The Enhanced Doctor

Chapter 1171: Chapter 1171: Building Patient Confidence

(Thanks to Yangzhong, DRDER, and Good Person for the monthly ticket support)

After Xiao Zhaoqiu finished his meal, the group went to the patient’s ward.

When they came over in the morning, the patient’s emotions had already been a bit unstable. Now that she’d learned there were echinococcal cysts in her brain as well, she completely broke down.

Her family members were almost the same; they didn’t even notice Liu Banxia and the others coming in.

"Let me introduce everyone, this is Director Xiao from our hospital’s Department of Neurosurgery." Liu Banxia raised his voice slightly.

"Not only in our Binhai City, but even across the whole country, he’s one of the top neurosurgeons. He’s here this time to help us solve the problem."

"Director Liu, can we still do surgery? We’re talking about the brain here." The patient’s father said, wiping his tears.

"The surgery is indeed very dangerous, because there’s no such thing as a non‑dangerous neurosurgery." Liu Banxia said.

"But if Director Xiao is the one holding the knife, our odds go up a few points. And there’s another piece of good news: the cyst on the pancreas is a bit smaller than yesterday, which proves that conservative treatment is working."

The patient’s family still stayed silent. For them, it really felt like bad news was coming one after another.

"Pull yourselves together. What’s so scary about getting sick? We cure the disease at its root and everything gets resolved, doesn’t it?" Liu Banxia continued.

"Are you thinking that any brain‑related surgery is basically hopeless? For Director Xiao, this is nothing. He just removed a brain tumor the size of an egg, and came over as soon as he got the news."

"And let me put it this way: even if you search the whole province, only our Director Xiao has successful experience removing cerebral echinococcal cysts. Back then the equipment wasn’t as good as now, and look at how good our equipment is today."

Xu Yino gave him a surprised look, knowing he was trying to build the patient’s confidence. But wasn’t that bragging a bit too much?

If he’d said pigeon egg, she could maybe accept it, but an entire chicken egg? What are duck and goose eggs supposed to think about that? Would a patient like that even have a chance at surgery?

"Really?" The patient’s father perked up a little.

"Could I fake that? Back when we were in the pastoral regions, these parasitic diseases were very common. In recent years, because prevention and control have been effective, there are far fewer patients." Liu Banxia went on.

"For her, it’s basically two surgeries. Director Xiao wouldn’t dare say he can handle it with absolute ease, because echinococcal cysts can rupture on their own."

"But as long as those cysts don’t have a mind of their own, Director Xiao can take care of them. Otherwise, once they become active and rupture spontaneously, I don’t need to spell out what happens."

"Then there’s the surgery I’m in charge of. I won’t hide it from you—I’ll be doing it for the first time. But at the moment I’m promoting NOSES surgery, and that’s quite a project. You can’t even see an incision on the outside."

"I’ve still got patients lining up who don’t want to see a scar on their belly, and I can help them with that. So these two surgeries on her, they just look scary on the surface."

"And we also think her allergic constitution is related to this parasite. Once we remove all the parasites, her life will pretty much return to normal."

"Eating seafood, beef and mutton, egg yolks, living a normal life, getting married, having kids—none of that will be affected."

"Many times, we let the patient decide whether to have surgery, because in most cases where it’s not life‑or‑death, patients can choose for themselves."

"Her situation is different. The cysts in her brain may rupture tomorrow or the day after, or maybe three or five years from now. I can’t hide that from you—no one can predict it."

"Right now she’s like someone carrying a few bombs in her head that could go off at any time. When she’s happy, sad, angry—any big emotional swings, when the brain’s electrical activity ramps up, it can stimulate the cysts."

As he spoke, he kept an eye on the patient. After hearing this, she hurriedly wiped her tears and took a few deep breaths.

Xiao Zhaoqiu gave him an approving look. He had kept silent the whole time because he wanted to see how Liu Banxia would talk to the patient.

He actually wasn’t worried that the patient would give up on treatment. With this kind of disease, at such a good age, no one would choose to give up.

But being forced to accept versus actively facing it—those are different mindsets, and they both affect prognosis.

Even though Liu Banxia was arguably a bit of a sweet‑talker, at least he’d gotten the patient to start thinking. That was already a success.

"All brain‑related surgeries carry a certain risk." Xiao Zhaoqiu spoke up.

"For you, though, the location of those cysts is actually quite decent. We can see them without destroying brain tissue and then suction them out."

"For us neurosurgeons, just like Director Liu said, this is a fairly routine operation. To be frank, what this surgery really comes down to is luck."

"I don’t dare guarantee we can make it absolutely perfect—no one can guarantee that for this kind of operation. The only thing I can promise is that we’ll try our best to make it as perfect as possible. That’s our shared goal."

"Our preliminary plan is to schedule the surgery for the day after tomorrow, the morning of the 27th. If you agree, I intend to make it a teaching operation when we remove the cysts in the brain."

"Cerebral echinococcosis isn’t very common, and I want to give them a solid impression. So that someday, when my hands start to shake and I can’t do such high‑precision surgeries anymore, they won’t be totally in the dark."

"But that’s not mandatory; it depends entirely on how you feel about it. I do recommend you have the surgery. Whether or not we make it a teaching case, this operation has to be done."

"No one can live on carrying these things. You’d be on edge every second, never knowing when something might happen."

"Then... can’t we do it tomorrow?" the patient’s mother asked.

"The day after tomorrow is what we settled on after careful discussion. To be strict, it could actually be done now." Xiao Zhaoqiu said.

"But without enough preoperative preparation—she still has the pancreatic cyst, and there’s inflammation in the pancreas—waiting one more day will let her body get a bit stronger."

"Without a good physical condition and a good mental state, the surgical risk will actually be higher. And after surgery, she’ll need a fairly long time to recover. You need to be psychologically prepared for that."

"That’s basically the situation. Young lady, cheer up. Give yourself a chance, and give us a chance too. Director Liu may look young, but he’s very seasoned when it comes to operating."

"Sigh... Whether we give you the chance or not, the surgery has to be done." The patient’s father sighed.

"Alright then, we’ll leave it at that for now. In a bit, our doctors will explain the general process of the two surgeries to you. I’ve already done more than twenty NOSES operations, all very successful so far." Liu Banxia said with a smile.

After he finished, he walked out with Xiao Zhaoqiu, leaving Xu Yino and the others to do the detailed explanations.

"Director Xiao, I’ll go back and tidy up a bit. I was on call last night." Liu Banxia said.

"Don’t rush off, I’ve got something to discuss with you." Xiao Zhaoqiu said.

"My daughter—can you help me talk to her? Back then I was afraid she’d get mad at me, so I told her she could choose for herself in the future. But lately I feel like she’s really leaning toward cardiothoracic surgery. Do you think you can get her to come to neurosurgery instead?"

Liu Banxia curled his lips. "Director Xiao, you know Yueyue’s temperament better than I do. I can only say I’ll do my best. This matter still needs that punk Ming Yuan to help."

"For Yueyue, we’re all outsiders now. No matter who talks, it might not work. How about this: let her come watch your surgery the day after tomorrow."

"Honestly, when we first start studying medicine, everyone has some expectations for the future. Only as we gradually grow do we really make up our minds."

"Take Xu Yino. At first she wanted to go into cardiac surgery. In the end she stayed in general surgery and felt that general surgery work is actually quite good."

"Sigh... I know Yueyue has a mind of her own. Her mother and I both don’t dare try to talk her into anything—we’re afraid she’ll get mad if we push." Xiao Zhaoqiu said helplessly.

"Anyway, just put in some effort. She’ll come to your emergency center for an internship later on. You can supervise her yourself. She’ll still listen to you."

"Whenever she comes home, she often chats with Dandan and asks about you. She wants to know if you’ve done any impressive operations. Among the new students at the medical school, you’ve got quite a bit of influence."

"Alright, I’ll definitely try my best." Liu Banxia promised.

"But I also feel it’s like going up on stage to operate: you just give it your best, and the rest you leave to fate. Our abilities are limited. What matters most is that she finds the specialty she truly loves."

That was all he could say. Whether Xiao Yue would eventually circle back to neurosurgery, no one could say for sure.

But just as he’d said, there was still plenty of time.

Even he himself had once thought about going into plastic surgery—because that meant money.

He’d actually considered dentistry too, but his scores back then weren’t enough; he didn’t get in.

Dentistry has its advantages—you don’t even need to rely on a hospital to see patients.

After seeing Xiao Zhaoqiu off, he felt a faint twinge of worry.

He’d thought Old Xiao really didn’t care about his daughter’s choice and just wanted her to be happy. Turns out that wasn’t the case; it was only temporary. He still planned to slowly steer her back later.

Maybe all parents think more or less the same way. Especially since Xiao Zhaoqiu had some standing in neurosurgery, he naturally hoped his daughter would inherit his mantle.

On that point, his own father was much more easygoing; he’d never thought about having his son inherit his career. Otherwise, even if he’d still be "Dr. Liu" now, he’d be a veterinarian.

He stretched in a big lazy yawn. From yesterday to today, he was exhausted. He figured he’d just grind it out until the end of his shift, then go home to see his two little treasures.

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