154: Chapter 154 Living Donor Liver Transplantation, Still an Eighteen-Year-Old Boy
7:00 AM, shift handover.
After Zhao Yaqin arrived, Lu Chen reported the night's situation in detail.
"At 3:00 AM, brown liquid was drawn from the gastric tube, which was judged to be residual old bleeding. By 5:00 AM, it had cleared. Currently, the vital signs are basically stable, but the blood pressure is on the lower side, so albumin has been added."
Zhao Yaqin looked at the monitoring data.
"Has the coagulation function been rechecked?"
"Blood was just drawn for testing at 7:00 AM today; the results are expected at 9:00 AM."
"Alright, we'll see whether to add more Coagulation factors once the results are out."
Zhao Yaqin glanced at Lu Chen.
"You didn't sleep at all last night?"
"I took a nap."
"Go rest for an hour; I'll keep an eye on things during the day."
"No need, I have other patients to handle during the day."
"Lu Chen, even if you're made of iron, you can't push yourself like this. Go sleep for an hour—that's an order."
Lu Chen looked at her.
"Alright, one hour."
He walked into the Duty Room, closed the door, and lay down on the bed.
On the nightstand lay the hand-drawn card Shen Xiaoning had given him before, along with several folded sticky notes.
Lu Chen closed his eyes.
There was still a lot to do today.
Professor Feng was coming for a second round of ward visits in the morning.
The coagulation function results needed to be followed up on.
The patient's hepatic encephalopathy grade needed to be reassessed.
And then, there was that eighteen-year-old boy.
Living Donor Liver Transplantation.
Using a part of his own liver to save his father's life.
The ethical complexity of this matter far exceeded simple medical issues.
For a child who had just reached adulthood, whose physical development wasn't fully complete, what impact would removing a part of his liver have on his long-term health?
When he made this decision, did he truly understand all the risks?
Or was it just an impulsive choice born out of the fear of losing his father?
These weren't questions Lu Chen should be worrying about right now.
There was only one thing he needed to do now.
Let that person live until the day of the surgery.
...
Sixty minutes later, his phone alarm went off.
Lu Chen woke up on time.
He washed his face and returned to the Red Zone.
Shen Xiaoning had already placed breakfast on the table at the Nurse Station.
Today, besides milk and bread, there was an extra portion of porridge and a boiled egg.
The sticky note read: "You were on watch all night; eat a bit more today!"
Lu Chen picked up the porridge and took a sip.
It was warm, just the right temperature to eat.
She had timed it perfectly.
Lu Chen finished breakfast and threw away the eggshell.
Then he walked toward Resuscitation Bed No. 1.
A new day had begun.
Shortly after 9:00 AM, the coagulation function results came out.
PT had dropped from yesterday's 28 seconds to 25 seconds, INR from 2.7 to 2.3, and Fibrinogen had risen from 1.1 to 1.4.
It was a bit better than yesterday.
The plasma and albumin were working.
But it was still far from the normal range.
Professor Feng Yuan arrived at 10:00 AM.
After reviewing the test results, he nodded.
"The direction is correct. Continue the supplementation; the coagulation function is slowly correcting itself."
"Professor Feng, do we still need to add Prothrombin Complex?"
"Not for now. The effect of the plasma is already showing; just continue with the plasma. Keep the Prothrombin Complex in reserve, to be used in case of acute bleeding."
"Alright."
Professor Feng Yuan checked the patient's abdomen again.
"The Ascites is a bit better than yesterday, but there's still quite a lot. Continue with albumin and diuresis."
"Should we increase the dosage of Diuretics?"
"Increase it slightly. Increase Furosemide from 20mg to 40mg, and also add 100mg of oral Spironolactone to counteract Aldosterone."
"Alright."
After finishing the ward rounds, Professor Feng Yuan took another look at Lu Chen before leaving.
"Little Lu."
"Yes?"
"You were guarding this patient all night?"
"Yes."
Professor Feng Yuan adjusted his reading glasses.
"You young man, you remind me of myself when I was young."
"Professor Feng, did you also stay up all night to watch over patients when you were young?"
"More than just staying up all night. Once, the ICU admitted a patient with Severe pancreatitis, and I watched over them for three days and three nights without going home. My wife almost called the police."
Lu Chen smiled slightly.
Professor Feng Yuan smiled as well.
"But then again, I didn't have your level of skill back then. At your age, being able to independently manage such a critically ill patient—I'm afraid you won't find a second one among the Resident Physicians in the entire province."
"Professor Feng, you flatter me."
"It's not flattery; I'm just being realistic."
Professor Feng Yuan left.
At noon, Shen Xiaoning came over carrying a lunch box.
"Dr. Lu! Today I made sweet and sour pork ribs and shrimp fried rice!"
Lu Chen took the lunch box.
"You change the menu every day; aren't you tired?"
"I'm not tired; I like cooking for you."
Lu Chen didn't respond to that and lowered his head to eat.
Shen Xiaoning sat opposite him and looked toward Resuscitation Bed No. 1.
"How is that patient doing?"
"Stable for now."
"Is that boy next to him his son?"
"Yes."
Shen Xiaoning's voice grew softer.
"I saw him sitting on a chair in the hallway just now when I passed by. He kept his head down, and his eyes were red."
Lu Chen didn't say anything.
"Dr. Lu, his father's illness is very serious, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"Can he be cured?"
Lu Chen stopped his chopsticks.
"Whether he can be cured depends on many factors. All I can do now is maintain his physical state at its best."
Shen Xiaoning looked at his expression.
She knew he didn't want to say more.
"Then keep it up; I believe in you."
"Yeah."
After finishing the meal, Shen Xiaoning packed up the lunch box.
Before leaving, she looked back at Lu Chen.
"By the way, Dr. Lu, I took that journal with the thesis back to my dorm and read it once last night."
"Did you understand it?"
"I understood the abstract! There were many technical terms in the main text that I didn't quite understand, but I checked a medical dictionary on my phone and roughly understood about sixty percent."
"Sixty is not bad."
"Mm-hmm! I'll keep learning and strive to understand eighty percent next time!"
Lu Chen looked at her and smiled.
"Alright."
Shen Xiaoning's ears turned a bit red, and she turned and walked away quickly.
...
In the afternoon, Lu Chen continued to monitor the patient in Bed No. 1.
At 2:30 PM, Director Li Sen came by.
"How's the situation?"
"The coagulation function is slowly correcting, there's no progression in hepatic encephalopathy for now, and there hasn't been any re-bleeding."
"Very good. The provincial expert team is expected to arrive next Monday. The pre-operative evaluation for the living donor transplant will begin then. Until then, your task is to maintain stability."
"I know."
Director Li Sen glanced toward Wang Hui again.
"Pay attention to that child's psychological state. Making such a decision at eighteen carries pressure, no matter how firm he is."
"Yes."
"If necessary, involve the Psychology Department."
"Alright."
Shortly after 3:00 PM, an elderly man with acute arrhythmia was wheeled into the Red Zone.
After handling the matters for Bed No. 1, Lu Chen came over to take a look.
He scanned with the [Eye of Truth].
Paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia.
Routine treatment: vagal maneuvers plus intravenous Adenosine. It converted back in thirty seconds.
At 4:00 PM, another trauma patient arrived.
Debridement and Suturing, finished in fifteen minutes.
At 5:00 PM, an old lady came in with chest tightness and shortness of breath.
Upon examination, it was Acute left heart failure and Pulmonary edema.
Sitting position, oxygen therapy, Furosemide, Nitroglycerin, and Morphine.
After treatment, she was transferred to the Cardiology Department.
Routine procedures, smooth and efficient.
Every case was providing him with Experience points.
Although the Experience points from a single routine case weren't many, they added up; by the end of the day, it was a significant gain.