Sunday night.
Jiang Xu sat in Tang Ke's office with his legs crossed and wearing a neat gray and white striped shirt.
In front of him was a stack of exam reports, but the names of the examinees were blurry.
It was clear that his mind had stabilized now.
It's just... Tang Ke felt that he didn't look as though he was thinking about his next step, but rather like a patient whose heart had fallen has gone quiet after being diagnosed with a terminal illness.
However, what should have been said still had to be said: "The situation is like this, the malignant tumor has been removed, and you do have a gestational sac in your stomach that is about two months old."
Tang Ke said, "I told you about my speculation when I had the ultrasound in the morning, and now, combined with the results of other tests, I think it should be correct."
He hinted, "It must be due to a mutation in the development of mesodermal cells within the large paramedian cyst that has formed and expanded in a cephalad manner towards the prostate and has not completed apoptotic degeneration. The uterus and bilateral adnexa have developed abnormally in your body cavity, and there is a very thin flexible duct between the opening of the cervix and the intestine. My initial guess is that it is due to adhesions between the sinus nodules in the posterior wall of the urogenital sinus and the original intestinal wall."
Tang Ke frowned and added, "According to the test results, it should have been about two to three months ago that your uterus and bilateral adnexa in your body started to become active; fortunately, the development was late and didn't have much effect on your body, but whether you want this baby or not, a hysterectomy must be done. This collection of things should not have grown in your body in the first place. If non-steroidal hormones become dysregulated, that becomes a problem."
He spread his hands and said, "I don't need to tell you this; you're a doctor too, you know best."
Jiang Xu finished reading the inspection reports one by one, then clasped his hands together and leaned against Tang Ke's desk.
"Are you planning to have a baby?" Tang Ke asked.
Jiang Xu stared at the mahogany table for a moment, as if he was about to let go.
"I don't want to."
Tang Ke nodded in understanding. Although Jiang Xu's mind always seemed strong, he was a man, and accepting his pregnancy had occupied so much of his mind that the idea of not wanting this child was a natural one.
"Can you calculate how old this child is?" he asked Jiang Xu.
Although ultrasounds provide a rough guess based on size, this guess is not accurate.
"65 days," Jiang Xu didn't need to think too much; he just glanced at the calendar and knew. "It's been more than 49 days; it's impossible to perform a medical abortion." He had calculated it himself.
But a stunned Tang Ke said, "You and your boyfriend don't have a good sex life, right?
He quickly accepted the fact that Jiang Xu's partner was a man, and the fact that he could calculate the time so quickly could only mean that it had happened once during that time.
Jiang Xu ignored his words and said, "The diameter of the soft catheter is less than 0.5 cm, and the angle of intersection with the intestine is too small to carry out negative pressure aspiration."
He had already gone through various procedures in his mind and knew more than anyone, "We can only do a laparoscopy or a laparotomy."
Tang Ke nodded. "We can still do laparoscopic surgery now, but if you delay it any longer, we'll have to do a laparotomy." He does not perform surgery, but he knows that there are many side effects and risks associated with laparotomy.
With all the minimally invasive techniques available, laparotomy is considered a relatively major operation, and its impact on the body is enormous.
"But I have some good news here," Tang Ke said, "I've been restless these past two days because of you, so I asked around with my friends, and apparently I found something."
Tang Ke took out his tablet and clicked on something before handing it to Jiang Xu.
"I have a friend who works as an editor at a foreign journal company, and there was an article submitted last month about a situation very similar to yours. The author is from country M and the article hasn't been released yet. It was difficult for my friend to send it to me, but I have the author's contact information, so if you need, you can send him an email to ask if he can help. However, the patient gave birth to a baby; he had a cesarean section, and both father and son survived."
Jiang Xu's eyelashes trembled.
As Tang Ke said, this was indeed good news.
Having a case to refer to may sound like a drop in the bucket, but it's better than nothing.
Although surgery might sound like fixing what was broken, Jiang Xu knew in his heart that for every type of surgery he performed, he had observed his seniors countless times so he could memorise all the steps and the structure of the human body before he dared to do anything. Apart from that, he first practiced under the supervision of his teachers until he became an expert.
He dared to challenge, but couldn't take the risk.
It took two hundred years of surgical operations before anything was developed, during which time countless lives were wasted and patients' blood was shed, all just to bring the technique to its current stage of maturity.
Pioneering is often accompanied by sacrifice, so for most doctors in the world today, the art of medicine is more a process of transmission and learning, rather than pioneering.
New treatments can be developed gradually, provided there is sufficient supporting data, but no one dares to try innovative new procedures.
Men giving birth was a procedure that had never been done before, and apart from the case in country M, nothing had been found in the past canonical literature about it as it occurred less frequently than the rarest diseases.
This procedure involves not only removing the child, but also completing the removal of the uterus and bilateral appendages at the same time. The problem is that this is still a man's body, and it is difficult to imagine the complexity of the situation of the blood vessels and tissues inside after opening the abdominal cavity.
Lack of experience means the risks are enormous.
"Jiang Xu, if you decide to remove it, I think the safest thing is to contact Dr. Kenn, the main surgeon in the article; after all, he has some experience, but a visa to country M is not easy to get immediately. You can afford the delay, but not the baby."
The international situation is not very clear yet, to get there now, a conservative estimate would be to wait at least three months. The fetus will be five months old by then.
By five months, he will have memory and can even distinguish his mother's voice.
Tang Ke paused and continued, "Actually, if you and your partner have a good relationship, you can wait and see the situation. This is also fate, so many gay couples want their own children but can't. This way, you will have at least eight months to contact a doctor to prepare for the operation, and it will be less stressful."
Jiang Xu folded his hands over his knees and said, "I'm still inclined to do it now."
Tang Ke sighed, "The problem is that even if you want to have surgery now, who will operate on you?" He paused and said, "Who in China would dare to perform such an operation on you?"
No one had done it before, and no one dared to risk their careers or Jiang Xu's life.
"If we can get the recording of the operation, we might be able to find someone," Jiang Xu said.
"It depends on how much the doctors in Country M are willing to share," Tang Ke said, "After all, no one in the world does this kind of surgery except him."
"Actually there is." Jiang Xu suddenly spoke then fell silent.
Translator Notes:
Sorry if this chapter was hella confusing, I tried my best to preserve the medical terms from the translation