Chapter 18: Anesthesia for Free
Translator: 549690339
In the treatment room, four or five people were sitting there, with Chen Cang and An Yanjun each taking action.
Chen Cang was treating a simple-looking young man in his twenties who couldnât help but ask, âWhat happened here, with so much glass?â
The young man sighed, âWe work at a glass factory. A piece of glass shot out of a machine, hit the wall, and shattered, spraying onto us.â
At this point, the young man smiled with relief, âLuckily I reacted quickly, or the glass would have hit my face, and my face would have definitely been ruined!â
Chen Cang felt a surge of fear!
Was this just a matter of ruining a face?
The human body has too many fragile parts, and one carelessness could cost a lifeâ¦
Thinking of the young manâs light-hearted tone, Chen Cang couldnât help but sigh a few times.
When Chen Cang was disinfecting the wound, the man didnât make a sound, even though itâs very painful for iodine to get into cuts!
Chen Cang curiously asked, âDoesnât it hurt?â
The young man grinned sheepishly, âItâs bearable. Last time I pulled out the glass myself, and that hurt way more! This time it looked too deep, so I didnât dare pull it outâ¦â
Chen Cang was startled, and couldnât help but feel a deep respect for him, realizing that this wasnât the young manâs first time.
âHang in there!â
Chen Cang found some pliers, grasped the glass shard, parted the wound with his left hand, and yanked hard!
Immediately, a glass fragment about two centimeters long came out.
A cut about 4 centimeters long and 2 centimeters deep appeared!
Blood started to flow out slowly at that moment, and Chen Cang quickly began to clean the wound!
He needed to check if there were any small glass shards inside before he could stitch up the wound!
Seeing the man grinning, Chen Cang said, âIâm going to give you some local anesthetic to numb the area.â
Upon hearing this, the young man didnât respond and even looked a bit anxious and hesitant. After a while, he asked with an embarrassed and somewhat apologetic look, âIs anesthesia expensive?â
Chen Cang shook his head, âItâs a free service!â
The young man appeared relieved and laughed, âGive me more then; itâs killing me!â
Chen Cangâs nose tingled for no apparent reason.
People are different; everyone has their own situations in life.
Looking at this young man who was just under twenty, or barely over, yet his leg had dozens of scars.
The anesthesia worked quickly, and the bleeding wasnât very noticeable. After cleaning the wound, the young man smiled and said, âIt really doesnât hurt now.â
Chen Cang nodded, âIâm going to clean the wound for you, there are still some tiny fragments inside.â
Chen Cang flushed the wound with saline using a 10ml syringe and used forceps to remove the debris.
Then, it was time for stitches!
Although the wound looked deep, it hadnât damaged the tendons or major blood vessels, and ordinary stitching would suffice.
There are many methods of stitching, not all of which are meant for skin.
For example, techniques like the interrupted vertical mattress inversion suture are actually for stitching the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines, not for the skin. Others, like the continuous locking suture, are used for closing ends of the gastrointestinal tract, and in skin transplantation; the figure-eight suture, because of its particular strength, is used for suturing fascia.
So, depending on the area of stitching, the choice of suturing method naturally varies.
These so-called methods are like martial arts techniques; in actual stitching, the fancy stuff is not what matters.
Mainly, it depends on the patientâs needs and the location of the stitches, like for this young man, whatâs needed is a good apposition and a quick healing.
Chen Cangâs skin stitching skill was at an intermediate level, which was passable, and he generally didnât have too many problems with stitching, but it became even more effortless for him with the sharpness +1 skill.
Before long, Chen Cang finished stitching.
Chen Cang was preparing to use a foam dressing, but then An Yanjun suddenly suggested, âUse gauze, it heals faster.â
Chen Cang was taken aback. Gauze heals faster?
But⦠after a slight hesitation, Chen Cang quickly understood what he meant.
Gauze is cheaper.
Using forceps, he added a few sterile gauze pads and taped them in place. Thinking of their work, Chen Cang wrapped the tape around the leg twice and said with a smile:
âThat ought to hold it.â
The next step was the other leg. This time, the two of them cooperated much more tacitly, and the process was a lot faster.
By this time, An Yanjun had already finished treating the middle-aged man, removing all four or five pieces of glass from his body and completing the suturing.
Chen Cang couldnât help but marvel at Director Anâs speed and ability.
Another boy, who appeared to be a year or two younger than the previous one, seemed to be aware that anesthesia didnât cost anything, so he moved forward and said in a low voice, âDoctor, give me more anesthetic, itâs killing me.â
The previous young man also joked, âYeah, heâs a wimp, afraid of pain!â
Chen Cang smiled, âGiving too much can cause problems; you canât just administer anesthesia recklessly.â
After saying that, he began suturing.
With each suture, Chen Cangâs understanding of skin suturing improved.
Skin suturing is a delicate matter.
It involves healing speed, inflammatory infection, and scar management.
All three are very important.
After the suturing was done, An Yanjun came over to check, nodded in satisfaction and said, âNot bad!â
These were all basic sutures, so they werenât particularly complex.
Before leaving, the man asked with a smile, âDoctor, how much does it cost?â
An Yanjun furrowed his brows, âHow much for what?â
The manâs eyes widened, âFor the suturing?â
An Yanjun replied, âIâll write you a bill, you can go to the cashier to pay.â
The man responded cheerfully, âAlright, alright!â
With his payment slip, he left; the emergency departmentâs cashier was quite busy.
In line, the man felt uneasy; after all, the saying goes that entering a hospital strips you of a layer of skin. Considering the many stitches, anesthesia, disinfecting, and gauze, how much could it all add up to?
He probably worked for nothing this week!
Thinking of this made him anxious.
The several boys were all from his village; he had brought them out to work and couldnât let them pay.
With this in mind, he checked his Alipay balance.
There was a little over five hundred yuanâ¦
Would that be enough?
He didnât use Huabei, feeling like it encouraged overspending, and he had no money to overspend!
It wasnât long before it was the manâs turn. He handed over his payment slip.
The cashier nurse typed efficiently on the keyboard, and soon the amount was displayed.
The man was apprehensive, as if waiting for a sentence to be passed.
The cashier said, âThirty.â
The man was startled, âHow much?â
The cashier repeated, âThirty yuan! Cash or card?â
The man quickly handed over his phone, âAlipay.â
The cashier scanned it, âOkay, thatâs done. Just give this payment receipt to the doctor and youâre all set.â
The man nodded and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something and turned back to ask, âExcuse me, can you tell me how much it costs to register for an appointment with Director An?â
The cashier answered, âDirector Anâs registration fee is 17.5 yuan. Including the emergency fee, thatâs 27.5 in total.â
The man was taken aback!
He looked at the payment slip in his hand, which had no registration fee listed, just a charge for debridement, and it didnât even include the suturing costs. Moreover⦠they were not just one person!
No fee for registration, no fee for suturingâ¦
Seeing the long queue behind him, the man quickly said to the cashier nurse, âThank you, thank you! I appreciate your help.â
After leaving the cashier, the man couldnât settle down for a long time.
In his mind was the stern-looking Director An who always said âNo!â
The cool on the outside, warm hearted An Yanjun, harsh in words but soft in heart.
ps: Thank you everyone for your rewards and votes. Thank you~~~ Have some anesthesia, dine on an appendix~ Itâs on the house!!!