Surgery Godfather
Chapter 1269 - 966: It’s Just Intussusception

Chapter 1269: Chapter 966: It’s Just Intussusception

Yang Ping was quite busy, he returned to his department immediately after seeing Niu Zhixuan—the doctors in the Overseas Chinese Building were arranging a CT scan for Niu Zhixuan.

Niu Zhixuan didn’t expect that eating just one meat bun after his blood test in the morning would cause such a hassle; it definitely wasn’t the bun’s fault. As soon as Yang Ping left, Niu Zhixuan immediately sought out his attending physician, Dr. Feng, to request the results of the blood tests conducted that morning, especially the results for the tumor markers. That stuff was frightening.

Dr. Feng had just finished a busy spell that morning and hadn’t yet had time to refresh the test results, so he immediately pulled up the results on the computer. There were many tests from the blood draw that morning; other results had come in, but the tumor marker results had not. Based on experience, these results usually weren’t available until the following day.

Dr. Feng frowned, "Mr. Niu, the results we have show no problems, but the tumor marker results are not out yet."

"All the other results are out, but not the tumor markers?"

Niu Zhixuan felt a chill in his heart—what if it really was as he had feared?

As someone with a medical background, he understood all too well that typically, when faced with major unusual test outcomes that were still inconclusive, doctors generally choose not to make any announcement until the official printout of the report is out, after discussion, or when they believe the patient is ready to hear it.

For someone like Niu Zhixuan, who was hospitalized alone, the doctors would beat around the bush to get a family member to come over before breaking the news. If they informed the patient rashly, some patients with poor mental resilience could easily cause significant safety incidents. Niu Zhixuan was familiar with hospital protocols—the more he knew, the more anxious he became.

Could it be that there was something wrong with the tumor markers?

The more he thought about it, the more frightened Niu Zhixuan became; his throat felt dry, and his chest felt blocked, causing him great discomfort.

"Dr. Feng, there’s nothing wrong with the tumor markers, right?" Niu Zhixuan asked tentatively.

Dr. Feng shook his head, "Don’t be anxious. Let’s wait for the results. It’s usually nothing. Go back and rest well. Has the abdominal pain lessened? Have you passed gas at all? Don’t eat anything for now, we are going to take you down for the CT soon."

"Mm—in’t passed gas, I haven’t eaten anything since then." Niu Zhixuan shivered uncontrollably.

Yang Ping had returned to the Surgical Research Institute. He had just examined Niu Zhixuan—the patient’s abdomen was overly distended, and intestinal sounds were hyperactive, leading Yang Ping to suspect an intestinal obstruction, likely due to intussusception, hence the desire for a CT scan to ascertain the situation.

Soon, Niu Zhixuan’s CT was complete, and it indeed showed an intestinal intussusception. However, conservative treatment could be tried first, with surgery considered only if that failed. According to the current CT, the success rate for conservative treatment was high.

Intestinal intussusception is when the intestines slide into each other like a retracting telescope—commonly seen in children but rare in adults. In adults, it’s typically secondary, for example, to intestinal tumors and other diseases. However, after reviewing Niu Zhixuan’s CT, Yang Ping found no such issues; it was merely a simple case of intestinal intussusception.

Since Niu Zhixuan was a friend, Yang Ping naturally provided extra attention. He went to the Overseas Chinese Building to see Niu Zhixuan again and took the opportunity to instruct the doctors there on his treatment.

By this time, Niu Zhixuan had lost all color in his face and was lying in bed waiting for the doctors to discuss his results. The moment he saw Yang Ping, Niu Zhixuan immediately grabbed Yang Ping’s hand, "Old Yang, is there a problem with the blood test for tumor markers?"

"Tumor markers? The results of your tests weren’t out when I checked this morning." Yang Ping was unaware of why he was so anxious.

Niu Zhixuan continued, "You brought so many people for rounds this morning, performed physical examinations, and even had an emergency CT scan. How did the CT results turn out? It’s not a tumor, is it?"

Yang Ping suddenly realized what was concerning him, so he replied, "The CT results are out, and there’s no tumor. I had you undergo a CT scan because I suspected you had an intestinal intussusception. Based on the CT scan we just did, it is indeed an intussusception, but it’s not severe. Let’s start with conservative treatment and see how it goes. We can try an enema with contrast under X-ray guidance at the Intervention Department. If the intussusception can be reduced, we may avoid surgery. But if it cannot be reduced, we will have to consider surgery."

"Intussusception?" Niu Zhixuan grew even more anxious.

Intussusception in adults is very rare and usually secondary to pathological changes in the intestinal tract, such as tumors, polyps, diverticula, or developmental abnormalities. Last year’s colonoscopy didn’t reveal any polyps or diverticula—could it be a tumor?

"Given your current condition, let’s not worry about having meals together for now; we can do that later. I’ll have them help you contact the Intervention Department to try expansion," Yang Ping persuaded him.

"Old Yang, there’s no one else here. I’m an open-minded person. Tell me honestly, the CT scan is alright, isn’t it? You didn’t find any space-occupying lesions?" Niu Zhixuan needed to be sure.

Yang Ping explained, "Rest assured, it’s nothing serious. I just reviewed the CT scan. It’s purely an intussusception. Don’t you trust me? Shall I show you the CT scan?"

"I wouldn’t understand it; I’ve only read CT reports before. If you say it’s nothing, then it’s nothing." Niu Zhixuan was somewhat relieved. Everyone here was a doctor, and Yang Ping had no need to hide anything from him. Besides, the doctor hadn’t asked him to inform any family members.

Niu Zhixuan had actually been wanting to talk to Yang Ping for a while, so he took this opportunity to stay in the Overseas Chinese Building, knowing he would definitely encounter Yang Ping because Boss Yunjian had helped him when Niu Zhixuan first resigned from his job.

Boss Yunjian invested in a company that sold children’s health products, and at the time, the company was recruiting experienced pediatricians. After inquiring, Niu Zhixuan found the salary was very good, several times more than what he earned working at the hospital. Therefore, he decisively resigned and joined the company. After working there for a while and acquiring new skills, Niu Zhixuan wanted to start his own business. Boss Yunjian fully supported the idea, providing Niu Zhixuan with a sum of money. Boss He only took a 10% stake, letting Niu Zhixuan venture forth. As it turned out, Niu Zhixuan had a talent for this, and he made the company very successful.

Boss Yunjian was a sharp-sighted individual. His top talent, Director Tang, was aging, and Elder He was on the lookout for a successor. He took notice of Niu Zhixuan and after some time, concluded that Niu Zhixuan was a capable person, suitable for the new era. He assigned Director Tang to mentor Niu Zhixuan, providing careful guidance. After a period of nurturing, Niu Zhixuan grew rapidly and became the backbone of the children’s health product company. Later, when Niu Zhixuan wanted to venture on his own, Elder He didn’t hinder him but instead supported him.

Boss Yunjian had a broad vision. He had long been interested in establishing a connection with Yang Ping, but given their respective positions, cooperation seemed unlikely. Therefore, Elder He planned to use his funds to invest in building a large-scale, top-tier hospital, planning to invest tens of billions.

This hospital would be completely separated from previous messy businesses and be a legitimate, upscale facility. However, such a hospital would require talented individuals and a strong, influential leader. Boss Yunjian thought Yang Ping was the most suitable candidate. He never considered poaching Yang Ping, as it was impossible. Instead, he wanted Yang Ping to join as a name partner through a shareholding arrangement.

He tried to establish cooperation with Cheng Liquan, who did not entertain the idea one bit. Out of options, Elder He resorted to leveraging the private relationship between Niu Zhixuan and Yang Ping to see if he could establish a connection.

Of course, for Niu Zhixuan to seek out Yang Ping and then bring up the matter would seem abrupt, so he needed to create a chance encounter, catch up on old times, maintain contact, and then solidify their relationship. Once that was done, there would be plenty of opportunities to bring up the subject.

It just so happened that Niu Zhixuan had indulged excessively a few days ago and developed acute pancreatitis. He promptly stayed in the Overseas Chinese Building and then looked for an opportunity to connect with Yang Ping, hoping to establish a link. He had thought that given Yang Ping’s current status, Yang Ping wouldn’t even give him the time of day, but to his surprise, Yang Ping didn’t put on airs and still treated him as a good friend.

Niu Zhixuan knew the ins and outs of Boss Yunjian—though not a bad person, his methods of capital accumulation were questionable. But now, he genuinely wanted to invest in building a genuine, large hospital. Whether it was to launder his image or to transition to a legitimate enterprise, helping to bridge this connection wouldn’t bring any harm to Yang Ping. Hence, he was willing to do it.

Of course, Yang Ping had no idea about Niu Zhixuan’s underlying intention; he simply thought of the meeting as a chance encounter and didn’t expect to see Niu Zhixuan, whom he hadn’t seen in two years.

Little did Niu Zhixuan know that an unexpected turn of events would occur during the treatment of his illness.