Chapter 1426: Chapter 568: The Importance of Befriending Leaders, Feeling the Weight on My Shoulders (Part 2)

"Oh, it’s you!"

Zhang Qilian’s wife was keeping watch at the side of the ward. When she saw Zhou Can enter, a friendly smile immediately appeared on her face, and she stood up to show her respect for him.

In an advanced ward, there are in fact nurses and caregivers on duty around the clock.

If the patient’s condition is stable, family members don’t have to stay by the bedside all the time.

Of course, the fees here are also much higher.

Patients who stay here can basically get more than 90% of the costs reimbursed, so they don’t really care about the money. Even if one hospitalization costs a hundred thousand, they themselves pay at most ten thousand.

It may even all be reimbursed.

"Hello! I just finished rounds and came over to check on your husband. Has he urinated?"

With one glance, Zhou Can could see that Zhang Qilian had already woken up.

But his complexion was still very bad.

A bit ashen.

The sequelae of myocardial infarction are terrifying. Even with meticulous care, it’s impossible to return to the previous state.

If it were an intestinal surgery, the doctor would also ask whether the patient had passed gas.

Meaning, whether he had farted.

Because if a patient farts after surgery, it basically means the intestines are peristalsing normally and are unobstructed.

For patients undergoing intestinal surgery, they need to fast beforehand, and at that time the intestines are in an emptied state. After surgery they cannot eat immediately.

From eating to forming stool and excreting it takes at fastest about ten hours.

There are also patients with strong "consumption capacity" whose bowel movement time is even shorter.

Relatively speaking, the elderly have weaker digestion, so the time from eating to defecation is longer.

"He has urinated twice. After the nurse and the attending doctor checked, they both said the situation looked pretty good."

"Did any doctors do morning rounds?"

"Director Ling from Cardiology already came with his team."

"Did anyone auscultate his heart sounds?"

"Yes. Director Ling personally auscultated him and said he should stay in the hospital for two days first for observation. From Director Ling’s expression, my husband’s condition probably isn’t that ideal."

Zhang Qilian’s wife was clearly highly educated. When she answered Zhou Can’s questions, her logic was clear and she always responded right to the point.

And her attitude toward Zhou Can remained friendly and respectful throughout.

She did not look down on him at all because he was young.

"You don’t need to be too worried. Let nature take its course. For the moment, his coronary vessels are open; it’s just that a portion of the myocardium, because of prolonged ischemia, may already have undergone necrosis. You must stay alert about this. If the area of necrosis is too large, surgery may be needed."

Zhou Can gave her some appropriate suggestions.

The goal was to have the family be more vigilant and keep a close eye on any changes in the patient.

Because even in an advanced ward, nurses can’t possibly stay inside the room twenty‑four hours a day. Also, nurses here work in two shifts; some omissions at handover are normal.

"Thank you for telling me this. Director Ling said pretty much the same thing. The doctors at Tuya Hospital are not only technically skilled but also particularly responsible toward patients. I’m really moved. If only I had sent my husband over earlier."

She thought of how, after her husband fell ill, too much time had been wasted at the Third Hospital, which led to the serious consequences now. She was certainly feeling some regret and self‑blame.

This really is a case of reaping what you sow.

Zhang Qilian had spent a fortune bringing in a Japanese cardiac surgery expert, but because that doctor’s skills weren’t as great as imagined, many people were harmed.

Now he himself had fallen ill, and it served him right to suffer once.

Keeping his life was already considered good.

"You don’t have to blame yourself too much. What’s done is done; just do your best to solve the problem. As long as we’ve managed to save him, that’s a blessing in misfortune."

Zhou Can comforted her.

"I’ll come by again tomorrow. While you’re on watch, if you notice any obvious changes in his breathing, heart rate, blood pressure or other readings, you must press the call button and alert the medical staff right away. From my clinical experience, his critical danger period should be between thirty‑six and seventy‑two hours post‑op."

After a myocardial infarction, even if the blood vessel is reopened, there is still a so‑called "malignant attack period" in medical terms.

It can also be called the tissue necrosis period.

It can occur as early as within twenty‑four hours after surgery, but in most cases obvious symptoms don’t appear until after thirty‑six hours.

When performing surgery on Zhang Qilian yesterday, Zhou Can didn’t have an especially strong feeling about this.

Because at that time the myocardial infarction had not occurred very long ago.

Moreover, if most of the myocardium has only undergone transient ischemia, once the vessel is urgently reopened and blood flow restored, it may be alleviated and recover.

"Okay, thank you!"

The family member thanked Zhou Can again.

"Good‑bye!"

Zhou Can waved and walked out of the ward.

Lying on the hospital bed, Zhang Qilian kept his eyes closed.

Unless he was pretending to sleep, he must have recognized Zhou Can’s voice. It was just that he had recently schemed to drag Zhou Can into court, so he definitely had no face to meet him.

...

Toward evening, at the end of the workday, Zhou Can received a call from Director Tan of the Department of Internal Medicine.

Normally, Director Tan rarely called him.

"Xiao Zhou, are you working overtime tonight?"

"Cardiothoracic Surgery has two operations they want me to help with."

The two of them had always had a good personal relationship, so their conversation was quite straightforward.

"Is your wife bringing you dinner today?"

"You even know about that!"

Zhou Can couldn’t help smiling.

"Hehe, you and your girlfriend showing off your love has long been an open secret in our hospital. Many young people are learning from you two. If a man wants to be steady, he not only has to work hard in his career, he also has to take good care of his family. Only when the little family is stable can you have the mind to focus on your career."

Director Tan was surprisingly approving of him and his girlfriend displaying their affection.

A successful man really needs a stable marriage.

Only in that way can he appear steady and responsible in the public eye.

This is also a prerequisite for competing for many leadership positions.

"I’m guessing you must have something to discuss with me. I’ll come find you after dinner, okay?"

Zhou Can knew Director Tan too well.

"Haha, sure, sure, I’ll wait for you in my office. I was thinking, if your wife wasn’t bringing you dinner today, I’d take you out to eat and talk about some things by the way."

Director Tan said with a hearty laugh.

"No problem, I’ll be there in about forty minutes. Eating doesn’t take me more than a few minutes; it’s rounds in the ER that take longer."

Zhou Can explained.

"As an internist, I have to warn you: you need to chew slowly and eat carefully. Eating too fast will cause some harm to your body. No matter how busy you are, your health has to come first."

This was heartfelt concern from Director Tan.

Many people, because they’re too busy at work, simply don’t have much time to spend on eating. Sometimes when they get busy, they can’t even manage a meal.

Doing that is very harmful to the body.

Yet often there’s no way around it.

"Okay, I’ll definitely remember your teaching."

Zhou Can agreed.

"You can’t just say you remember but not put it into practice! I think very highly of you, young man. The greater a person’s ability, the heavier the burden on his shoulders. Do you know? You no longer simply represent yourself; you represent the strongest hope of the younger generation at Tuya Hospital. Tuya Hospital is rich in talent, with rising stars in every department, but you are the most special among them. Many of us old comrades are placing great hopes on you. We hope that one day, you can lead Tuya Hospital to an even higher level."

These heartfelt words from Director Tan really left Zhou Can somewhat flattered and overwhelmed.

As far as he was concerned, all he thought about was constantly improving his medical skills and curing as many patients as possible.

He had never imagined that the burden on his shoulders was already so heavy.

It’s like many men in their thirties. In their twenties they still felt like they were just kids, with their childlike hearts not yet gone. As long as one person is full, the whole family isn’t hungry. But after they get married and have children, and suddenly find themselves in their thirties, they realize that all the weight has come to rest on their shoulders.

With children below and elderly above, there is simply no way to live as carefree as a twenty‑something anymore.