Chapter 206: Unavoidable
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
It would only be normal to want to get treated to avoid illness. Obviously, it would be wrong if you were feeling unwell but didn’t get treated scientifically. The Kuake City city secretary was the type who didn’t believe in normal hospital treatment. Instead, he would eat rehmannia root year-round. It was said that some doctor of traditional Chinese medicine had prescribed that to him.
The city secretary fell to the floor with a loud thud that everyone heard. The person sitting next to him believed that he had to have fallen asleep during the government meeting. This person awkwardly laughed, and said, “Hurry and get up! Chasu City city secretary’s expression is darkening!”
However, there was no reaction, so this person tried to pull up the Kuake City city secretary. He then noticed that the unconscious city secretary had his teeth tightly clenched and a pale expression. Others also noticed that something was wrong.
“Leader! He seems to have fainted!”
“Superintendent Ouyang, hurry and take a look.” The city leader of Chasu City called for Superintendent Ouyang by name. Although she was a hospital superintendent, her government ranking wasn’t that high, so she could only sit in the far back for this meeting. Superintendent Ouyang swiftly walked to the front and saw Secretary Zhao of Kuake City unconscious on the ground.
She immediately felt that something must be wrong. When she touched him, she said, “This is bad! It’s probably a heart attack. There’s no time. Immediately take him to the hospital.” Right after she said this, Superintendent Ouyang began to perform pulmonary resuscitation for Secretary Zhao.
The government leaders who were present for the government meeting were really scared by this sight. Most of them were men who were middle-aged or older. Many of these politicians would have similar health problems. Quite a few of them had scared expressions as they thought about their own condition. The Chasu City city leader’s personal secretary immediately contacted Chasu City Hospital. There was also a personal doctor on duty here, who was immediately called over to assist Superintendent Ouyang.
Heart attacks were also known as myocardial infarctions. Basically, heart attacks would be caused by a blockage in one of the arteries that supplied blood to the heart, which would then lead to the death of a part of the heart muscle from lacking blood and oxygen. The warning signs for a heart attack would be pain behind the sternum or numb pain around your left arm and shoulder. You definitely would need to go to the hospital to check your own condition in such a scenario. Even if you ended up wasting your time and money for the checkup, it would still be critically important!
Heart attacks were incredibly dangerous. They were more common in Europe and America, which was why many hospitals there would give free training sessions on how to treat people who suddenly had heart attacks in public. This was because far too many people in Europe and America would die of heart attacks.
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, China didn’t have very many people who suffered heart attacks. Those who did were usually people with high social status. Over the past decade or so, heart attacks had gradually increased in China.
Heart attacks would be far more common in people who didn’t get very much physical exercise. The primary medical reason behind heart attacks would usually be coronary atherosclerosis, which was a buildup of plaque inside the artery walls. Most of the time, the atherosclerosis would be unstable, and eventually form a blockade. There would be many possible causes of this. The most common cause for ordinary people would be to eat too much, especially too many fatty foods, which would then increase the blood fat and blood viscosity, making it harder for blood to move through the arteries. Other reasons for atherosclerosis included obesity or being overly emotional.
The personal doctor took over the chest compressions for Superintendent Ouyang, who then used her stethoscope to listen to Secretary Zhao’s chest. She heard only dry rales. She then furrowed her eyebrows and turned to Chasu City’s city leader, who was also surnamed Zhao, saying, “It’s a sudden heart attack. A significant part of the heart has died.”
“Just try your best to save him! Little Wang, go notify Secretary Zhao’s family.” City Leader Zhao could only say this. His subordinate had a medical incident during work time, which meant that he would need to take responsibility for his subordinate. He would need to have a reasonable explanation for his own higher-ups as well as Secretary Zhao’s family.
Right after this, some security guards and younger government leaders carried a stretcher over. “You must constantly continue with the chest compressions! The compressions must continue until we reach the hospital!” Superintendent Ouyang told the young men.
A government business van took Secretary Zhao and swiftly drove towards the hospital. The government meeting had to be canceled with such an incident. Chasu City Leader Zhao and Chasu City city secretary, the two highest-ranking leaders of the meeting, had a quick discussion with each other. The Chasu City city secretary then brought a large group of people over to Chasu City Hospital.
Superintendent Ouyang already notified the hospital while still on the way. She first notified the hospital administration department. She then specially called ICU department director Lin Long over. Superintendent Ouyang could tell with just one look that this Secretary Zhao’s life was in grave danger today. That was why she immediately planned on sending Secretary Zhao to the ICU department’s VIP patient room. Sending Secretary Zhao to the regular cardiology department would already be meaningless.
The government meeting was held at a location that was slightly more than 10 minutes away from Chasu City Hospital by car. For most illnesses, 10 minutes wouldn’t be very long, but for a heart attack patient, 10 minutes would mean missing the golden timeframe for treating the patient. This was because reviving the heart after more than 10 minutes had passed would mean that it was no longer possible to perform interventional thrombolysis, which was a procedure using a catheter which could rapidly break up a blood clot and restore blood flow as well as preserve valve function.
Interventional thrombolysis was one of the best and most effective methods to treat heart attacks. However, Secretary Zhao just happened to be someone who hated hospitals and preferred traditional Chinese medicine. Unlike the other government leaders who would get annual checkups at the hospital, Secretary Zhao never went to the hospital, which meant that his medical data wasn’t available. Another few highly precious minutes would have to be wasted as his medical data was determined. Although Secretary Zhao was a highly skilled and capable government leader, and was still fairly young, being in his early 40s, he would no longer have any further chance at promotion due to his own habit of hating regular hospitals, which was now costing him dearly.
Superintendent Ouyang was a cardiology expert. Her diagnosis of Secretary Zhao’s condition was extremely accurate. Since it would take a bit more than 10 minutes to arrive at the hospital, plus nobody else other than her was able to give the patient effective chest compressions, Secretary Zhao would definitely miss the golden timeframe for treating a heart attack.
The government business van directly drove up to the ambulance station for the emergency treatment rooms. Various expert doctors were already waiting there. Superintendent Ouyang would count as being the first treatment doctor.
“Hurry, help and support me.” Superintendent Ouyang was in her early 50s, so her body wasn’t as good as it used to be. Although there were younger men helping to give chest compressions to the patient along the way, Superintendent Ouyang couldn’t help but keep taking over the chest compressions, because she saw that nobody else was capable of performing chest compressions accurately enough. Although it had only been slightly more than 10 minutes to arrive here, Superintendent Ouyang was already completely out of energy as giving chest compressions was heavy physical work that was a bit too much for someone of her age to bear.
She had adamantly persisted in giving as many chest compressions as she could not because the patient was a government leader, but rather because she was a doctor. Although she was the hospital superintendent, she was also a doctor first and foremost!
As the patient was lifted off the van on a stretcher, the emergency department head nurse supported Superintendent Ouyang off the van.
“It’s a sudden heart attack. Deal with it immediately!” Although Superintendent Ouyang was completely out of energy, reaching the point where she could only stand with the head nurse’s support, her first words were still about the patient’s condition.
That was all she needed to say. Everyone else was quite experienced, and knew what they should do without needing to be told. The doctors began their tense yet orderly work on saving the patient.
However, too much time had passed before the patient had been able to arrive at the hospital. Additionally, those other than Superintendent Ouyang had been unable to give the patient effective and standardized chest compressions. Only Superintendent Ouyang’s chest compressions had been effective. The others’ chest compressions had been completely useless. This was bad news for the patient.
The patient was placed on a respirator as his vein channels were opened. His state of shock was improved, but he now suffered an even more severe injury. The heart attack had led to a lack of blood and oxygen in the brain, which had caused a cerebral infarction, which was death of tissue in the brain due to lack of oxygen.
The brain was an organ which was highly sensitive to lacking blood and oxygen. Just a few minutes of lacking blood and oxygen would cause permanent and irreversible damage.
Kuake City CPC’s leader also arrived some time afterwards. “What’s Secretary Zhao Xiangdong’s current condition?” he inquired.
“He suffered a heart attack, which then subsequently led to brain damage. He’s in extremely bad condition. There’s also a very poor chance of him recovering,” answered Superintendent Ouyang. She had recovered slightly by now, but was still rather weak.
“Do your very best to save him. Zhao Xiangdong must have been tired from too much work! We absolutely have to do everything we can to save such an excellent coworker of ours, no matter the price!” The Kuake City CPC leader was saying this because he had to express such an attitude.
Secretary Zhao’s family also arrived. His family was rather ordinary, so it was quite amazing for them to have managed to produce a small city’s government leader. It could be said that Zhao Xiangdong was the hope of his entire family. All sorts of his friends and relatives immediately heard the news of his heart attack and swarmed the hospital.
Zhao Xiangdong’s wife was an employee of Kuake City’s Bureau of Health. She was at work, but she immediately rushed over when she heard the news. She collapsed when she saw that her husband was hospitalized with many tubes stuck in him.
“Old Zhao! What happened to you!?” Tears poured out unstoppably from her eyes as she kneeled by Secretary Zhao’s bedside. Nobody was able to stop her as she cried.
Zhao Xiangdong’s parents also arrived. They both had white hair already. Their hands trembled as they touched their son’s face, while tears dripped down from their eyes.
“Comrade Zhao Xiangdong is an excellent government employee. We will definitely do our very best to save him. Right now, we shouldn’t get in the way of the doctors’ work,” said the Chasu City city secretary.
“Secretary! You must help me! You must save Old Zhao!” Secretary Zhao’s wife woke up slightly and turned to hug the other city secretary’s leg.
“Rest assured, we’ll definitely do our best to save him.” The city secretary couldn’t really say anything else. The others around him hurriedly helped support Secretary Zhao’s wife to stand up again.
“If Chasu City Hospital’s medical level isn’t high enough, then invite expert doctors. Invite the most famous expert doctors of all. Please notify me if there’s any difficulties. I can invite them officially through the government. We must treat our government comrade well for everyone’s sake!” the Chasu City city secretary said with strong emphasis to Superintendent Ouyang.
“Understood.”
Zhao Xiangdong was placed in the ICU department’s VIP room. He was now in a deep coma. His life was only being supported by a respirator and all sorts of medications along with a nutrient IV drip. Deproteinized calf blood extract, edaravone, albumin, and all sorts of expensive medicine were constantly being injected into his body.
There were so many people waiting on news of Secretary Zhao’s condition in the ICU department that they filled two entire floors. This was a total of more than 100 people. They were all Zhao Xiangdong’s relatives and friends. By noon, even more people had arrived to see him as many government employees from Kuake City had also come to visit him.
These government people were all trying to find out information on Zhao Xiangdong’s condition for the sake of their own opportunities. They constantly used what connections they could to try and learn about Secretary Zhao’s condition. Although Chasu City Leader Zhao had ordered Superintendent Ouyang to enact a gag order, it would be impossible to keep such a thing quiet.
In just three short days, the huge crowds instantly disappeared. After the 100-plus people waited around for three days, most of them were able to get the news about Secretary Zhao’s condition that they wanted. Now, only Secretary Zhao’s closest relatives remained at the hospital. They were the only ones who were truly heartbroken about his condition.
Superintendent Ouyang was commanded by her government bosses to hire expert doctors from the biggest hospitals to come over and treat Secretary Zhao. For government leaders who were in severe condition, even having the local hospital try their best or the government’s support would no longer be as important. The most important thing would be having enough money to hire only the best doctors.
The average cost for hiring a professor-level doctor would be 40,000 yuan. Connections would also be required in order to hire such a doctor. Chasu City Hospital hired expert doctors from all over China, north and south. Countless expert doctors who specialized in either the brain or the heart were invited over to treat Secretary Zhao. However, Secretary Zhao’s condition was so severe that not a single doctor was able to help him. Still, everyone had to go through the motions.
One week passed. Secretary Zhao’s family’s emotions went from hopeful, to despairing, to calm. Only they would understand the sourness that they were feeling now. They no longer tried to hope that Secretary Zhao would be able to maintain his government position. It would be considered extremely lucky already if he was even able to wake up again.
The two-week mark arrived. More than 700,000 yuan in medical fees had already been spent for Secretary Zhao’s sake now. Countless expert doctors had been hired to come over and treat him to no avail. The medical reports that all the doctors wrote added up to be even thicker than a medical textbook. Yet, all of these medical reports were basically useless. Zhao Xiangdong remained comatose, with his life only supported by the respirator.
One month passed. More than 1,000,000 yuan had now been spent in medical fees for Secretary Zhao’s sake, yet there was still no effect. Even though there were so many people coming to visit Secretary Zhao at first, nobody was coming now other than his closest family members.
Chasu City Hospital had tried its very best, doing everything that they possibly could. However, there was still no hope in sight for Secretary Zhao to recover.
A leader from Chasu City CPC arrived to discuss matters with Secretary Zhao’s family. In the end, his family chose to give up on Secretary Zhao’s treatment. Too much money had been spent already. Even with calculating all the medical checkup, equipment, and care fees, just hiring so many expert doctors to come over would be a tremendous amount. Additionally, more and more negative side effects were starting to appear in Secretary Zhao’s body, meaning that more and more medicine was required to treat him as well. Chasu City CPC also chose to give up on him.
Secretary Zhao’s family accepted a compromise. Secretary Zhao’s son who was still currently in college would be assured a government position after graduation.
On the day that Secretary Zhao’s life support was cut off, there were no crowds at all, unlike when Secretary Zhao was hospitalized. Only the doctors and Secretary Zhao’s close family were by his side.
Zhang Fan was also present. Cutting off life support would cause endless pain for the patient’s family. Cutting off life support would also test the doctor’s personality. Originally, Secretary Zhao had a rather squarish face, but after being comatose for a full month, his face had shrunk and become round, with very protruding cheekbones and a pointy chin.
“Xiangdong! Please have a safe trip to the next world. You’ll no longer have to suffer here. My Xiangdong!” Zhao Xiangdong’s wife kept crying as she made the final preparations for Zhao Xiangdong to be removed from life support. She wiped clean his broken-down body. The ICU doctors and nurses silently watched.
“Doctors, please begin!”
“Doctor Zhang, you do it!” Director Lin told Zhang Fan.
Zhang Fan was here today because it was his turn to be on a work shift. Zhang Fan slowly walked over to the patient Zhao Xiangdong’s side and reached towards the respirator. At this moment, Zhao Xiangdong’s wife suddenly grabbed Zhang Fan’s hand. “Doctor, is there truly no more chance?”
Over the past month, this previously beautiful woman seemed like she had aged by 10 years. Her tears were now dry because she had cried far too much!
“I’m sorry!” Zhang Fan answered in a small voice.
Zhao Xiangdong’s wife let go of Zhang Fan’s hand and stared rather dazedly at Zhao Xiangdong, her husband!
When Zhang Fan removed the respirator, he saw some tears. Tears were slowly dripping down from Zhao Xiangdong’s eyes!
Zhang Fan had quit smoking for quite some time already. Yet, for once, he asked for a cigarette from Lin Long in the latter’s director’s office.
“What’s the matter? Are you feeling bad about what happened?” Lin Long inquired.
“That’s not exactly it. I just feel like I’m really, really helpless,” Zhang Fan said rather dejectedly.
“Everything for you has been going too well. You haven’t experienced enough yet. Just look at the other rotation doctors. None of them will feel as sad as you do. Do you know why?” asked Director Lin.
Zhang Fan shook his head.
“It’s because they all already understand how cruel the job of doctor can be. The tremendous pressure they’re under has caused them to no longer be able to pity others. In the past, nobody was willing to join the ICU department, but now, everyone wants to come here. This is all because of work pressure. However, things have been different for you. You’ve achieved so much incredible success at this hospital. I don’t know whether it’s a good or bad thing for you to still feel pity for patients. However, I do know that your attitude is quite precious,” Director Lin exclaimed.
“Then should I pity or not pity the patients?” Zhang Fan asked.
“You should maintain your true self,” Director Lin answered.
This would only be a minor episode in Zhang Fan’s life and part of his regular work at the hospital. Life and work would still continue onward without stopping.
Wang Yongyong came over to visit. His recovery after knee surgery had gone quite well. He had already rested for more than two months, and no longer felt any pain. His advertisements were now being shown all over the border province. Even though he had never been famous as a professional basketball player, he had now achieved fame due to his knee surgery.
Many of his former teammates suddenly contacted him. “Old Wang, you’re incredible. You’re even being shown on television. How is it, was that surgery actually reliable or not?”
“Would I dare to participate in such an advertisement if it wasn’t reliable? Am I that sort of person? If you don’t believe it, just come visit me and watch me perform a shuttle run for you.”
“It really is effective?”
“Yes!”
Ma Wentao had chosen quite correctly when he waived Wang Yongyong’s surgery fee in exchange for Wang Yongyong participating for free in advertisements for him!