Chapter 31
Long Immortal stayed silent and seemed to be thinking. After a long time, he said a very long word in English.
"You mean hemispherectomy?" Pan Boda asked him.
"I don't know how to translate it into Chinese," Long Immortal said.
"Do you mean to directly cut out the largest tumor and the compressed half of your brain?"
"No, not the tumor. Just remove the compressed hemisphere to relieve the pressure on the other half, Long Immortal said.
"Why?" Pan Boda didn't understand.
"When I look at myself in the mirror, I don't see any large black areas inside my head. This means that the largest tumor isnt malignant, so treatment isnt needed for that part. But I can see some long-shaped dark shadows, which should be the brain tissue thats being compressed. Those do need to be removed."
"Its impossible to operate on you with a diagnosis like that. No doctor would dare do it."
"Without the backup of a hospital, youll die almost immediately if anything goes wrong during the operation. I can perform the craniotomy, but I cant do it by myself. Since the tumor is too big, I need enough skilled people to assist with the operation. The vessels are too complicated"
"It's not a tumor, it's something else," Long Immortal emphasized again. "Don't you want to see it, Dr. Pan? You're a good man. I want you to have this chance."
Pan Boda fell silent again. "Keep me awake. If I cant make it, just let me take a look at my brain with the monitor. Thats all I want," Long Immortal said quietly.
Pan Boda fumbled for a cigarette as he walked out. Long Immortals eyes were still vacant, but tears were streaming down his face. "Please," he whispered.
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TN Notes:
(1) Hyperplasia is an increase in the amount of organic tissue that results from cell proliferation. It may lead to the gross enlargement of an organ. Venation is an arrangement or system of veins (as in the tissue of a leaf or the wing of an insect)
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