Famous Among Top Surgeons in the 90s
Chapter 1100: The unveiled wound is bloody.

Chapter 1100: The unveiled wound is bloody.

Therefore, removing the liver tumor was useless, as other tumors had no relation to the original liver tumor and continued to grow on their own. This type of disease is predominantly found in the digestive system. Teacher Zhang soon found that after removing the primary liver tumor, tumors emerged in the duodenum and pancreas, eventually infiltrating the liver and bile ducts again, causing severe ascites. Their anatomical proximity might have led to the initial oversight.

"I reckon the teachers must have felt terrible back then, not daring to contemplate such a possibility, which would mean there might be no cure," Xie Wanying said, "Diagnostic equipment couldn’t possibly detect all extremely small lesions."

In fact, there were doctors who had suspicions in this direction four years ago, especially since the subsequent liver tumors differed in appearance from the original. This was further confirmed after an autopsy was performed.

In regards to whether it was a recurrent or composite cancer for the patient, there had been debates in the past, quite similar to today’s controversy, all centered on whether the fatal tumor indeed originated in the liver. However, most doctors, including President Wu, tended to believe it was a composite cancer.

"Personally, I don’t think it originated in the liver," Xie Wanying voiced a dissenting opinion. Since the evidence was not quite sufficient and it was her own conjecture, she did not include this point in the report provided to Senior Tao and Teacher Lu.

"Teacher Zhang later performed an autopsy, but it didn’t entirely confirm what you’re suggesting," recalled Zhu Huicang, waving his hand dismissively, "You’re correct in your suspicion. However, even if it wasn’t purely primary liver cancer, it’s useless."

This was the consensus after everyone’s discussion at the time.

Hearing this, Xie Wanying couldn’t help but respond with a solemn expression, rebutting, "How can it be useless? The rapid worsening of Teacher Zhang’s condition must be because the primary lesion was neither identified nor removed correctly."

Scary. Song Xueling, standing opposite, was startled by her words, thinking how she dared to voice even more brutal truths. Just look - the room of Guoxie seniors turned deathly quiet.

Clearly, she had opened an old wound. At that moment, it felt like one could see the fresh, bleeding, and deeply ingrained wounds in each person’s heart.

As doctors, failing to save one’s own mentor, who had taught them everything, is incredibly painful. And if there was a past mistake in this regard, the regret is unspeakable and deeply haunting.

Ah. Zhu Huicang held his head in his hands, thinking he should not have argued with her. This argument revealed that she was even more terrifying than his old classmate Cao Yong. The surgical scalpel she wielded was too sharp, pricking everyone’s wounds until they bled.

The ashen-faced expressions confirmed that her words were undeniably true and a matter of fact.

It is extremely rare for a patient to have multiple recurrent metastases within two months post-operation, which implies that they never truly located Teacher Zhang’s primary lesion.

President Wu, among others, was wrong. If they were wrong, it’s difficult to admit initially, for fear that admission means acknowledging their technical incompetence and inability to save their teacher.

Just like the examples Xie Wanying previously mentioned, there are cases of secondary liver cancer where surgeons simply cannot find the primary lesion. For such patients, medicine is helpless.

Medicine must be pragmatic, acknowledging what is possible and what is not. It cannot change simply because of who the patient is.

"You should have included the very statement you just made in the report you wrote," Tan Kelin chided his student.