Surgery Godfather
Chapter 1066 - 875 Temporary Task

Chapter 1066: Chapter 875 Temporary Task

On the fourth day after the surgery, Lan Xueping tried again to stand up in the ward. When the nurse offered to help her, she said she wanted to try standing up on her own.

She adjusted her body, took a deep breath, and with the nurse stabilizing the wheelchair, she really stood up again from the wheelchair—and, astonishingly, her body’s balance allowed her to remain standing without falling.

In the past, even this simple movement was impossible for her to complete without relying on Fang Liu’s assistance, but now she could stand independently without moving.

She let her body adapt to the standing posture, the nurse brought over a walker, and although her hands still trembled, the shaking was noticeably less severe. She gripped the walker firmly, taking the first step, then the second, and the third. By the fourth step, under the protection of two nurses, she even managed to discard the walker and successfully took several steps on her own, all the way to the bathroom door.

This independent walking gave Lan Xueping a tremendous boost in confidence—she had dreamed of this day, and now the dream had become a reality.

The nurse checked Lan Xueping’s finger-to-nose test again, and Lan Xueping was now able to touch her nose with precision several times.

At the time of admission, she couldn’t touch her nose at all.

Not only was the surgery successful, but it was extremely successful.

Neurosurgeons from Sanbo Hospital, upon hearing that the Surgical Research Institute had treated penguin gait with surgery, flocked here every day in hopes of learning from the experience—as if a new path had been opened for penguin gait. For Yang Ping, it was just a minor effort, and he might not put in much energy to research penguin gait afterward.

But for the neurosurgeons, it was different; taking this surgical method back for study, it could become a long-term research project.

This was a success story of symptomatic surgery, also predicated on a thorough analysis of the illness. Without Yang Ping’s comprehensive analysis of the disease, such a mature surgical plan wouldn’t have been possible.

Hereditary cerebellar ataxia is mostly caused by abnormal repetitions and expansions in the copy number of trinucleotide repeats of the corresponding gene’s exons, leading to excess production of polyglutamine. Its pathological changes involve neuron cell loss and gliosis; mutant proteins with polyglutamine aggregate and deposit in the cell nucleus, forming intranuclear inclusions, mainly affecting the spinal cord, brainstem, and cerebellum.

So, essentially, the nerve cells themselves are problematic, and currently, there’s no way to reverse the condition of these defective nerve cells.

Even tetrabenazine, the only drug capable of treating penguin gait, starts with the remaining normal nerve cells, enhancing their excitability and bolstering their regulatory ability over the motor system. The cells that do the work are still the same ones; it’s just that now their combat ability is enhanced—one can fight off several now—so naturally, their fighting strength has increased.

Yang Ping’s surgical operation follows a similar principle, regardless of the pathological changes of penguin gait. Currently, the cerebellum is objectively compressed, and its poor blood supply is a fact, both of which severely impact the function of normal nerve cells. Now that the compression has been relieved and blood flow improved, the blood supply and nutrition to the normal nerve cells have been enhanced, and their combat strength has naturally shot up significantly, hence their regulatory ability over motor control is sure to strengthen, and this effect is immediate.

This has provided a new avenue of thought for the surgical treatment of penguin gait, offering a glimmer of hope to countless sufferers of the disease.

Yang Ping conducted a serious review of Lan Xueping’s surgery, analyzing every detail, from the preoperative plan to the intraoperative maneuvers and postoperative changes, to see if there was any room for improvement.

This approach of using surgery to act upon a certain pathological-physiological aspect of a disease could also be applied to other illnesses. While it might not completely cure the disease, it can provide relief at a certain stage, thus mitigating symptoms and improving the patients’ quality of life.

Having initiated a beginning, Yang Ping hoped that the neurosurgeons could continue the research, as his own energy was limited and there was so much that needed studying.

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Lan Xueping’s birthday also arrived, and the head nurse specially arranged for her to have a private room, making some simple decorations in the ward. The head nurse also bought a small cake.

The fire department had ordered a big cake, and the celebration was supposed to be lively – everyone who wasn’t on duty would rush over.

However, due to an emergency task, a factory warehouse caught fire. Fang Liu’s brigade was closest to the fire, within their jurisdiction, so all the brothers were called to the mission.

As part of logistics, Old Xiao also had to hold his post steadfastly, leaving only his wife to pick up the cake and come to the ward to celebrate Lan Xueping’s birthday with her.

Of course, Lan Xueping wasn’t lonely; besides Old Xiao’s wife, there were doctors and nurses who joined in celebrating her birthday, which touched her deeply.

After everyone had left, Lan Xueping stood by the window. She could see the billowing black smoke in the distance – that was probably where the fire was.

"Did Fang Liu go too?" Lan Xueping knew that Fang Liu was on leave.

Old Xiao’s wife nodded, "Old Xiao said that when Fang Liu heard all the brothers were called out, he rushed to the scene as well. Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. They deal with fire every day. Everyone agreed they’d rush back after putting out the fire to celebrate with you; they’ll join you for the candle blowing and cake in the evening."

Old Xiao’s wife comforted Lan Xueping, believing that she had grown accustomed to these situations. As the spouse of a firefighter, she almost daily faced such concerns.

At that moment, the television hanging on the wall was broadcasting this news, with a reporter conducting interviews on the scene.

Lan Xueping and Old Xiao’s wife sat down to watch the news, as their family members were on the front line. Although Old Xiao wasn’t at the fire site, he was in charge of logistics and support coordination.

The scene was chaotic, with people evacuating the nearby crowds. Fire engines arrived one after another, and groups of firefighters plunged into the battlefield to fight the flames. From the TV, it seemed the fire was intense, the chances of putting it out quickly seemed slim. They could only stall its spread and evacuate the public from around the area while attempting to rescue those trapped in the burning building, all while fighting the flames.

Old Xiao’s wife was unaware of the specific circumstances there. Old Xiao had called when he left, but he hadn’t called since; she figured he was too busy at the moment.

It wasn’t right for Old Xiao’s wife to call and inquire during such a situation; unable to feel joyful, the two women just sat quietly in the ward, watching the news and occasionally looking out the window, judging the state of the fire based on the black smoke rising into the sky.

In fact, Lan Xueping had grown accustomed; Fang Liu was a firefighter, and a firefighter’s job was to put out fires, but she still worried every time.

Sometimes, when she heard news of a fire somewhere or the sound of a fire engine’s siren, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge in her heart.

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