Chapter 69: Chapter 0067: The Big Boss of the Overseas Chinese Building

After finishing his meal, Yang Ping collected his lunch box. Song Zimo passed by and picked up his lunch box, saying, “I’ll throw it away for you!”

Without further words, he walked straight towards the big bin for collecting lunch boxes.

Even throwing away a lunch box looked cool when he did it, Yang Ping thought.

Wiping his mouth, he continued the surgery.

Another whole day was spent in the operating room.

In the afternoon, after finishing the rounds, Yang Ping took Little Five to the Overseas Chinese Building to see Li Jingshu.

The small splint needed frequent monitoring of blood flow, and the tightness needed timely adjustment.

Her mother was always with her, sitting by the bed, and she had placed a peeled apple on the bedstand’s tray.

Li Jingshu was wearing a coat, sitting on the bed. The moveable desk stretched across the bed, and she was typing one-handed on her laptop.

On seeing the doctor come to check on her, Mrs. Li stood up: “Everything is good, thank you all very much!”

“Sorry for the rush, I have to turn in my manuscript!” Li Jingshu stopped typing. She looked well and no longer had the gloominess she wore before.

“Let me check the blood flow in your fingers,” Yang Ping said.

Li Jingshu carefully extended her arm. The blood flow in her fingers was good, and the tightness of the splint was just right.

“Thank you, Dr. Yang!” Mrs. Li was always polite.

“You’re welcome,” Yang Ping finished examining Li Jingshu’s arm.

He advised them about what they should pay attention to, like observing the blood flow.

Just as he left the ward, he ran into Dr. Yu, who was in charge of the bed. Coincidentally, he was on duty. He was buttoning his white gown while chewing something in his mouth, probably just having a meal.

Dr. Yu was particularly enthusiastic towards Yang Ping this time, accompanying him to the doctor’s office, moving chairs, and pouring water.

News spreads fast in the hospital, Dr. Yu also found out about Yang Ping’s exceptional bone-setting skill. Broken fingers were not common, but it was inevitable that relatives or friends would have fractures due to falls. For instance, fractures of the distal radius, they now knew who to turn to for bone-setting help.

There are surgeons everywhere, but doctors with excellent bone-setting skills, such as Director Kang from the traditional Chinese medicine hospital, were rare. He was a local celebrity, an inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage, and it was not easy to establish connections with him.

When his aunt broke a bone last time, they wanted to have it repositioned at the traditional Chinese medicine hospital. They had asked many friends to help find connections, and in the end, it was a student of Director Kang who did the repositioning.

First, he wanted to get familiar with Yang Ping: “Senior Brother Yang, what should we pay attention to? Could we add each other on WeChat? It would be easier to consult you if anything happens.”

Yang Ping let him scan his WeChat QR code. Doctors in the Overseas Chinese Building are exceptionally good at networking, a tradition that has been handed down.

“Xiao Yang! Come to do the rounds, huh?”

Yang Ping turned around to see Director Zhuang coming in, who hadn’t gotten off work yet.

Yang Ping immediately stood up to greet him.

“Sit, sit! We’re all colleagues here, there’s no need to be so formal!” Director Zhuang pulled a chair and sat down diagonally opposite to Yang Ping.

His gaze naturally swept around and seeing a bottle of mineral water on the desk, he said, “Xiao Yu, make some tea. Why are you letting Dr. Yang drink plain water? There’s excellent Longjing tea on my desk, bring it over. The office door isn’t locked.”

This was certainly no coincidence. Director Zhuang was deliberately waiting in the office for Yang Ping to come to do the rounds, then he would take the opportunity to chat and get closer to him.

Director Zhuang was a shrewd man who saw things more clearly than others. There would be many uses for someone like Yang Ping who had mastered the core bone-setting techniques in the future.

Among the dignitaries he knew, if anyone fractured a bone, other places would require surgery. But here, one phone call: “What surgery? Come here, let someone help you with bone-setting.” It was impressive, and his value would immediately rise several grades.

Director Zhuang on the seventh floor of the Overseas Chinese Building, and Director Kong on the eighth floor, they were both cunning people from Sanbo.

Those like them who had been lurking in the Overseas Chinese Building for years had cultivated their networks with precision and their influence was far beyond that of ordinary directors.

There was a guy in the emergency department, Xiong Sihai, who owned an amusement company. Because of a license issue, they were suspended for rectification. Director Kong just made a phone call, and they resumed business the next day.

It’s said that Director Kong’s brother owned a construction company with not many employees. Their tires had never even touched mud, yet they had villas and luxury cars. Many contractors were lining up to call Kong’s brother their own, all because of his connections!

“Xiao Yang! Your bone-setting skill is hard to find. I have a relative who had a distal radius fracture, and the reduction was not very good. It still hurts now. Could I have your WeChat? I will send you the X-ray film later to get your advice.”

It was hard for Yang Ping to decline, so he took out his mobile phone again, showed his QR code, and Director Zhuang added him immediately.

Making friends with these crafty people is also a good thing. Friendship always brings many possibilities.

In fact, the matter of the distal radius fracture had happened half a year ago. There was no point in looking at the films now. He was just finding an excuse to establish a connection and to have someone to rely on in the future. Although they were in the same hospital, if the person didn’t want to help with bone-setting and refused to give you face, and they just suggested “Surgery!”, you couldn’t do anything.

In one hospital, the relationships could still be closer or more distant.

After a while, it was about time to head home. Director Zhuang knew, “Doctor Yang, you need to get off work. I will not hold you up any longer. Whenever you can, keep in touch. Do look after Mayor Li’s daughter, Dr. Yu.” With that, he leaves.

The nurse on duty comes over to Dr. Yu and mentions, “The patient in bed no. 3 complains of bloating again.”

Yang Ping and Little Five make their exit.

“Could you please help me check on this patient?” Dr. Yu says, “This patient underwent a joint replacement surgery a week ago and has been continuously complaining about abdominal distension since then. The D-dimer values keep increasing instead of decreasing, although the repeated ultrasound examination showed no thrombus in the lower extremity.”

In Dr. Yu’s eyes, Yang Ping is a high-level doctor, despite being in the field of traumatology, specifically major surgery. He could provide some insight.

Yang Ping had to help check the patient when asked, even if it was merely for formality’s sake.

“Let’s check the patient.” Yang Ping says.

Clinical examination, direct questioning, physical examination, interpretation of patient data, these are all necessary.

“Doctor Yang?”

Li Jingshu wearing a coat and carrying her injured arm, knocks softly on the doctor’s office door.

“What can I do for you?” Yang Ping asks.

“Nothing, just… Thank you.” Li Jingshu haltingly speaks.

“No problem, it’s my duty.” Yang Ping says as he prepares to see the patient.

Li Jingshu hasn’t left yet; she stays at the doorway.

“Is there something else?” Yang Ping asks.

Li Jingshu gives a small shake of the head, “No, I just… I wanted to apologize for last time.”

Then she leaves.

Apologize? For what? Yang Ping is left confused.

Yang Ping has no time to ponder.

Dr. Yu leads the way into the ward, knocks thrice and enters; the old man was reading the paper while his caretaker watches muted television.

“Old Zhou, this is our surgeon from orthopedics, you’ve been complaining about bloating, so I’ve asked him to come and take a look.” Dr. Yu says.

“Oh that’s fine, there’s no need to worry. I’m an old man, can’t expect to be as fit as a fiddle. A car that’s been driven for many years will have its squeaks.” Old Zhou says.

Old Zhou lost a leg in the Korean War when it was bombed by the Americans, it’s said that despite having only one leg, he still managed to kill several American soldiers.

“Dr. Yu, remember to take care of what we discussed earlier, help me transfer to a regular ward, I’m not used to this one, it’s too expensive.” In reality, his expenses are fully reimbursed, but he still insists on transferring to a regular ward.

Old Zhou lies in the bed, curls up his legs and lifts his shirt to expose his belly.

He’s quite used to it; several individuals have felt his belly.

Yang Ping listens to Old Zhou’s bowel sounds, then conducts an abdominal examination. As a surgeon with strong basic clinical skills, this is not an issue for him. He begins palpating the abdomen with his finger.

Maybe it’s a benefit of practicing orthopedic manual therapy; he has a sensitive touch. He can clearly feel the liver, spleen, and intestines distinctly beneath his hand.

But there’s an unexpected hardness along the path of the inferior vena cava.

Inferior vena cava thrombosis?

Major orthopedic surgery, abdominal distension and persistent increase of D-dimer score. The history, physical examination, and laboratory findings all point to the same conclusion.

He’s almost certain of the diagnosis!

“Old Zhou, you need to stay in bed and avoid movement,” Yang Ping says as he pulls down Zhou’s shirt.

Heading back to the doctor’s office after washing his hands, Yang Ping says: “It seems to be a case of inferior vena cava thrombosis! You say he’s been bloating for a few days. I estimate that it’s already beyond 24 hours.”

A venous thrombosis, once dislodged can cause a fatal pulmonary embolism, with a horrifying 44% mortality rate.

Orthopedic surgeons dread two things: infection and pulmonary embolism. The former is annoying, while the latter is perilous.

The mere mention of inferior vena cava thrombosis makes Dr. Yu turn pale. This is a significant medical event, he must immediately contact Director Zhuang and report!

Director Zhuang, having not left his office yet, asks: “Inferior vena cava thrombosis?”

Yang Ping says: “I highly suspect it.”

Director Zhuang immediately calls the director of the Cardiovascular Department.

“Strict bed rest, emergency abdominal CT scan plus venography; if confirmed, emergency implantation of an inferior vena cava filter.” Director Zhuang says on the phone while simultaneously giving instructions to Dr. Yu.

“We’ll be taking our leave, okay?” Yang Ping quietly bids farewell to Director Zhuang and Dr. Yu.

They wave him a goodbye, whilst still engaged in their phone calls.