Chapter 212 - 0200: Memories in the Heart

“Do you know why I faint at the sight of blood?”

Song Zimo sat down.

Yang Ping was very willing to listen to his story. Because usually, he was always cold and proud, there must be an unknown story in his heart.

No matter how you looked at Song Zimo, he didn’t seem to have the constitution of someone who was naturally prone to fainting at the sight of blood. With such a high talent, he had the stubborn symptom of fainting at the sight of blood. Fortunately, he overcame it with his tenacious will. Otherwise, the world would have lost an excellent surgeon.

Song Zimo thought for a long time, seeming to need to muster up the courage to say, “When I was young, my mother had a car accident right beside me. A runaway car hit head-on, and in that instant, my mother instinctively pushed me away, but fell herself into a pool of blood.”

“At that time, I was scared stupid, didn’t know what to do, just cried loudly. No one helped me. I cradled my mother in my arms, blood was everywhere, her whole body was covered in blood, her clothes had been soaked through by the blood,

my hands were also covered in blood, I didn’t know where the blood came from, I just held her tightly.”

“I remember that time, she was still alive, looking at me, unable to speak, I could feel her heartbeat and her respirations, but slowly, she closed her eyes in my arms, her heartbeat and respirations also stopped, her hand was frigid.” Song Zimo’s eyes moistened up, and his voice turned hoarse, as he began to sob.

“How old were you then?”

“Five!”

“A long time later, the ambulance arrived, but she never woke up again!” Song Zimo hung his head, held his face in his hands, buried it in his knees, and sobbed softly.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know–” Yang Ping had no idea his story was so sad and had unintentionally touched on his most painful memory.

Song Zimo sobbed for a long while before he could speak normally, “It’s okay. After that, every time I see blood, I would feel dizzy, my head spinning, and in severe cases, I would lose consciousness.”

“The first day of my clinical internship, I fainted on the spot while watching a patient with a severe hand injury change bandages. The bandages were all bloody, and everyone was busy rescuing me.”

“The news soon spread, and my mentor advised me to give up surgery, but I refused. Later, I saw a psychiatrist who said that for such a stubborn fear of blood, desensitization therapy was the only way. But the doctor also said that desensitization therapy was extremely painful, with only a very slim chance of success.”

“But you still succeeded, you’re okay now, right?” Yang Ping admired his determination.

Song Zimo shook his head: “It took me a year to face the sight of fresh blood. Since then, I have been completely normal and have completely adapted to blood.”

“How did your mentor agree to keep you then?” Yang Ping was curious. How could an Orthopedics mentor want a student who faints at the sight of blood?

“How could my mentor want me? Who would want a student who faints at the sight of blood and faints every now and then. Every time they have to go and rescue you, how can they perform surgery.”

“I was on an eight-year program at Fudan University. My specialty could be adjusted at the end. My mentor seriously proposed to the school to move me to internal medicine.”

“By chance, I met Director Han. At that time, his master and PhD supervisor were still at Fudan, he was coming to Fudan to teach graduate students. He heard about my situation, found me and talked for a full three hours.”

“In the end, he accepted me. Orthopedics at Sanbo Hospital wasn’t as good as it is now, he secretly sent me to Mo Sixth for internship. I completed my clinical course at Mo Sixth, when I entered Mo Sixth, I received special care, for the first year, I didn’t have to do anything, practiced desensitization therapy in the Trauma Emergency Center, facing bloody scenes every day–” Song Zimo spoke quickly, all of it at once.

“I wondered why you, a Fudan student, were at Mo Sixth. So you are also Director Han’s student?” Yang Ping asked.

“Yes! Just like that, by chance, I became Director Han’s student.” Song Zimo said.

“Because of this, you didn’t stay at Huashan, nor did you stay at Mo Sixth? You came to Sanbo.” Yang Ping knew that everything that followed was logical.

“Yes! I graduated, had lots of choices, but didn’t go anywhere, I came to Sanbo. Many people couldn’t understand.” Song Zimo took a deep breath.

“Tell me about you, didn’t you get fired from the City People’s Hospital? I was surprised, with your skill level, the hospital should’ve tried to keep you, why’d they fire you?” Song Zimo changed the subject.

“I overstepped my authority and performed a surgery, violating the hospital’s rules, naturally, I was fired. Just like your fainting condition, not every mentor has patience; my overstepping, not every senior doctor can tolerate.” Yang Ping was also very frank.

“Oh! Was the patient saved?”

“He was saved, so, even if I was dismissed, it was worth it.”

“When you were interviewed, if Director Han hadn’t intervened, you wouldn’t have had a chance to join Orthopedics. I remember very clearly, the Human Resources Department made a mistake and included your interview form. Orthopedics wasn’t hiring masters degree holders at that time. You were shuffled to interview for the Emergency Department, it was Director Han who retained you. In this sense, you were also taken in by him!” Song Zimo laughed.

“Yes, we were all found and taken in by him.” Yang Ping also joined in the laughter.

“Back then, if I was like I am now, a surgeon, Mom could surely have survived.” Song Zimo turned to look out the window.

The two fell silent for a long time before Yang Ping comforted him, “She would be relieved! Believe in yourself, you can definitely become the best surgeon. You have more talent and work harder than others!”

“Thank you!” Song Zimo pulled his gaze back from the window.

“Recently, you’ve mastered one-handed suturing. In trauma surgery, the speed of operation is especially important because the two main causes of early death in trauma patients are massive blood loss and loss of vital organ function. If bleeding can be stopped and blood supply replenished in a short time, a life can be saved.”

“The second cause is the loss of vital organ function, such as serious brain damage. Similarly, if the organ is not completely destroyed and it’s just threatened by compression or displacement, the threat can be eliminated in a short time and the patient can be saved.”

“Takahashi is right, the mortality rate of trauma can be reduced infinitely. As rescue techniques and surgical techniques advance, the mortality rate will continue to decline. In the future, except for instant deaths, maybe all can be saved. Looking further ahead, perhaps deaths caused by trauma within a certain time can also be reversed, life can be rebooted like a computer.”

The two got along well, Yang Ping said a lot more as he continued.

“You must be extremely proficient in anatomy, especially vascular anatomy. This will equip you to deal with massive blood loss, knowing which part is injured and which blood vessels are bleeding, the speed of bleeding, whether there is recoil, where the broken end is currently.”

“Once you get to work, you need to be able to locate and treat it instantaneously. This is a skill that a brilliant trauma surgeon must master.”

“Apart from this continuous cross-back-and-forth suture with one hand, there is also a special intermittent suture, which can be done by one person, stitching one stitch and tying one knot, but not cutting the thread, and can continue to suture afterwards. This suture method is more difficult to master than the previous one, but the effect is better, and the suture is more secure.”

“Can you teach me? Where did you learn it?” Song Zimo was very interested.

“I learned from shoulder arthroscopy surgery!” Yang Ping told him.

“Did you invent it?”

“Just a small skill!”

Yang Ping showed Song Zimo this suture method. It involves leaving a long tail thread, and after each suture, using the left hand to wrap the tail thread with the main thread in a specific way, so that the tail thread and the main thread form a knot that can slide. The main thread pulls the knot to an appropriate position, then locks it. The main thread continues to suture.

Anyone who has done a shoulder arthroscopy knows that grappling with dozens of knots i.e. hanging threads, gathering sail knots, Weston knots, SMC knots, Roeder knots, Duncan loops, are first-learned skills. Perhaps only shoulder arthroscopists elevate knot tying to a discipline in itself.

Yang Ping was inspired by these knots and invented this method for emergency single-person suturing. Without the need for an assistant or cutting the thread, one can stitch a knot and achieve the effect of intermittent suturing at the speed of continuous suturing.

This suturing method is somewhat more difficult than Fujiwara’s, but each knot is independent, and the advantages are very obvious. If a knot breaks in Fujiwara’s stitch, the whole wound will burst open; whereas if a knot breaks in Yang Ping’s stitch, it does not affect the other knots. Each knot is independent.

Operating alone is very important in trauma surgery because sometimes in a sea of blood, the Chief Surgeon can rely on his/her skilled anatomical knowledge and surgical skills to know what is beneath their hands, or to grasp a moment of clarity in the surgical field to complete the operation. But the assistant can’t. When the assistant can’t keep up, solo operation becomes very important.

It was already past midnight, but the two of them were still in the training room discussing the issues of suturing and knotting. They had planned to wrap up and go home, but when Yang Ping started talking about this peculiar suturing method, Song Zimo got excited again.

“Let’s research this suturing method tomorrow, an outstanding surgeon should be good at resting, good at protecting their own health, otherwise, what can you use to save the patient?” Yang Ping put a stop to Song Zimo’s plan to stay up late.

The two of them picked up their bags: Yang Ping went home, whilst Song Zimo returned to his Department for rest.

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