Various necessary medicinal decoctions were being prepared, and the operating room began sterilization.
The room normally used for lectures was serving as the doctor’s office. At this moment, the surgical personnel selected by Qi Yue all stood here, except for Coffin Boy.
Liu Pucheng would handle anesthesia, while A’Ru, Zhang Tong, and Hu San would manage instruments and also serve as second and third assistants. As for the first assistant, only Coffin Boy would do.
This surgery was different from previous ones—a large chest opening would be quite shocking for the disciples. The only one they could trust was Coffin Boy, who was constantly around dead bodies.
“But there’s still one most important problem,” Qi Yue said. “That’s blood transfusion. Although we don’t yet know how much bleeding this chest surgery will involve, blood transfusion is certainly inevitable. I don’t have blood testing strips now, so there’s only one method—autologous blood transfusion.”
“Autologous blood transfusion?” Liu Pucheng asked. “Using one’s own blood for oneself?”
“Exactly. Originally this type of transfusion requires dilution, but extracorporeal circulation blood recovery machines… these things…” Qi Yue said, sighing.
None of these things were available…
“Then we can only take the risk. After opening the chest, I’ll ligate the arteries, let his blood flow back into the circulatory system, then use siphoning to extract internal bleeding and inject it back intravenously…” Qi Yue said, writing and drawing on the blackboard with charcoal. “This way, we might be able to avoid hemorrhagic shock.”
Liu Pucheng and the others didn’t understand this either.
“Little Qi, don’t be afraid. As doctors, as long as we have a clear conscience, we have nothing to fear,” he said with a smile.
Qi Yue nodded.
“Teacher, I’m not afraid,” she also smiled. “I just want to do my best.”
After speaking, she put down the charcoal.
“Teacher, Little Coffin is here. Please explain today’s surgery to him,” she said.
Liu Pucheng nodded and agreed.
“Then everyone prepare,” Qi Yue clapped her hands. “Hu San, come with me. We’re going to find tools.”
When Qi Yue and Hu San rushed out of Qianjin Hall, a carriage was heading toward Yongqing Prefecture.
“Is this really true?” Old Physician An asked with a grave expression.
“Yes, Father. It’s spread all over outside the city, so it must be true,” Young Physician An said, barely concealing his excitement. “That woman has no wifely virtue. The Marquis Dingxi’s mansion should have long ago…”
Before he could finish, Old Physician An picked up his walking stick and struck him.
“Get out! If you’re disrespectful to your grand-master again, I’ll forbid you from practicing medicine!” he scolded sternly.
Grand-master! Although Young Physician An was indignant inside, he knew his father meant what he said about certain things, so he didn’t dare speak and sat outside.
When Coffin Boy hurried over, he met Qi Yue just as she was entering.
“You’re here. Excellent, hurry up. We need to meet and discuss the surgery again,” Qi Yue said directly.
Coffin Boy’s gaze fell on what she held in her hands.
Chisels, saws, iron pliers, iron wire…
“Have everything boiled,” Qi Yue handed all the items to two disciples.
The two disciples took them with pale faces.
In the room, the blackboard covered with writing was still there. Liu Pucheng led Coffin Boy to look at everything one by one. Here, Qi Yue picked up the charcoal again and began explaining.
“…For this surgery, I’m using a median sternotomy approach, cutting through the skin…” she said, marking the chest anatomy diagram. “…sawing through the sternum from top to bottom…”
Hearing this, Hu San and the others couldn’t help but gasp and cover their mouths.
“That… that…” he stammered.
“This approach minimizes damage to the pleural cavity and provides good surgical exposure,” Qi Yue said, ignoring Hu San and continuing her explanation. “Then I’ll explore the mediastinal thymus until I find the hematoma, clear it, and suture the bleeding points…”
Coffin Boy stared intently at her hands and diagrams, his eyes bright with excitement.
Previously he had only seen dead people. Finally, there was a chance to see a living person…
A living person cut open…
This was truly thrilling…
“After eliminating the hematoma, I’ll use wire to fix the sternum. Then I’ll use sub-total layer continuous suturing…” Qi Yue continued, rapidly writing and drawing on the blackboard.
Liu Pucheng and the others held their breath listening. The surgery hadn’t even begun, but just hearing Qi Yue’s explanation made their hair stand on end.
What kind of technique was this? My heavens, where did she learn this!
After explaining everything that needed explaining and giving everyone a basic understanding of the surgery, Qi Yue put down the charcoal and took a deep breath.
“Then, let’s begin,” she said.
“Yes!” Liu Pucheng and the others responded in unison.
As they spoke and left the classroom, heading toward the sterilization room, the patient’s family members squatting in the courtyard saw them.
“Hey, hey!” they immediately shouted loudly, pointing at Coffin Boy. “What is this unlucky person doing here?”
Coffin Boy stopped.
“He’s my assistant,” Qi Yue said. “Whether this surgery succeeds depends entirely on him.”
This statement made the men stare wide-eyed, momentarily unable to react as they watched Qi Yue pull Coffin Boy inside.
“Third Brother,” one man came to his senses and looked at the leader. “Is this going to work? Everything here seems strange.”