Plague Doctor - Chapter 83

Chapter 83: Leg Amputation Surgery

‘Subterrain Giant Worm’s parasite removal surgery, two-star, success, personal contribution 55%/Rank 1.’

Uncle Dan was ranked two at forty percent contribution, third was Zhang Huohuo with three percent, and the four members holding the makeshift surgical light totaled up to two percent.

‘Success!’ When Gu Jun saw that result, he only sighed in relief. He felt the camaraderie of the Demon Hunters, and a smile lit up his face that was half-covered by the mask.

“Ah Jun, is anything wrong?” When Uncle Dan saw how silent he was, he thought Gu Jun had some worry. Instantly, he got nervous. After all, it was Gu Jun who was technically guiding the whole operation.

“No, I just have a hunch that the surgery was a success, and my hunch is always quite accurate,” Gu Jun told the rest and encouraged Lin Mo. “During the operation, there was no discovery of any sacs, and all the young parasites have been picked out.”

And then, he and Uncle Dan continued with the amputation of Lin Mo’s lower left calf. The bloody and wounded left leg was already bruised and dying. Zhang Huohuo released the tourniquet for a minute before putting it on again. This was to prevent deep vein thrombosis or a pulmonary embolism. Since the injury did not reach the hip, both doctors decided on a thigh amputation. Naturally, it was difficult to do that in this kind of environment, but compared to the earlier operation, they were not in such a time crunch. They also had sufficient tools in the med kit—after all, amputations were the most common surgery required by scouting teams.

Uncle Dan injected anesthetic into Lin Mo’s waist to extend its effect. He joked as he did so. “This surgery is going to be much easier. For one, you chose a good location to get injured, so we do not need to cut through too much flesh. We have plenty of bandages to stop the blood flow. Plus, the muscle near your ass is not as active as Kim K’s, so it will be much easier to deal with.”

“Haha…” Lin Mo could not help but laugh. “Before this, I used to envy Captain Xue’s perky behind, but it turns out mine is better…”

This was of course just a joke. After the anesthetic kicked in, the size of the butt did not matter at all, but Gu Jun also knew that Uncle Dan was not just saying nonsense. This was a test of the patient’s mental state. From the looks of it, Lin Mo was still okay; he did not need full body anesthesia. After all, amputation would bring huge mental impact on the patient.

Under the scrutiny of the people around them and Xue Ba from afar, Gu Jun and Uncle Dan grabbed the surgical knives and started to work. The two of them first made a vertical truncation about twenty centimeters below the left greater trochanter. Logically, this was not the ideal location, but if they moved lower, they wound reach the wound. They spliced open the skin and flipped it over. Then they saw off the surface ligature and cut off the greater saphenous veins…

This time, it was Uncle Dan who was the main surgeon, but of course, Gu Jun helped a lot as well. After dealing with the twenty or so amputation surgeries on the victims of Malformed Banyan Disease and with the revision that he had done with the system, it felt like he had conducted more than one hundred such surgeries already. It meant that doing this kind of quintessential amputation was as easy as looking for an elephant inside a small room. Uncle Dan could see that, and therefore, as the surgery went on, when his status was not as good as before due to fatigue, he handed more jobs over to Gu Jun.

This again shocked the surrounding team members. Gu Jun’s handwork was even more precise than when he was dealing with the young parasites, especially his snipping and dealing with femoral arteries, saphenous veins, and nervi saphenous. Gu Jun’s knife appeared to be able to always find the precise location with the most accurate force. Perhaps because the parasites had not reached this area, the surgery went without a hitch.

The circumnavigation cut of the muscle of three centimeters down to the bone was given to Gu Jun as well, as was the cut down to the periosteum. He had a good understanding of the human muscle layer and pattern. Then came the part for bone-sawing. After they sawed off this femur, the diseased limb would be amputated.

“Ah Jun, I will leave this to you too,” Uncle Dan said seriously. The femur was one of the largest and thickest tubular bones in the human body. Since they did not have access to an electric saw, the amputation would have a great requirement on the surgeon’s hand power. Currently, Gu Jun clearly had a more powerful grip than he did. Uncle Dan did not mind giving the future generation the spotlight. After all, he had to admit defeat to the ravages of time. The members were familiar with Uncle Dan’s personality, so they were not surprised by this.

“Okay.” Gu Jun did not think much of it. He accepted the line saw from Zhang Huohuo and attached a two-millimeter serration metallic saw to it. He focused his attention as he lowered the saw until it touched the femur. Then the saw was pulled back and forth evenly. The force and speed gradually picked up, and when it reached the climax, it was maintained at a steady pace. The sound of bone-sawing rang out clearly.

“Ah…” Lin Mo groaned. It was not so much from pain, but his heart was suddenly wrapped by panic when he saw Gu Jun holding the saw over his lower body.

“Most of the time, a doctor does need to have a strong stomach. This is something else,” Lou Xiaoning whispered softly. It was nothing for her to kill monsters, but seeing her own ally being sawed through from a distance, her heart was shaking.

“Just see them as working as carpenters. After all, most orthopedists part time as interior decorators.” Xue Ba consoled his teammates. With that impression in their mind, the more they looked at it, the deeper the impression got. Gu Jun sawed madly like he was working a particularly tough board. The harrowing sound continued for a while before it ended with a sudden snap. The femur was finally cut through. Just as Gu Jun stopped, Uncle Dan immediately picked up the amputated leg. He placed it on a deep green cloth by the side. The other members wrapped it up and prepared to burn it. The broken leg might still be home to parasites that could infect others.

At the same time, the two doctors continued to deal with post amputation operation. If they had enough blood bags and drugs, they would have opted for open amputation, but the chance of infection post-surgery for Lin Mo was quite high. Unfortunately, they were lacking everything now. After they dealt with the post, they sewed the muscle flap back into the back of the femur and then stitched up the muscle tendons and epidermis. Then they wrapped the stump up in a layer of gauze. The surgery was finally officially over.

“Done, all done.” Uncle Dan finally could take off the gloves. He wiped away the sweat. “Ah Mo, tell us immediately if you feel any discomfort. If there is no serious infection and no trace of parasites left, you will survive this ordeal. I am a very fair person; for this surgery, I am not ashamed to admit that Ah Jun has contributed more than I did.”

“Hmm… Uncle Dan, Gu Jun, thank you so much,” Lin Mo said appreciatively. Even though the future was still an unknown, everyone had tried their best.

Everyone knew Uncle Dan was telling the truth. If not for Gu Jun, Lin Mo definitely would have lost both legs. By then, the attitude and impression the Demon Hunters had toward Gu Jun changed. Now, they understood why Phecda valued this new member so much.

“The Demon Hunters must have him,” Luo Xiaoning told Xue Ba. “Uncle Dan is getting too old for this.”

“Miss Lou, you know I can hear you, right‽” Uncle Dan grumbled a few meters away. This caused the rest to laugh, but they joined in on the roast.

“Uncle Dan, Sister Ning is just telling the truth!”

“Guys, don’t pressure Uncle Dan anymore, he has done good enough already.”

“It’s just pure luck that I have experience dealing with this surgery.” Gu Jun laughed and said. He reminded himself to not get too arrogant. “If not for Uncle Dan’s assuring presence and his clear arrangement of each surgical step, I would definitely be panicking. I wouldn’t have done this without him.”

“You guys hear that?” Uncle Dan chuckled. He walked to the wall and sat down. “Either way, I am not going to argue with you kids. I need to rest. The old age is catching up. I’m so tired.”

Zhang Huohuo went to deal with the cleaning of the tools. The rest quieted down so that Lin Mo, Uncle Dan, and Gu Jun could all rest. As Gu Jun removed the gloves and scrubs, he clicked open the system in his mind. There was another surgery in his surgical job list.

‘Thigh Amputation Surgery, two-star, success, personal contribution 55%/Rank 1.’

His personal contribution for both surgeries was fifty-five percent, which totaled up to a hundred and ten percent. He was only forty percent away from completing the difficult mission. He hoped that would be all. Gu Jun did not wish to face any more surgeries in the next three days because that would only mean more danger and possible death. It was only logical for him to accept the mission because anything could happen, and he might need the reward provided by the mission.

A Carlot Scalpel? How would that differ from a normal scalpel? Perhaps it could trigger an illusion?