Chapter 45: Performing Craniotomy on Lu Cheng

The soldier saluted her with a standard military salute and said respectfully, “Sister-in-law, hello! My name is Xiao Yichen, I am Cheng Ge’s subordinate and brother, I am here to pick you up.

The leaders are very concerned about you and Camp Commander Lu’s situation, they have already arranged a vehicle to take you directly to the hospital.” Lin Yuexi’s heart warmed, and she said gratefully, “Thank you…” Xiao Yichen helped carry her luggage and took Lin Yuexi and her two children to a military vehicle, carefully placing them in the car before driving towards the hospital. When they arrived at the hospital, Lin Yuexi found that Lu Cheng had been transferred to a private ward, the facilities in the ward were complete and clean. Lin Yuexi took Lu Ziyan and Lu Xiyun to go forward.

 Lu Cheng on the bed had his eyes closed, his handsome and resolute face was now bloodless. His head was wrapped in thick bandages, blood was still seeping from the gauze, his legs were lying flat on the bed, it was impossible to tell if he was paralyzed. Lu Ziyan and Lu Xiyun looked at Lu Cheng on the bed, a little at a loss, and asked softly, “Mom, is Dad asleep?” “Yes, your father is just asleep, you just need to call him softly and he will wake up…” As a doctor, Lin Yuexi knew that to wake up a seriously injured and unconscious person, in addition to medication, there must also be family affection.

Lu Ziyan and Lu Xiyun were his blood relatives, as long as they kept calling, plus her acupuncture, Lu Cheng would definitely wake up. Thinking of this, Lin Yuexi asked Xiao Yichen beside her, “Comrade, can you take me to see Lu Cheng’s attending physician…” “Sister-in-law, you can, I’ll take you there now…” Xiao Yichen took Lin Yuexi to the doctor’s office, the attending physician was a middle-aged man with a tired expression but focused eyes, he nodded slightly to Lin Yuexi when he saw her.

Lin Yuexi took a deep breath and asked, “Doctor, I am Lu Cheng’s family member, I want to know about his current condition, how serious is his head injury? And his legs…” The doctor pushed up his glasses and looked at the medical records and said, “Camp Commander Lu suffered a severe head injury, there is intracranial hematoma, he is currently in a coma, as for his legs, there is no obvious fracture, but further observation of the nerve and muscle damage is still needed, there is a risk of subsequent mobility impairment.

 The next 48 hours are crucial, if he can get through it smoothly, the possibility of waking up will increase.” Lin Yuexi’s face became serious, she thought for a moment and said, “Doctor, although I haven’t passed the doctor’s qualification exam, my grandmother practiced medicine for generations, her medical skills were superb, and I also inherited her true skills, I have experience in Chinese acupuncture and clearing intracranial hematoma, can I participate in his follow-up treatment?” Xiao Yichen was very surprised after listening, he had never heard Lu Cheng say that he had two children, and that his wife was proficient in medicine.

If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes and heard it with his own ears, he wouldn’t believe it. Is this really the illiterate village girl that Cheng Ge mentioned, who couldn’t even fart for half a day? The attending physician also looked at her in surprise, hesitated for a moment and said, “This is not in line with the hospital’s routine procedures, but considering Camp Commander Lu’s special situation, if you can guarantee that you will not interfere with normal treatment, I can apply to the higher authorities.” Lin Yuexi quickly thanked him, her eyes revealing determination and hope.

Back in the ward, Lin Yuexi asked Lu Ziyan and Lu Xiyun to sit by the bed, gently held Lu Cheng’s hand, and said softly, “Lu Cheng, the children are here, you must try to wake up, the children are waiting for you to go home together!”

 That night, Xiao Yichen helped Lin Yuexi add two beds in the single room, and also prepared everything she and her children needed for life. Lin Yuexi settled down in Lu Cheng’s ward. Because the application to the higher authorities hadn’t come down yet, Lin Yuexi was afraid of delaying the treatment. When it was late at night and the two little ones were asleep, Lin Yuexi took Lu Cheng into the space and gave him a full examination. The film showed that Lu Cheng’s brain had been hit by a heavy object, there was indeed a lot of intracranial hematoma, if it was not cleared in time, it would not only threaten his life, but even if he woke up, he would likely have serious sequelae.

And Lu Cheng’s two thighs and calves were hit by several bullets, the shrapnel pierced through his bones and injured the leg nerves.

Although the shrapnel had been removed, because the conditions were simple at the time, the subsequent treatment, the dosage of antibiotics was too small, and the anti-inflammatory effect was not achieved in time, which led to his coma again. Lin Yuexi decided not to wait, she would perform craniotomy on him now to clear the hematoma. Anyway, staying in the space for an hour and a half is equivalent to ten minutes outside. Lin Yuexi took a deep breath to calm herself down.

She took out a set of precision surgical instruments that she had already stockpiled from the medical supplies, which she had carefully selected for their high quality, and began the craniotomy. She first injected Lu Cheng with a general anesthetic, then carefully disinfected Lu Cheng’s head with a special solution, then picked up the scalpel, her eyes focused and determined, and gently cut along the pre-designed incision, her movements were cautious and precise, minimizing damage to surrounding tissues. With each cut, her heart tightened, but her hands did not tremble in the slightest.

 As the skull was slowly opened, the accumulated blood clots appeared before her eyes, Lin Yuexi carefully used tweezers and suction to remove the hematoma bit by bit, while closely monitoring Lu Cheng’s vital signs to ensure the safety of the surgical procedure. The process was long and arduous, sweat soaked her back, but she never stopped her movements. After completing the craniotomy, Lin Yuexi quickly shifted her attention to Lu Cheng’s injured legs. She first used acupuncture to stimulate the acupoints on his legs, to dredge the meridians and promote blood circulation, to relieve the pressure on the nerves.

 Then, she used Lingquan water to clean the wounds all over Lu Cheng’s body, and then prepared a special herbal ointment, gently applied it around the wounds to help reduce inflammation and pain, and promote tissue repair. In the space, time seemed to freeze, Lin Yuexi devoted herself wholeheartedly to Lu Cheng’s treatment. She didn’t know how long it had been, but she finally completed all the treatment steps and carefully bandaged Lu Cheng’s wounds.

She sat down tiredly, looked at Lu Cheng, who was still unconscious but seemed to have improved slightly, and silently prayed that this risky treatment would be successful and that he would wake up soon. After resting in the space for a while, Lin Yuexi was afraid that the attending physician would come for rounds at night, so she took Lu Cheng out of the space and placed him back on the bed, pretending to be nonchalant.

Lin Yuexi guessed right, for patients like Lu Cheng who hadn’t escaped the danger of death, the doctor would come for rounds every 20 minutes.