Surgeons Episode 1 Recap
> Surgeons Recap
In 1984, in Jialin City, a young boy held his sister's hand, heading towards Renhe Hospital where their mother worked. They were stopped by Xiu Min Qi, the Director of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery. Nurse Zhang Shu Mei was tearfully pleading with Director Xiu, insisting she could not have made a mistake and did not inject penicillin. She explained she could have only injected lidocaine and begged him to investigate further.
However, Director Xiu dismissed her, stating that patient Lu Zhong He was allergic to penicillin and was currently undergoing emergency treatment. A nurse then reported that Lu Zhong He had died despite resuscitation efforts. Zhang Shu Mei collapsed in shock. Director Xiu, sighing deeply, instructed security to take Nurse Zhang Shu Mei home to calm down, assuring her that as a revolutionary martyr's family member, she would not be fired, and the matter would be investigated.
The little girl cried for her mother, while the young boy, Zhang Shu Mei's son, watched silently, his eyes holding a profound sadness as he looked at resident doctor Fu Bo Wen, who was the chief surgeon. In 2016, in Los Angeles, USA, a man named Owen Zhuang, the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at California University, woke up to the morning sun.
A foreign man, seemingly a friend or relative, urged him to hurry for his flight back to China, to which Owen responded that he was showering. Owen Zhuang, with his damp hair falling around his ears, possessed a striking, calm handsomeness. Meanwhile, in Jialin City, China, at the modern Renhe Hospital, Dr. Lu Chen Xi, an attending physician in Cardiothoracic Surgery, was asleep on a sofa after a long shift.
A nurse rushed in, informing her that Dr. Chen from the emergency room needed her help. Lu Chen Xi was surprised, noting that it wasn't Chen Shao Cong's shift. Outside the emergency room, Chen Shao Cong, an attending physician, was heavily drunk and making a scene, calling out Lu Chen Xi's name. Lu Chen Xi, treating him like a buddy, helped him up and instructed the nurse to prepare an IV drip of normal saline with naloxone.
She expertly administered the injection, remarking that he always acted this way after a breakup. Chen Shao Cong admitted he had been dumped and pleaded with Lu Chen Xi to work in the ER, claiming she was more effective than he was. Lu Chen Xi instructed the nurse to wake him up at 7 AM and check his blood alcohol level, prohibiting him from working if he failed the test.
As morning broke, Zhuang Shu arrived at Renhe Hospital in a taxi, walking towards the entrance with a contemplative air, as if revisiting a familiar place or returning home. Inside the busy hospital, a crowded outpatient department awaited. Suddenly, an elderly man, Zhang Gencai, collapsed, coughing up a pool of blood, and fell unconscious. Zhuang Shu quickly stepped forward.
He immediately recognized the patient was suffocating from massive hemoptysis, quickly turned the old man over, placing his chest on his lap, and forcefully patted his back. The old man coughed up more blood and gradually regained consciousness. Zhuang Shu then reported the patient's condition to the arriving doctor, who instructed a nurse to urgently call Lu Chen Xi from the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department.
In a hospital corridor, Lu Chen Xi was leading a group of trainee doctors, efficiently assigning tasks for various patient beds. She abruptly turned, her expression stern, and demanded to know who ordered a blood transfusion for bed number three the previous day. Chu Jun, a trainee doctor in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, timidly admitted it was her. Lu Chen Xi criticized Chu Jun for ordering an unnecessary blood transfusion.
Chu Jun explained that the family had requested it, believing it would "fix up the body," and possessed a voluntary blood donation certificate, promising to find donors to replenish the hospital's blood stock. Lu Chen Xi sharply refuted this, stating that blood transfusions are a medical treatment, not a luxury item, and should only be given to patients who genuinely need them.
She emphasized the strict rules for clinical blood use and the risk of unknown viruses, reminding the trainees that unnecessary transfusions should be avoided. When Chu Jun tried to justify her actions by saying Director Yang Fan had agreed, Lu Chen Xi sarcastically questioned if Director Yang Fan had indeed reviewed the medical records for a patient who lost less than 100ml of blood during surgery and had a normal hemoglobin level.
While on her way to the emergency room, answering a phone call about the hemoptysis patient, Lu Chen Xi accidentally kicked over a small boy's toy car. She knelt to help, but found herself utterly clueless about how to fix it. Zhuang Shu then knelt beside her, expertly reassembling the Lego car. Lu Chen Xi was momentarily taken aback by his nimble, slender fingers.
She handed him her business card, telling him to have the boy's parents come to her office if any pieces were missing. Zhuang Shu watched her brisk, competent figure in a white coat as she walked away. In the emergency room, Lu Chen Xi used her stethoscope to examine the elderly patient with hemoptysis. After a brief overview from Chen Shao Cong, she swiftly diagnosed massive hemoptysis caused by a lung abscess and determined surgery was necessary.
Chen Shao Cong stopped her as she prepared to leave, noting the patient was from out of town, making public healthcare reimbursement difficult. Lu Chen Xi, exasperated, stated that given the patient's condition, surgery was the only option, and she was already rushing to her next scheduled operation. Later, Lu Chen Xi encountered hospital dean Fu Bo Wen in the hallway and greeted her former teacher respectfully.
Dean Fu advised Lu Chen Xi to rein in her temper, particularly regarding the morning incident with Chu Jun, which had already spread. He cautioned her not to let strained colleague relationships affect her associate professor application. Lu Chen Xi retorted, defending her actions, stating she wouldn't waste time writing "nonsense essays" like other doctors who "filled them with water." She also expressed her disdain for Director Yang Fan, who she claimed only performed "publicity-worthy" surgeries and postponed others.
Concurrently, Deputy Dean and Cardiothoracic Surgery Director Yang Fan listened calmly as Chu Jun tearfully recounted Lu Chen Xi's scolding. Yang Fan acknowledged Lu Chen Xi's exceptional surgical skills, noting that she respected no one but Dean Fu Bo Wen. He then offered Chu Jun the option to switch teams if she was unhappy. Just then, Zhuang Shu arrived at Yang Fan's office, greeting him.
Yang Fan remarked that it had been twenty-eight years since they last met, and the young boy had become a neurosurgery expert. Zhuang Shu clarified that he was a cardiothoracic surgery expert, not neurosurgery, and thanked Yang Fan and "Teacher Qin" for saving his life that year. He learned that Teacher Qin was no longer alive and had volunteered at an orphanage where she met Chu Jun.
Chu Jun, whose situation was similar to Nan Nan's (Zhuang Shu's missing sister), was a victim of child trafficking but was thankfully reunited with her parents. Zhuang Shu expressed his sorrow that there was still no news of Nan Nan. Yang Fan then asked Zhuang Shu if his return was solely for his new position and finding family.
Zhuang Shu responded deeply, questioning how Yang Fan could expect him not to search, given that his younger sister went missing and his mother died because of the incident. He noted that only Dean Fu Bo Wen remained who knew about the incident that year. Meanwhile, Dean Fu informed Lu Chen Xi that Yang Fan had successfully invited Owen Zhuang from UCLA Health to join the hospital on a two-year contract.
Lu Chen Xi was pleasantly surprised, having heard of Zhuang Shu's renowned name during her advanced studies in America. She was excited about his arrival, while Fu Bo Wen, after she left, clutched his chest in pain, struggling to take medicine in his office. Yang Fan then received a phone call. The family of the hemoptysis patient, Zhang Gencai, was refusing to sign the surgical consent due to high costs.
Chen Shao Cong called, explaining the situation: Lu Chen Xi had given a verbal order for surgery before going into her own morning operation, and now a junior doctor wanted to send the patient back to the ER because the family wouldn't sign. Yang Fan, annoyed, went to see the family, lamenting to Zhuang Shu that Lu Chen Xi "can create problems even when there aren't any."
Yang Fan met with Zhang Gencai’s son, who was worried about the high fees and the doctor's mention of "complications," preferring to seek treatment at a smaller local hospital where he believed insurance reimbursement would be easier. Yang Fan cautiously stated that even in a large hospital, a complete cure for severe hemoptysis wasn't guaranteed, and the probability of complications was high given the patient's poor lung function and adhesions.
The son, hearing this, immediately refused surgery, choosing to rely on medication and leave the hospital when his father felt better. Yang Fan respected his decision and handed back the medical records. Zhuang Shu, who had listened intently, was surprised by Yang Fan's ambiguous explanation, as he believed such a surgery, though difficult, had a high success rate even in smaller hospitals.
Back in his office, Yang Fan subtly explained to Zhuang Shu that the family was poor and might cause trouble if things went wrong, given the strained doctor-patient relationship. Zhuang Shu, without further comment, requested to see the patient's medical record. Simultaneously, in a brightly lit operating room, Lu Chen Xi, having meticulously scrubbed and donned her surgical attire, presided over a surgery for a patient named Zhao Wei Gang with esophageal cancer.
She rigorously questioned the resident doctor about the patient's medical history, including past surgeries for peptic ulcers, impaired glucose tolerance, and hypertension. When the resident couldn't answer fully, Lu Chen Xi dismissed her, emphasizing the importance of understanding a patient's full history before surgery.
She also explained to a chief resident, Fang Zhi Wei, why she opted for open surgery instead of a minimally invasive thoracoscopic procedure for a large tumor that had spread to the trachea, prioritizing relapse prevention and extended life span for malignant tumors, especially in elderly patients. As she skillfully operated, the heart monitor suddenly blared, indicating ventricular fibrillation. Lu Chen Xi remained calm amidst the crisis, immediately ordering epinephrine and lidocaine, and instructing a second dose of lidocaine.
