DISCLAIMER: Same old same old. I don't own the darn series as much as I would love to.
NOTE: I'm trying not to repeat myself when I explain the medical stuff, so if you forgot what something is, check the last chapter. Enjoy!
It was as if time stood still for him alone. The hospital kept running, staff members bustling up and down the hallway, barely noticing the man on the ground with his head in his arms.
Finally, the door opened and Zhi Shu immediately scrambled up to greet the doctor. Relief flooded through him - no more wondering or waiting. He would know. He- Suddenly, he didn't want to know anymore. Fear of hearing the worst robbed him of all his strength and made him suddenly weak at the knees.
"Dr. Jiang," the doctor said as he approached him. "Your baby is fine. She's breathing fine. It was just a scare."
Swallowing hard, he opened his mouth to ask what he wanted to know most but no words came out.
"Xiang Qin…you were right. It was an acute pulmonary embolism. No way we could have caught it, it was asymptomatic*. But…Xiang Qin…Zhi Shu…" the doctor spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. "Xiang Qin…she's bleeding out."
His heart clenched. He knew. He knew what that meant. Things were going badly. Using anticoagulants and thrombolytics always contained the slight risk of hemorrhage, but in these severe cases, the risk was usually disregarded. Leave it to Xiang Qin to fall into the less than 3% that experienced complications. She's the person with the highest probability in the world of things going wrong, but this time it was no joke. It wasn't stepping in dog shit or getting soaked by a passing car. This was her life.
"We've already packed her to control the bleeding, but it hasn't really helped. Her PE still hasn't been resolved yet, either." The doctor held out a sheet to Zhi Shu. "I need you to sign consent for an embolectomy. That way, we'll be able to take her off the blood-thinners which will hopefully stabilize the bleeding. We'll do an IVC filter** to prevent recurrent PE."
Zhi Shu nodded his head and reached for the paper.
"Zhi Shu..." Zhi Shu looked up unwillingly, sensing the foreboding in his voice. "There's no surgeon currently on rotation in the hospital that's experienced in this procedure. I have paged Dr. Cheng, and he said he'll get here as soon as he can to perform the surgery."
Silence.
"He should be here in an hour."
"She could bleed out by then." Zhi Shu stated quietly.
The doctor stayed silent for a long moment. "Yes. Yes, she could."
Zhi Shu looked back down, clenching his jaw so tightly it hurt. He covered his mouth with his hand as his breathing started speeding up. Never had he felt so trapped, so utterly hopeless. It seemed like no matter how fast he ran, he couldn't catch up. Xiang Qin was always just one step ahead, fading away.
"One last thing." Zhi Shu closed his eyes, tears slipping out. "In case of continued hemorrhage, you should prepare yourself for a potential hysterectomy***." The doctor held out a second paper.
With trembling hands, he took the two papers and signed them.
*asymptomatic - without symptoms
**IVC filter - this is a way to prevent future PE by placing a filter in the blood vessel. This is very important as Xiang Qin is still at risk for more clots, and they can no longer use the blood thinners
*** hysteroctomy - removal of the uterus. After this, a woman is unable to have more children.
**** Summary of what's going on for the non-medical: Basically what's going on is the following. Like I said last time, Xiang Qin was given heparin and streptokinase (anticoagulants and thrombolytics) to thin the blood enough to destroy the clot in her lungs preventing her from breathing. This in itself is a life-threatening condition. However, in a small percentage of cases, administration of these drugs can cause severe bleeding (AKA hemorrhage). The problem here is that the clot still hasn't been dissolved, so they're caught between a rock and a hard stone. Should they take Xiang Qin off of the blood thinners to let her die from the clot, or leave her on the blood thinners only to have her die from bleeding out? One way to prevent bleeding is by packing the vaginal passage with gauze, the way you would put pressure on any cut to control bleeding, but it isn't working. Instead, the doctor is presenting Zhi Shu with the option of an embolectomy, a surgical procedure that can remove the clot, allowing them to take her off the blood thinners while still taking care of the clot. However, if Xiang Qin continues to bleed, they may have to take more drastic options and actually perform a hysterectomy.