Chapter 1490: Chapter 1115: The Importance of the Garrison Station

    The surgery commenced under this peculiar positioning. With Yang Ping overseeing, Director He felt very assured and decided to take on this world-class operation.

    The graduate student held up the patient’s body, but the head couldn’t be stabilized. The student couldn’t free up their hands to secure the head, so another graduate student was brought in specifically to stabilize it. This way, the patient could maintain a 90-degree left leaning position to minimize the tumor’s compression on the heart as much as possible.

    The student responsible for securing the head was the one who hesitated earlier, yet was brought in by Director He with eyes closed for the task. Had they known there was no escape, why hesitate to make excuses?

    With the help of the two graduate students, the patient’s position was finally secured.

    “Ice cap, bring an ice cap for the patient,” Director He called out standing straight.

    Now he felt a surge of confidence and bravery.

    “For patients that others dare not admit, I, He Xiangjun, will admit; for surgeries others dare not conduct, I, He Xiangjun, will perform.”

    The team didn’t understand why Director He required an ice cap, but they complied. Seeing their confusion, Director He explained his expertise, “During the surgery, there might be insufficient blood supply to the brain. Using an ice cap to lower the temperature of the head reduces the brain’s metabolism, thus lowering its oxygen demand to protect the brain and prevent hypoxic damage. Otherwise, even if the surgery succeeds, the patient may suffer severe brain damage, rendering the operation pointless.”

    “Why exactly does the brain’s blood supply become insufficient during the operation? Consider this your post-op assignment to analyze. Learning requires thinking, and patient conditions demand in-depth research.”

    Director He took the opportunity to present a task to the graduate students. How could one silently complete such a world-class operation without posing some profound questions, especially with so many graduate students gathered – what kind of Department Director would that be?

    With the patient’s positioning problem resolved, the nurse began to open infusion lines for the patient. After observation, the infusion line could only be inserted through a femoral vein puncture. The anesthesiologist used this line to administer blood pressure boosters and cardiac resuscitation medications, striving to maintain stable vital signs during the operation and help the patient survive the surgical period. However, whether this would work, even the anesthesiologist wasn’t certain. Since the doctors decided to proceed as planned, he could only comply and offer his lifetime of learning.

    “Can we call Dr. Liang over for technical support?” the anesthesiologist suddenly suggested to Yang Ping.

    Yang Ping calmly replied, “Dr. Liang is currently busy and can’t step away. This patient’s airway is already secured, and the vital signs are stable for now. Don’t be overly anxious; once the tumor is excised, the pressure will be relieved, and the risk will significantly decrease.”

    For Yang Ping, who had encountered numerous significant surgeries, this was nothing. He had previously performed a brainstem tumor excision on his mentor, Academician Feng Tiancheng. During the operation, the old academician experienced heart arrest several times, yet Yang Ping managed to pull him back from death’s door. Compared to that operation, this one seemed like minor turbulence.

    However, for Director He and the anesthesiologist, this was a tidal wave capable of capsizing the ship at any moment. Director He now had Professor Yang in consultation, while the anesthesiologist was alone, causing his anxious heart to beat frantically.

    Though Director He appeared cheerful on the surface, he felt a bit nervous internally as the operating table began to get sterilized and prepared. Yang Ping was still at the view box examining the patient’s CT scans. A nearby graduate student mimicked his stance, crossing his arms and standing by the view box, concentrating intently and slightly squinting as if studying the complex CT images. For the first time, this graduate student experienced how cool and impressive it felt to stare at CT images in this manner.

    The patient, Xu Songde, male, 30 years old, had been suffering for a year. His tumor had rapidly grown from a small pea-sized mass to a size of 60.1 cm x 54.6 cm x 48.2 cm within a year, an exceedingly rare and rapidly expanding mediastinal giant tumor.

    How large was it exactly? A nearby graduate student measured it with their arms, almost matching the size of a large washbasin, indeed comparable to those in use. The chest cavity’s volume was still small – no wonder so many organs were compressed by it.

    The current illness history documented in the medical record showed this patient had undergone three chemotherapy sessions at other hospitals, none of which were effective. Instead, the tumor grew rapidly after the chemotherapies.

    The enormous tumor exerted significant pressure on the nearby trachea, bronchi, heart, and major vessels. Compression of the trachea resulted in breathing difficulties, and pressure on the heart restricted its beating – both were life-threatening.

    Since the onset of the disease, the patient had to maintain a nearly 90-degree leaning position to barely sustain their heartbeat and breathing. For 24 hours a day, every second had to be spent in this position, leaning the left side against the chair back or bed with piled blankets. Lying down was impossible – once flat, the trachea and bronchi would be compressed, inhibiting oxygen intake and carbon dioxide expulsion. As the pressure limits heart expansion, it risks heart arrest at any time.

    Given this dire situation, surgery was the only treatment option. Surgery was required to relieve or eliminate the tumor’s pressure on the surrounding organs, thereby alleviating or eradicating the present symptoms. Yet, the patient had visited various hospitals, where all doctors told him, “If you undergo surgery, you surely won’t leave the operating table; it means certain death. The colossal tumor lies at the center of the mediastinum in the chest. It has widely invaded and compressed the heart, major blood vessels, trachea, both lungs, left and right main bronchus, and other vital organs. Resection is impossible, and during the operation, these organs could easily be injured, impairing respiratory and cardiac functions, inducing cardiac and respiratory arrest. Even if you risk certain death to have surgery, there’s no suitable position to complete the operation.”