As a well-known and beautiful celebrity chef, Hanayama Mikie, even though she was now living in the hospital with cancer, still blogged every day, maintaining her personal image and popularity. After all, for someone like her who rose to fame through the internet, this was her career, the work she had to complete daily.
Although Hanayama Mikie was worried about her cancer, thanks to the encouragement from her attending physician, Doctor Higashiyama, and his detailed explanations about her condition and the possibility of recovery, which prevented her from bearing an excessive psychological burden, she did not seem hopeless or overly anxious like other cancer patients.
While she did not worry much about her illness, the ongoing impact on her sense of taste still weighed heavily on her mind. Compared to the possible threat to her life from cancer, losing her sense of taste meant a death sentence for her career; she had to heal her tongue.
For this reason, she even rejected the surgical option previously suggested by Doctor Higashiyama, preferring to delay in hopes of finding a way to save her sense of taste.
Fortunately, her persistence wasn't in vain. Just when Hanayama Mikie was about to give up, Doctor Higashiyama told her there was another patient in the hospital with esophageal cancer, much more severe than hers, but the patient's attending physician had proposed a new surgical option to reconstruct the esophagus with the colon, preserving stomach function.
Hanayama Mikie learned from Doctor Higashiyama in detail about this new surgical option, and understood that it was much more difficult than the one Doctor Higashiyama had originally proposed. Even Doctor Higashiyama himself was not confident he could perform the surgery, but she still insisted on choosing this option.
As a chef, she had to preserve her sense of taste and avoid any potential threat to her future career.
While Hanayama Mikie was pouring her feelings into her blog, Doctor Higashiyama and Chen Yu walked into her hospital room. Find more adventures on empire
As a celebrity chef known on the internet, Hanayama Mikie naturally didn't stay in a regular large ward, but in a comfortable, single VIP hospital room.
Everyone is saying that Doctor Chen's study may even be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine!"
"The Nobel Prize in Medicine? That's amazing! Then I'll entrust my surgery to you, Doctor Chen!" Hanayama Mikie's eyes widened in surprise as she looked at Chen Yu, clearly startled by Doctor Higashiyama's flattery. But the effect of these words was immediate, instilling Hanayama Mikie with added confidence in Chen Yu.
"Miss Hanayama, you flatter me, Doctor Higashiyama is just singing my praises. I'm not as formidable as he says, and the Nobel Prize in Medicine is just a pie in the sky.
They're merely joking about that," Chen Yu said modestly, clearly not wishing to leave the impression of arrogance or conceit, and he inquired of Hanayama Mikie, "Miss Hanayama, I don't mean to be indelicate, but I would still like to know when you started losing your appetite and feeling that food was tasteless?"
The question from Chen Yu immediately changed Hanayama Mikie's expression, as she glared at Doctor Higashiyama with dissatisfaction and said to Chen Yu quite emotionally, "How could there be anything wrong with my sense of taste! You're slandering me! As a cook, how could my taste possibly be flawed! If others heard this and it affected my reputation, could you afford the consequences?"
"I think, if that's all there is to it, I should be able to afford it," responded Chen Yu, unperturbed by Hanayama Mikie's heated words, and spoke to her seriously, "Miss Hanayama, you're the patient, and I'm the doctor. If you're unwilling to tell me the truth, I won't be able to diagnose your condition, nor determine the treatment you truly need. As for your privacy concerns, you needn't worry.
Keeping a patient's secrets is the most fundamental professional conduct for us doctors. You do not have to avoid medical care out of concern for privacy."
"Hasn't my illness already been diagnosed as esophageal cancer? What else is there to diagnose!" Hanayama Mikie, although her expression had eased a bit with Chen Yu's words, was still clearly reluctant to tell the truth, maintaining a resistant stance towards Chen Yu.
Chen Yu raised his eyebrows, surprised at the strong resistance from Hanayama Mikie, but he still told her honestly, "Because even in the fourth stage of esophageal cancer, it wouldn't affect your sense of taste."