godfather of surgery

Chapter 1217 Nervous
After Adams' pre-experiment examination results came back, there were no contraindications, and he was able to participate in the volunteer experiment. The long-awaited experimental treatment could finally begin.

He was excited and looking forward to that sci-fi scene.

As the subject of the preliminary experiment, Yang Ping will personally explain the detailed process of the experiment to him.

In the conference room of the International Medical Center, Adams met Yang Ping again, the doctor who gave him hope for survival. After reading his paper, Adams admired Yang Ping even more. His theory was so amazing, it was simply a treatment method from the future.

Yang Ping noticed that Adams was obviously nervous, so he comforted Adams: "Don't be nervous, try to relax. Our new treatment is very simple. Just treat it as a regular intravenous infusion. Except for a very small number of people who will experience mild symptoms such as fever, most people will not feel uncomfortable. Of course, as a new treatment that has just begun clinical trials, my description is a bit inaccurate. This is not experimental statistics. Our sample size is too small at the moment. Instead, we are accumulating experience from patients who have already used it."

Adams nodded eagerly; he was no longer listening to anything, or he would agree with whatever he heard, and no question would become an obstacle to his participation in the experiment.

“According to the experimental procedures, we need to sign an informed consent form for experimental ethics and experimental risks. Here are two versions, one in Chinese and one in English. You can choose either one.” After Yang Ping finished speaking, Song Ziming took out two printed informed consent forms and handed them to Adams.

He actually reached out and took a Chinese version, signed his Chinese name on it, and Song Ziming couldn't make out what his Chinese name was at first glance.

This is clearly illegal. Song Ziming said, "You still need to. You need to show your passport, and the name you sign must match the one on your passport."

passport?

Adams fumbled for his passport and pulled it out. Song Ziming looked at it and said, "You need to sign your name on your passport in your native language, English. Both copies need to be signed, and you need to give your handprint after signing."

The Chinese characters he signed were the name he had chosen himself in the past few days, so this copy was considered invalid. Song Ziming then gave him another copy, and only then did he carefully sign his full English name on both informed consent forms.

In fact, it is reasonable for foreigners to prepare two informed consent forms. The Chinese informed consent form is not superfluous at all. Even if they do not understand Chinese, they can refer to it. Moreover, they can take a picture of the Chinese informed consent form and send it to a lawyer they trust.

This was a rule made by Tang Shun because, in his view, the Chinese informed consent form is actually more precise than the English one. It is more accurate than the English one, so if a dispute arises regarding the English informed consent form, the Chinese informed consent form can be used to avoid some possible ambiguity.

Most people might think that Chinese is more ambiguous than English, but in fact, in many cases, Chinese is less ambiguous than English in legal texts.

"Do you need your own lawyer? If not, we can provide that service. The entire process will be recorded for traceability," Song Ziming said.

Adams shook his head. "I accept all the terms," ​​he said. After reading the English version of the agreement, he signed it without hesitation.

"Stay relaxed and get enough sleep. Being too stressed will cause your heart rate to increase, which will delay the experiment," Yang Ping instructed him.

Adams nodded: "Don't worry, I can do anything. I plan to go to bed at seven o'clock after dinner tonight and sleep until seven o'clock tomorrow. Twelve hours of sleep should be enough."

After signing the informed consent form, Adams was extremely excited. He clenched his fist tightly, as if he had won the lottery. It was so exciting!

He saw in Yang Ping's paper that the treatment currently being applied directly to patients has been very successful, completely controlling the condition and showing a prospect of a cure.

He returned to his ward, his heart pounding so hard from excitement it felt like it could burst out of his chest. Knowing this was due to over-excitement, he was afraid something might go wrong and immediately called for a nurse.

The nurse came over and checked his blood pressure and heart rate. His heart rate was too fast, reaching 110 beats per minute, and his blood pressure was also high, at 162 mmHg. It was normal when it was measured this morning, so why is it so high now? The nurse was very puzzled.

Adams understood that it was because of excitement, but he couldn't suppress it.

"Nurse, will this situation affect my participation in the experiment?" Adams asked anxiously.

The nurse said, "If this condition does not improve by tomorrow morning, the experiment will have to be postponed."

Adams became anxious upon hearing this, and this anxiety caused his heart rate to increase even further, creating a vicious cycle: "Nurse, can tomorrow's experiment proceed as scheduled? I'm so nervous right now, could you please not record the data you just measured? I'll rest for a while and then you can come back and measure it for me. I promise I'll be back to normal."

Nurses certainly cannot do that. They must record any clinical measurement data accurately in the nursing record, even if it is due to nervousness and subsequent measurements are normal.

Because it involved an experiment, the nurse immediately called another nurse to take the measurements. The two nurses' data could be cross-referenced. The other nurse's measurements were the same, and even slightly higher than the previous data.

After the nurse left, Adams immediately told his wife, "Go to the pharmacy and see if you can find any medication that can lower your heart rate and blood pressure."

“You can’t buy this kind of medication without a doctor’s prescription. I think it’s the same in China and the UK. Think about it, who would dare to give you blood pressure medication and heart rate regulators privately? This requires extremely strong professional knowledge. We can’t do it recklessly; it would mess up the experiment.” His wife was more rational, and she advised Adams.

But Adams was being very irrational. His only thought was that he had to participate in the clinical trial as scheduled and could not delay any longer, otherwise who knew what changes might occur while he was waiting.

“Lorena, you’re right, listen to me. Try to get some medicine. You’re saving my life. Trust me,” Adams said anxiously.

His wife, of course, couldn't cooperate with him. This was cheating, and concealing data from the doctor could easily lead to serious consequences. If he was going to participate in the experiment, he had to cooperate honestly with the doctor and not hide anything. Adams' wife refused: "Adams, you can't do this. What you're doing is dishonest. If you're caught, you'll be permanently disqualified from the experiment. No doctor would dare to experiment with a patient who falsifies data. This contaminates the data. You're a university professor; you should understand this. It could even have serious consequences for your life."

"It's okay, I'm just nervous, that's why my heart rate is fast and my blood pressure is high, it's just nervousness," Adams tried his best to explain.

His wife said, "That's just your opinion. You're not a doctor and you don't have the ability to judge. The reason why you can or cannot participate in the experiment needs to be determined by the doctors. They are the professionals. I'm trying to help you. I know you're anxious and cherish this opportunity, but you can't lose your mind because of your anxiety. The more you cherish this opportunity, the more you need to cooperate with the experiment honestly."

They were arguing when they heard the nurse's footsteps outside the door. The nurse came in, and Adams stammered, "I...I just...this is what happened..."

He was speaking incoherently and didn't know what to say for a moment. Adams' wife said, "I was comforting him, telling him not to be nervous, that it was just a small problem, and that the doctors and nurses could handle it."

Adams immediately said, "Yes, I need to rest for a while, and I'll be back to normal in a bit."

A doctor followed behind the nurse, pushing an electrocardiogram (ECG) machine. She performed an emergency ECG on Adams, who nervously asked, "Is everything alright?"

The ECG doctor picked up the ejected ECG paper and looked at it: "We need to analyze it. We'll let you know if there are any problems."

But no matter how much he rested, Adams couldn't calm down. He was constantly worried that this little incident would affect the experiment's progress. Like someone who has trouble falling asleep, the more he tried to sleep, the less he could.
-
All the results of Adams's pre-experiment examinations were gathered at the experimental team's site, including the heart rate and blood pressure measured by the nurse, as well as the electrocardiogram drawing.

The experimental team was having his final discussion. If there were no problems, he could start the clinical trial tomorrow, directly using the K biological agent for treatment. According to Yang Ping's plan, in order to improve the efficiency of the clinical trial, he planned to conduct it on two fronts: one was a step-by-step phased clinical trial, and the other was a direct clinical trial that broke with convention.

To ensure that the subjects in the direct clinical trials are as evenly distributed as possible in terms of gender, age, race, etc., Yang Ping would select some representative cases from some volunteers who volunteered. Osteosarcoma in adults like Adams, especially with primary spinal involvement, is extremely rare, which is why he was approved to participate in the clinical trial.

"The nurse just measured my heart rate and blood pressure; they're quite fast and high," Song Ziming reported the latest test results.

"I just had an emergency electrocardiogram done, and there was no arrhythmia or other problems," Song Ziming added.

These late-stage cancer patients rarely have completely normal vital signs. Some have always had a low-grade fever, some have unstable blood pressure and heart rate, and some, if the cancer has metastasized to the lungs, will have difficulty breathing.

Since it is a direct clinical trial, it should present the most realistic clinical scenario. In clinical practice, it is impossible to treat only ideal cases and not treat non-ideal cases. This is good, and it also allows the K biologic to be tested in such a real and non-ideal scenario, so as to obtain real data.

In other words, in such clinical trials, as long as the patient is willing, even if their life is in danger, they can be treated after their vital signs are stabilized through symptomatic treatment.

Without effective intervention, these patients would simply wait to die, but with K therapy, their condition could be controlled and their lives prolonged.

"It's alright, the experiment will proceed as scheduled. Just keep monitoring vital signs," Yang Ping instructed.

Current K treatments are very mild with few side effects. Sisi has already explored almost all the risks. If Sisi hadn't conducted clinical trials, K biologics wouldn't have progressed so quickly.

Adams wasn't thinking that way at the moment. He was very nervous and conflicted. He wanted to use medication to control his heart rate and blood pressure, thus deceiving the nurse's measurements. But he felt his wife was right; he shouldn't do such an irrational thing and should be an honest person.

But people are always selfish. Now, in order to survive, he no longer cares about honesty or dishonesty. As long as the experiment can be carried out on schedule, he is willing to do anything.

“Calm down, Adams, listen to me, we can’t do this. You’re a university professor, you should know that science is about seeking truth. If we do this, we’re deceiving the doctors. If the doctors find out, the trust between us and the doctors will collapse, and then you’ll be kicked out of the experiment. Believe me, no one wants to do an experiment with a fraudster. If we wait quietly, even if the experiment is postponed temporarily, it’s only temporary. Once you’ve recovered, you’ll still have a chance to participate in the experiment.” Adams’ wife was afraid that her husband would do something irrational, so she kept comforting him at his bedside.

She knew her husband was very anxious, and that his anxiety caused him to lose his temper and come up with such a childish idea.

“I know, I know, but… I’m really worried… Damn heart, why is it beating so wildly? It’s not obeying my commands at all,” Adams said.

His wife held his hand: "Relax, take a deep breath..."

“I have an idea. Actually, we can ask the nurse for two sleeping pills after dinner. That’s allowed. I remember the nurse saying that to avoid pre-experiment anxiety and ensure a good night’s sleep, sleeping pills can be used as an aid. Sleeping pills can not only help improve sleep, but also have a sedative effect, which can reduce heart rate and blood pressure,” Adams’ wife said.

Adams listened to his wife's advice: "Okay, I'll listen to you. I'm sorry, I was just too nervous. I really want to seize this opportunity. I still have so many things to do. I want to see Julia go to college, see her get married. Honey, I don't want to leave this world right now. There are still so many things I haven't had time to do..."

“I know, darling, you’ll be alright. Professor Yang can treat your illness. Haven’t you read his papers? He already has successful cases. Don’t worry, you’ll see Julia in her wedding dress…”

"Hmm, she must look so beautiful in her wedding dress. I wonder if I'll shed tears when I hold her hand and hand her over to her husband?"

"No, you can't do that. There are so many guests. You have to be strong."

At this moment, the nurse came in again to measure his heart rate and blood pressure, which had dropped slightly. Perhaps his mood had been somewhat relieved by his wife's comfort.