.

She mimicked his earlier tone and said, ”For realsies?”

”For realsies.”

Jiang He drew her blood with lightning speed.

Only then did he leave the hospital with Shen Yu.

When they got home, his parents had already left.

They had said they wandered around the area in the afternoon and didn’t find much to do, so they went straight to the train station to buy tickets home.

They had left in such a hurry because they were afraid of being a burden to Jiang He.

Parents were always like that, coming and going in a rush.

After washing up, he lay in bed.

Jiang He lulled Shen Yu to sleep, his mind racing with thoughts.

’Du Xunsheng’s positive report is like a countdown timer. Can I develop the targeted drug before the countdown ends? It feels a bit difficult. The G12D mutation site... Can’t you just have a slightly bigger pocket for me to stuff a compound into? Damn it. Can’t sleep.’

Jiang He threw back the covers and quietly got out of bed.

He went out to the balcony.

He gave Wen Xuyang a call.

After they parted ways at the airport, Wen Xuyang had flown directly back to Hushang.

Jiang He asked, ”Did I wake you?”

”Not asleep yet, Boss. What’s up?”

”Just checking, did you tell your mentor about my upcoming visit to Ruijin Hospital?”

”I did, I did! I went back to the hospital to report to my mentor the moment I landed! Boss, I was just about to call you about this tomorrow. Boss Li was so excited when he heard about your performance in Baltimore. He said he absolutely must host you with the highest honors!”

”A normal academic exchange is fine. Don’t make it too grand.”

”It won’t be, it won’t be. Besides, Boss, you’re really lucky!”

”What do you mean?”

”During this period, a friend of Elder Zhi is also coming to Hushang!”

”Uh, so?”

”So, Boss Li figured, since you’re coming and Elder Zhi’s friend is also coming, why not just have a dual reception! The hospital is planning a grand welcome banquet to host both of you for dinner!”

Jiang He closed his eyes, and some extremely cringeworthy scenarios suddenly flashed through his mind.

He sighed. ”A dual reception?”

”Yeah! Boss Li has already arranged for two completely different sets of welcome banners and speeches! Boss, you’ll be sitting with Elder Zhi’s friend. Just think of it as making a new friend!”

Standing in the cold pre-dawn wind, Jiang He was suddenly overcome by a sense of helplessness.

He inexplicably felt the urge to tell a dad joke.

He sighed.

Jiang He said, ”Wen Xuyang.”

”Here, Boss!”

”Is there any possibility... that I... am that friend of Elder Zhi?”

The other end of the line suddenly went silent.

Two seconds later, Wen Xuyang burst into hearty laughter.

”Hahahaha! Boss, telling dad jokes in the middle of the night again, are we? That’s a good one, pretty funny. Let me tell you one: Do you know why Snow White had such a rough life? Because she was surrounded by so many little people!”

Jiang He: ”...”

”Alright, Boss, no more joking around. Anyway, when you get to Hushang, I’ll personally pick you up from the airport! Then we can see for ourselves what this friend of Elder Zhi is really like!”

Jiang He: ”...”

Wen Xuyang yawned. ”By the way, Boss, your visit coincides with a big day for our hospital’s general surgery department. Boss Li is probably going to be running back and forth.”

”Why is that?”

”Boss Li is heading up a multi-hospital online conference for hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery. It’s a live surgery broadcast. I heard they’re planning to perform a classic Whipple for a teaching demonstration. The whole department is pulling all-nighters screening patient files and finalizing the surgical plan.”

”Wait,” Jiang He suddenly cut in.

”Huh?”

”You just said a live surgery broadcast? A Whipple?”

”Yeah, a classic pancreaticoduodenectomy. But it’s hard to pick a complex case like this for a live broadcast. It needs to be representative, but also not completely beyond the control of a standard chief surgeon. Boss Li has been so worried these past few days he’s losing his hair, still struggling to decide on a case file.”

Wen Xuyang chuckled. ”But that has nothing to do with us. Boss, you just relax and be our guest of honor...”

”Has the case file been decided?” Jiang He interrupted him again.

”Not set in stone yet. What’s wrong, Boss?”

”Mm, nothing. Go to sleep.”

He hung up the phone.

Jiang He felt his mood improve considerably.

’A multi-hospital network, a gathering of top experts, a high-difficulty live Whipple broadcast. Isn’t this tailor-made for me?’

’Hushang, Ruijin. Freelance surgery, freelance surgery!’