Sanbo Hospital Animal Experint Departnt.
Zhaxi followed behind Yang Ping, passing through the last door and changing into the light blue surgical gown, cap, mask, and shoe covers. After fully dressing, he looked just like he would if entering the Operating Room, the only difference being that he didn’t wear a work badge on his chest. Instead, there was a temporary access card with his photo and the words "Animal Experint Entry" printed on it.
Yang Ping was already scrubbing his hands.
He stood at the sink, carefully cleaning between his nails and fingers with a brush. His actions were identical to each step he took in the Operating Room. After completing the hand scrub and disinfection, he raised his hands to chest level, maintaining them at an unseen but uncontaminated height. The entire process was ticulous, as if he were performing a real, life-and-death surgery.
Zhaxi stood beside him, following his lead. As the water washed away the foam from the back of his hands, he suddenly realized a problem: this was the Animal Experint Departnt, not the Operating Room. The experintal pig would not sue the Hospital for infection nor complain to the Doctor about an unsightly incision. Yet Yang Ping treated the pig’s skin by the sa standards as human skin. This almost obsessive rigor wasn’t to avoid risks but a deeply ingrained habit, a professional instinct that doesn’t compromise under any condition, a habit he also needed to develop.
"Ready?" Yang Ping glanced at him.
Zhaxi nodded.
They walked into the Operating Room. It wasn’t large but was well-equipped — Operating Table, shadowless lamp, Anesthesia Machine, monitor, electric knife, and Suction Device — almost indistinguishable from a real Operating Room. The only difference was that it wasn’t a human lying on the Operating Table but an experintal pig.
The pig had been anesthetized, lying supine on the Operating Table with its limbs secured to the table’s edges. Its abdon had been shaved, revealing pinkish-white skin. The monitor displayed the numbers of heartbeat, Blood Pressure, and Blood Oxygen Saturation, identical to the preparations before human Surgery. The Anesthesiologist stood beside the instrunts, holding a clipboard, occasionally glancing at the Guard Screen to adjust the depth of Anesthesia.
Zhaxi stood in front of the Operating Table, looking at the pig’s abdon. It was quiet, its chest rising and falling rhythmically, with a thin layer of mist forming at the connection of the Anesthesia tubing from its breath. Its eyes were closed, eyelashes long and slightly curled. Suddenly, Zhaxi rembered how, back in Tibet, the family’s yak lying silently before being led to slaughter, not struggling or calling out, just looking at the sky with open eyes. A mix of indescribable emotion surged within him but was quickly suppressed. He knew this wasn’t slaughter; it was for saving lives. Every experintal animal was a stepping stone on the path of dical advancent; their sacrifice led to the lives of countless future patients.
"Today, we’re performing a laparoscopic cholecystectomy," Yang Ping’s voice brought him back to reality, "You’ll be the Chief Surgeon. We’ll intersperse basic skills training with animal surgery; progress is faster this way."
Chief Surgeon? Zhaxi felt a bit nervous.
"Don’t be nervous," Yang Ping’s tone was very calm, as if talking about sothing commonplace, "I’ll be watching from the side. Just do it as it should be done, take your ti, and focus on doing each action, each step well."
Zhaxi took a deep breath and moved to the Chief Surgeon’s position. The Instruntal Nurse had prepared the laparoscope instrunts, trocars, cara, grasping forceps, electric hook, Suction Device, titanium clip, neatly arranged on the instrunt tray, each polished to a shine. He picked up the Surgical Knife and made four small Incisions on the pig’s abdon, inserting the trocars to establish pneumoperitoneum. Carbon dioxide gas was pumped into the Abdominal Cavity by the pneumoperitoneum machine, lifting the abdominal wall to create a working space. The monitor displayed the interior of the Abdominal Cavity: pale pink peritoneum, dark red Liver, yellow-white fat, and the hidden Gallbladder under the Liver, showing a grayish-blue color, filled with Gall.
Zhaxi’s heart rate accelerated. On the simulator, he faced silicone and plastic, colors artificially dyed, layers pressed from a mold. Now, he faced real tissue, with temperature, elasticity, pulsating Blood Vessels, and breathing movents. He needed to perform each step under these real conditions: separating, exposing, dissecting, clamping, cutting, and stripping.
He picked up the electric hook and began to separate the cystic triangle. The tip of the electric hook navigated through the tissue gaps, and every ti it encountered a small Blood Vessel, it emitted a slight "zizz" sound, with a wisp of blue smoke rising. He focused on the monitor, attempting to distinguish the positions of the cystic artery and cystic duct; these two structures must be accurately identified and clamped, for a mistake here would be unthinkable.
"Pay attention!" Yang Ping’s voice ca from the side, "The cystic artery is on the left side of the cystic duct. What you’re seeing is the cystic artery, but it has a bit of variation, branching into two. You need to find both branches and clamp them separately."
Zhaxi slowed down. He gently lifted the Gallbladder with grasping forceps, adjusting the viewing angle, carefully dissecting with the electric hook. The tissue layers gradually beca clear under his operation: cystic duct, cystic artery, common hepatic duct, Common Bile Duct, each beginning to reveal themselves, like an archaeologist brushing the outline of ancient relics from the sand. His fingers subtly adjusted the angles and pressure on the instrunts; each movent was unfamiliar, but he aid to do it well. He found the first cystic artery, clamping it with a titanium clip, then cutting it. Next, he located the second one, hiding behind the cystic duct, covered by a thin mbrane. With the grasping forceps, he gently pushed aside the mbrane, confird accurately, then clamped and cut it as well.
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