System Came When the Doctor was Thirty

”Sure, I can handle it. As long as the patient is willing to stay, I’ll take care of it,” Lu Cheng replied with a smile.

”Brother Han, I get what you mean, but do you remember how nice it was not having night shifts?”

Han Xiaoping was a year older than Lu Cheng, also an attending physician, easy-going, and one of the more sincere senior brothers in the department towards Lu Cheng.

Han Xiaoping had a big forehead and a large face when viewed from the side, and he whispered, ”Xiao Lu, you don’t have to take on these kinds of surgeries; you’re not on assistant duty or the day shift.”

”You’ve been on duty for so long already, no need to push yourself so hard. Can you even finish the surgery?”

Han Xiaoping was a member of the ”lie flat” group in the department, preferring to coast along, and clearly defined his role as an ER referral doctor.

He was very responsible during his shifts, but getting him to work overtime was impossible unless he was on assistant duty.

”No problem, Brother Ping!” Lu Cheng nearly called out the nickname for his big-headed brother.

”I’ll go check on the patient from my previous tendon suturing surgery. Brother Ping, call me when you’ve finished the discussion and signed the papers.”

”Thanks, Brother Ping, I’ll treat you to a drink later.”

Lu Cheng knew well that with Han Xiaoping’s usual demeanor, any hesitation on his part would make him send the patient away.

After all, if Lu Cheng were to enter the operating room, Han would have to follow.

The principle was for ward and assistant doctors to perform emergency surgeries; only for unsolvable emergencies would Director Lin Qianlong be called.

Calling an assistant wasn’t useful for tendon suturing, but since Lu Cheng couldn’t do it alone, he had to ask Han Xiaoping to assist.

Han Xiaoping shook his head, ”Xiao Lu, this isn’t about drinks... never mind, the more I explain, the more confused it gets. I’ll treat you to coffee.”

”You can sleep after drinking coffee at night?” Han Xiaoping asked Lu Cheng.

”Absolutely no problem,” Lu Cheng replied and headed to the ward.

...

The patient from the previous tendon suturing surgery was practicing grip exercises by the window.

After tendon suturing, if the technique is proficient and proper, functional exercise should begin promptly to prevent tendon and muscle adhesion, which is a key concept of rapid rehabilitation in orthopedics and hand surgery.

Hearing footsteps, he turned his head slightly and, upon seeing Lu Cheng, smiled kindly, ”Dr. Lu, didn’t Dr. Han say you were off today?”

Lu Cheng replied, ”Another patient with a similar tendon injury came in. I’m here for surgery and thought I’d check on you at the same time.”

”So, how’s the rehab today? Less painful than the past few days, right?”

The young man demonstrated his flexion and extension capabilities to Lu Cheng, then gave a thumbs up with a grin, ”Dr. Lu, don’t blame me, I sent my postoperative rehab video to a friend.”

”My friend knows an orthopedic doctor from another hospital. He said the recovery was excellent, that the surgery was of high quality, and that future flexion and extension functionality wouldn’t be impacted.”

In this era of media and communication, it’s no longer like the past when information was inaccessible.

Patients would often ask doctor friends about their condition pre- and post-surgery, which attending doctors can’t stop.

Lu Cheng felt slightly awkward, ”Seems you still don’t fully trust Professor Chen, do you?”

”It’s not right. Even if you think Professor Chen is all about the show, don’t doubt his technical skills.”

”Professor Chen said your recovery progress is excellent.” Lu Cheng didn’t boast about his skills but felt inwardly pleased.

The young man rolled his eyes and muttered, ”Even if Professor Chen’s skills are superb, his high status doesn’t benefit me much.”

”But you, Dr. Lu, I’ve been hearing that with my tendon injury, there’s no one else at Renmin Hospital who dares to take it on...”

”I didn’t expect you to be so young and still manage to achieve such success,” the young man said amicably.

Since Lu Cheng was able to resolve his issues, he was considered an excellent doctor in his eyes.

Lu Cheng responded, ”How is this success? If I could glean all of Professor Chen’s tendon suturing techniques, then maybe I could make that claim in the county.”

”But let’s not talk about that. Your postoperative recovery is good, and the wound is healing well.”

”You’ll be discharged tomorrow at noon.”

”After discharge, continue taking oral medication and do standard functional exercises when you get home. Remember not to overstrain within the month. I’ve detailed the weights you can handle.”

”Remember that?”

The young man nodded and sat on the blue-and-white striped bedding of the hospital bed, ”Remember, Dr. Lu, you’ve told me at least ten times; I can even recite it backward.”

”No!~” Lu Cheng’s expression turned anxious, ”You don’t have to recite it, but don’t do it backward.”

”Dude, the weights should be increased gradually. Reciting it backward would mess things up.”

The young man laughed, ”Dr. Lu, I was just joking. My body belongs to me; I can’t joke around like that.”

”Thank you, Dr. Lu...”

”No worries, so it’s settled. Discharge tomorrow morning with the oral medication... remember to continue precise rehabilitation when you get back. Don’t push yourself!~” Lu Cheng continued to nag.

Being a doctor requires caution and attention to detail; no amount of nagging about medical advice is too much.

The main surgeon is not afraid of smart patients, only those who think they are smart and make their own decisions. Since this was Lu Cheng’s first surgery, he had to communicate everything very precisely.

[Through multiple, precise post-operative rehab training advice, minimizing patient recovery issues such as ’overtraining’ and ’underperformance,’ gained 0.1 skill points]

Yet another small gain.

...

After Lu Cheng left, another person in the observation ward said, ”Xiao Zhou, your doctor is excellent. He is attentive, patient, and quite handsome.”

The person called Xiao Zhou nodded, ”Dr. Lu is indeed great, very patient, and extremely detailed!~ His attitude is also excellent.”

”Of course, his technical skills are impressive, too. My doctor friend mentioned that Dr. Lu probably used the most suitable surgical technique, which is why I’m recovering so quickly.”

”Anyway, he said a lot of technical jargon that I couldn’t understand, but in summary, it was very positive...”

After Lu Cheng and Han Xiaoping entered the operating room, the anesthetist in the emergency surgery room had already put the patient under anesthesia.

This time, Lu Cheng was much more composed than during his first surgery, his operations flowed more freely.

After all, his skill level had improved since then.

[Suturing System Skills: Tendon Suturing Skill (Skilled 2/10) (Skill Points -2), Modified Kessler Suture Technique (Skilled 3/10) (Skill Points -3)]

[Current Remaining Skill Points: 0.9]

Lu Cheng operated skillfully from the main surgical position. After observing for a while, Han Xiaoping concluded that this was beyond his learning scope, so he casually looked around and even started chatting with the circulating nurse...

”Xiao Xue, when are you and your boyfriend getting married?”

”We broke up,” Xue Xue’s voice was cold.

”Broke up? Why?” Han Xiaoping was taken aback.

”Scumbag!~” Xue Xue mumbled, while looking at her phone.

Han Xiaoping: ”Uh...”

Feeling awkward, Han Xiaoping quickly resumed watching the surgery seriously, taking care to assist Lu Cheng with the modified Kessler suturing.

Lu Cheng, unaware of Han Xiaoping’s distraction, continued to meticulously manage the sutures.

After about two minutes, Professor Chen Song’s slightly suspicious voice pierced Lu Cheng’s ear, ”Huh? How did your skill level improve so much since last time?”

Professor Chen Song’s usually flat eyes widened, and the eye slits nearly expanded on their own, with his earlobes almost pulled off.

Even Professor Chen was taken aback by Lu Cheng’s quick improvement.

Lu Cheng looked up and smiled comfortably, ”Teacher Chen, you teach well...”

Lu Cheng wasn’t surprised Professor Chen could gauge his skill level, so he spoke candidly.

While most of the skill advancement was due to skill points, at least 0.1 came from Professor Chen’s guidance.

”Teacher Chen, why are you here?”