Surgery Godfather-Chapter 405 - 0377 Second Consultation

Chapter 405: Chapter 0377 Second Consultation

Chapter 405: Chapter 0377 Second Consultation

Yang Ping followed Professor Zhang and Director Han to Shanghai, marking his first visit to the city.

Previously confined to G City, he had not been to many places.

His first notable trip was to Malaysia for the surgery of Guo Jingyao, also known as the Flying Blade.

Professor Zhang, a local of Shanghai, upon hearing about Director Han joining Sanbo, decided to end his reappointment at Mo Sixth. He and his wife moved south to Sanbo to help Director Han develop orthopedics at Sanbo Hospital.

Professor Zhang had two sons. The elder one studied finance and was now involved in politics in Shanghai, while the younger one studied pharmacology and worked in Europe.

Both sons had adamantly refused to become doctors, which Professor Zhang always regretted.

The elder son was quite busy, so his grandson picked them up from the airport. Seeing his grandfather coming to Shanghai made him delighted.

Being very particular, Professor Zhang insisted on treating Yang Ping to a meal, claiming it was an obligation as a host.

So he booked a table at an old Shanghai restaurant for local dishes.

After the meal, Professor Zhang booked a five-star hotel closest to Mo Sixth, insisting they stay there.

Despite Director Han’s multiple attempts to discourage Professor Zhang, even offering to pay for the hotel, Professor Zhang hotly said, “You all are southerners now, and I host you when you come to Shanghai. Moreover, it’s Yang Ping’s first time here!”

Director Han had to concede to Professor Zhang’s insistence.

The next day, Professor Zhang took Yang Ping to Mo Sixth for Professor Feng’s consultation meeting while letting Director Han rest at the hotel.

This was Professor Feng’s last consultation meeting, with several American experts — Professor John Ansen of the Mayo Clinic’s Neurosurgery, Professor Griffin of the Anderson Cancer Center, and Professor Woodhead of the Twin City Spine Center —invited by Hong Zhigang. The ‘Dream Team’ was again gathered at Mo Sixth for one last effort.

Woodhead and Hong Zhigang were close friends. With Woodhead’s help, they managed to invite John Ansen and Griffin.

The three professors took Professor Feng’s condition very seriously. Apart from personal relationships, the case was rare and crossed into the forbidden territory of neurosurgery and spinal surgery. Being at the peak of their professions, they were extremely intrigued by such an operation from the forbidden field.

Professor Zhang led Yang Ping into the venue, and no one paid much attention, assuming Yang Ping to be Professor Zhang’s assistant.

Hong Zhigang didn’t recognize Yang Ping but noticed the young man had a unique temperament, a combination of stability and confidence.

According to seniority, Professor Zhang was Hong Zhigang’s senior comrade. Thus, Hong Zhigang didn’t dare to neglect him. Given the relationship between Professor Zhang and Professor Feng, it was like they were family.

Dean Chen and Director Peng of the medical department of Mo Sixth also held deep respect for this predecessor, personally leading him to his seat before returning to their own.

Everyone present did not find it surprising that Professor Zhang, who had not participated in any previous consultation meetings, attend this one.

Looking at the familiar conference room, 15 years later, Professor Zhang attended a major Shanghai consultation again. The fact that the patient was, once again, his own junior, filled him with feelings.

With everyone present, they convened around the rectangular conference table, and the consultation meeting could begin, chaired by Director Peng of the medical department.

Compared to the last meeting, the three American professors were visibly less active, bringing few new ideas this time.

After returning to America, John Ansen organized a small academic salon for this rare case, inviting North America’s most excellent neurosurgeons to participate.

No matter how they discussed it, the final opinion was unanimous — with less than a 1% chance of success, there was no value in carrying out the surgery.

Gathering all the advanced technology: Transferring Professor Feng to the United States for treatment, Professor Griffin would use Henry Ford Hospital’s EDGE technology to preoperatively radiate the tumor to achieve shrinkage before heading to the Mayo Clinic. Here, Professor John Ansen would perform the surgery with the assistance of Woodhead. Professor Galan from Johns Hopkins ICU would be responsible for unexpected rescues during the surgery. The surgical team would need to conduct coordinated training three months in advance.

Even with these measures, the success rate of the surgery could only theoretically rise to 5%.

Professor John Ansen never felt so dejected. “After I went back, I invited North American colleagues to have an in-depth discussion. Unfortunately, by now, this surgery remains our forbidden zone. No breakthrough has been made in the fundamental study of life. This surgery is destined to fail. Even surgeries of the same category, much simpler than this, are filled with risks for us. Rare successful cases are left with severe disabilities. Hong, I respect your sentiments for your teacher, but medicine is rational, you must acknowledge its limits. Unfortunately, your teacher’s condition lies beyond that boundary.”

After he spoke, Professor John Ansen shook his head, and Professor Griffin, with his sparse curly hair fluttering, sorted his thoughts. “At the Henry Ford Hospital, I have arranged everything, and if you wish, they are always ready to welcome Mr. Feng. Perhaps there might be unexpected effects.”

Professor Griffin was too tired to speak anymore platitudes of surgical difficulties or minimal hope.

His words were just comfort for a friend. Or in Chinese — doing one’s best.

“The surgery can’t avoid harming the vital centers for circulation and respiration, and this is the most fatal part. John Ansen and I attempted surgical simulations using virtual reality technology and, unfortunately, despite multiple attempts, we couldn’t break through the probability described in reports.”

Having been to China twice without rendering much help, Woodhead felt quite helpless.

However, as a doctor, he often encountered such feelings of helplessness.

“Director Hong, it seems everyone has the same opinion; what do you think?” As the host, Director Peng of the medical department asked Hong Zhigang to make a decision.

Hong Zhigang also knew the result of this consultation meeting wouldn’t be different from the last time. This repeated discussion was only to make everyone feel a bit better.

“Zhang, what do you think? Any differing opinions?” Hong Zhigang turned to Professor Zhang.

Since Professor Zhang was present, out of respect, Hong Zhigang sought his opinion. Whether it was experience or seniority, Hong Zhigang would be respectful.

Professor Zhang looked around: “What if the success rate of the surgery could reach 80%?”

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His words caught everyone by surprise, prompting renewed attentiveness from the previously weary group. Everyone seemed puzzled by his sudden mention of an 80% success rate.

“Old Zhang, I didn’t quite understand,” Hong Zhigang asked in embarrassment.

Not only Zhigang, but also everyone else, failed to grasp the meaning.

“I mean, if this surgery has an 80% success rate, would everyone agree to proceed with it?” Professor Zhang felt that he had spoken clearly enough.

“Are you talking about Mr. Feng’s surgery? The one we are discussing now?” asked John Ansen.

Professor Zhang, who has a good command of English, nodded, “Exactly!”

Everyone was taken aback. They did not find this out-of-place joke funny, given the seriousness of the consultation meeting.

John Ansen could not help but laugh: “I apologize for my rudeness. If there was an 80% success rate, we wouldn’t be sitting here with furrowed brows. At this moment, Mr. Feng should be in his ward, smiling and receiving everyone’s post-surgery blessings.”

The others, including Zhigang, Dean Chen, and Director Peng, found Zhang’s comment inexplicable and wondered why the venerable Old Zhang was making such a confusing statement. However, they didn’t feel it appropriate to interrupt him, assuming that his coherence might be compromised due to old age.

“Let’s put aside this amusing topic for now. I apologize for the slight delay! I’d like to show you something.”

Professor Zhang signaled, and a staff member from Mo Sixth Medical Office immediately approached.

“Display the contents of this USB stick to everyone!” Professor Zhang handed over a prepared USB stick to the staff member.

The staff member quickly ran over to the computer, inserted the USB stick, and began playing a video.

The video was of Lu Gang’s entire diagnostic and treatment process, from his admission to the hospital, through the surgery, and to his post-operative recovery.

Zhigang quickly recognized it. This was a case from the Golden Knife Award competition held at Sanbo Hospital, wasn’t it? The surgery involved the correction of a spine that was as twisted and deformed as a pretzel ball.

“My God!”

Spinal surgery expert, Woodhead, covered his mouth and promptly stood up. He walked to the end of the conference table to get a closer look at the video.

Woodhead crossed his arms and stared at the video. He had never seen such an odd deformity – an intense spinal deformity coupled with bilateral hip and knee joint deformities, causing the patient’s body to twist and turn like a pretzel ball.

Next, Lu Gang’s 3D CT reconstruction appeared on the screen, and Professor Zhang instructed the staff member, “Pause it! Enlarge the image to fill the entire screen.”

The image was instantly magnified to fill the entire screen.

“Mr. Woodhead, how would you approach this surgery? How much time would you need?” asked Professor Zhang.

Woodhaid leaned closer to the screen, silently visualizing the surgery, “This is extremely challenging! It’s like the devil has given us a test. Look at the severe malformation of the base of the skull and the cervical vertebrae. This spinal folding exceeds 180 degrees and it’s spirally deformed as well. The hip joint? The hip joint is practically nonexistent, and the knee joints are also stiff.”

“If I were to undertake this surgery, it would have to be done in four stages: the first would entail bilateral femoral neck osteotomy, the second would correct cervical vertebrae deformation, the third would correct thoracic and lumbar vertebrae deformation, and the fourth would involve artificial hip and knee joint replacement. It’s really challenging! Visually, my hands are shaking already.”

“And the duration of the surgery?” asked Professor Zhang.

Woodhaid stroked his chin, “The first surgery is quite simple and can be completed in one to two hours. The following three surgeries would each take five to six hours. The cumulative time for all the surgeries would be around 16 to 20 hours. The entire procedure would likely span six months.”

“What if I told you somebody managed to complete the surgery in one go in just four hours, with only 140ml of blood loss, achieving physiological curvature of the spine, and without any post-operative neurological symptoms?” Professor Zhang posed this question only to Woodhead, the spinal surgeon.

Zhigang had a vague hunch that the young man sitting next to Professor Zhang was none other than Yang Ping from Sanbo.

“No— no— no, sir, you should know that I am a spinal surgery specialist. This is my area of expertise. Nobody knows this type of surgery better than I do. Your comments are insulting my profession. Your words today have been too outrageous. I refuse to entertain such pointless humor. Let me be very clear, the kind of doctor you described… does not exist on this planet.”

“I agree with your sentiment. Please continue the video!” Professor Zhang said with a smile.

The high-definition video continued to roll on the conference room screen.

The four-hour video couldn’t be watched in its entirety, but Woodhead’s eyes remained wide open in astonishment as he stared at the screen, having just finished watching the cervical deformity correction segment.

“Stop there for a moment,”

Professor Zhang stood up and walked over to the screen, “This video lasts four hours. I believe Professor Hong and all the Orthopedics doctors have seen it. In fact, all the Orthopedic surgeons in China have seen it. Don’t doubt the credibility of the video. The surgery was broadcasted live across the country and the video was verified to have no issues. I know Mr. Woodhead is eager to watch the entire four hours of the video, but time doesn’t allow that. Let’s skip to the final result.”

The 3D reconstruction of Lu Gang’s post-operative CT appeared on the screen.

Woodhead took in a deep breath and exclaimed, “A perfect correction, I couldn’t have done it! Completing such a flawless surgery in four hours, I can’t think of anyone who could do that.”

“So, believe me when I say, there is someone who can achieve an 80% success rate with Professor Feng’s surgery, and that person is the chief surgeon in the video. Today, I have brought him to the meeting, Xiao Yang!” Professor Zhang immediately prompted Yang Ping to stand up.

Yang Ping stood up and bowed to all the attendees.