Surgery Godfather
Chapter 701 - 625: Harmonious Happiness

Chapter 701: Chapter 625: Harmonious Happiness

"The next morning.

Teacher Wu, with her two younger brothers, waited in the patient’s family resting room of the Comprehensive Surgery Department for Yang Ping’s reply.

She was a little nervous, uncertain if Professor Yang had a solution.

Her father had suffered so much in his life. For his three children, he had relied on hard labor to earn money, ensuring that all three of them could go to college.

During her high school years, her father would send living allowances to her every month punctually, regardless of weather conditions, never with a delay. The monthly allowance was always no less than what others received. Every time he delivered the allowance, he would meet her in a pavilion in a park far from school. He would hand over the money, reminding her that studying was arduous, but this was also the time for growth. She should not be too frugal and should speak up if she encountered any difficulties. The only way to make a difference was to study well, she should never believe what others said about studying as useless. However, she should not put too much pressure on herself. Studying well, regardless of whether she could get into college, would benefit her in the future.

Every time, her father never mentioned his own hardships, instead, he always shared some interesting things, as if his life contained no suffering but only joy and hope.

Sometimes he would bring some food. He would take the lunch box back after watching her finish eating.

Sometimes he would also bring some chicken legs, claiming that a client had bought it for him seeing his hard work of moving goods. As he was already full, he brought them to her.

But she knew that it was her father who bought them. Whatever others could afford to eat, he wanted his daughter to taste it too.

Sometimes he would give her extra money for buying nice clothes and dresses, repeatedly telling her that the purpose of earning money was to spend it. She shouldn’t treat herself unfairly, it was normal to dress well and it didn’t mean luxury or waste at all.

When she went to college, she could have relied on student loans to complete her studies. However, her father told her that he had the tuition prepared and did not let her apply for a loan.

During her years in college, her father would call her every week just for a chat, telling her to take one step at a time and avoid being poisoned by the messed-up thoughts in society, living her own life well.

She understood her father’s concerns at that time. He feared that she might go astray due to being inferior due to financial difficulties.

As these thoughts came up, Teacher Wu’s eyes became wet.

She hoped her father could live happily and healthily in his old age. She wanted to take her father traveling.

"Sister?"

Her second brother noticed something unusual about her.

"Dad will be fine. If needed, we can push him around in a wheelchair."

The youngest brother also noticed the change in her mood.

At this moment, a doctor came over and called them to the meeting room. Professor Yang would like to speak with them about the condition.

When she heard from Yang Ping that it’s possible to proceed with the knee preservation surgery, Teacher Wu was very excited, which meant their father could stand up and walk again, and could also enjoy the beautiful scenery of their motherland in the future.

---

Old Sir Wu was lying on the operation bed, ready to receive anesthesia from Liang Fatty.

Fatty was amazed at Old Sir Wu’s muscular physique, which was no less than those of fitness coaches in gyms. Coupled with his dark-colored skin, it presented an image of strength and healthiness, which was not in line with his age of seventy-four.

Old Sir Wu spoke with a Chongqing accent. Liang Fatty, who graduated from Huaxi Medical University, could understand the Sichuan dialect.

"Old Sir, do you also work out? It takes at least ten years to develop muscles like these, right?"

In order to lose weight, Fatty had been running and working out at the gym whenever he had time.

Old Sir Wu did not understand the expression ’work out’, but he understood that Fatty was inquiring about his muscles. So, he extended three fingers: "I’ve been a mover for over thirty years. Every day, I either carry goods on a pole or pull a handcart. When carrying the goods, I have to climb hills."

It turned out that these muscles were authentic, shaped by labor.

"Don’t just look at these muscles, Old Sir managed to raise three college graduates with just a carrying pole." Little Five added from the side.

Liang Fatty didn’t expect Old Sir Wu to be such a tough guy: "Scholars could rise from beneath a rod!"

However, hitting children with a carrying pole was too harsh and could cause problems.

Zhang Lin explained: "It looks like you were not spared from being beaten up when you were a kid, Fatty. Old Sir’s pole is not for hitting people, but for making a living. He managed to send three kids to college solely by carrying goods on a pole."

Liang Fatty couldn’t help but feel respect.

"Without studying, life doesn’t get better. You have to study, studying is the only way out."

Old Sir Wu expressed his philosophy C in the Chongqing dialect.

Truly a great father. Little Five and Zhang Lin’s children are still young, otherwise, they really wanted to learn some parenting tips from Old Sir Wu.

While chatting, Liang Fatty finished lumbar puncture and placed the catheter, then started to administer the medication.

Old Sir Wu felt a warmth in his lower limbs, slowly losing sensation, as if the legs weren’t his.

Hand washing, disinfection, and draping were completed, and the surgery begun systematically.

The entire operation was performed using minimally invasive techniques.

Firstly, an arthroscopic examination was conducted on both knee joints to reconfirm the suitability of the pre-set surgical plan.

The arthroscope was used to explore both knees, which completely aligned with the preoperative radiological examination. The probe could feel the hard, yellow subchondral bone in the medial condylar area where the cartilage was missing. This was the origin of the pain, without the protective and buffering layer of cartilage, the subchondral bone was directly subjected to friction and pressure. The pain stimuli were unbearable for the nerve, thus causing the pain.

The cartilage of the lateral condyle was relatively healthy, only suffering minor wear and tear.

There was synovial hyperplasia, but no obvious symptoms of synovitis.

Professor Yang ran a brief cleaning on both knee joints, switched the arthroscope to the ankle joint, and inspected it, aligning with the preoperative diagnosis.

All operations were performed under arthroscopy, and a cylindrical cartilage was collected using a harvester from the distal end of the tibia and the top of the talus. Some cancellous bone was adhered to underneath the cartilage. This easy-to-heal cartilage-bone structure always produces the most reliable bone-to-bone healing.

The cylindrical cartilage was inserted piece by piece into the pre-drilled holes in the medial condyle of the femur in the knee joint. Slowly, it assembled into the normal shape of the condyle part, even the curvature looked perfect.

After all the ankle joint cartilage was harvested, the remaining cartilage was ground down to expose the cancellous bone. The tibiotalar joint was fused together. As metals couldn’t be used, Professor Yang used synthetic bone grafts to bind both ends, and then inserted two absorbable screws to successfully complete the fusion of the ankle joint. The opposite side was operated on the same way.

The cartilage of the ankle joint was transplanted to the knee joint and then the ankle joint was fused.

Joints fusion, also known as arthrodesis, "welds" together the skeletal integrity of a joint. To achieve that, all cartilage must be removed to allow the bones to make direct contact, which can then lead to fusion.

Since metal can’t be used, the force of steel plates and screws can’t be applied. Bone grafts are used to link the two ends of the joint, then secured with absorbable screws. However, the strength of absorbable screws is not enough to provide compression.

After the ankle joint is fused, both lower limbs can still walk; it’s the compromise made under constraints.

In cases where osteoarthritis occurs in the ankle joint resulting in long-term chronic pain, joint fusion is a reliable method. Conveniently, the cartilage from the ankle joint could be transplanted to the knee joint to address shortcomings. The problems of four joints were solved at once.

At the end, the fibula was cut at the top third of both sides, removing 3 cm of the fibula, causing the lateral knee joint to lose its functional pillar. This allows for even subduction of the tibial platform.

It’s like a house that tilts because the foundation on one side collapses. Now by artificially collapsing the other side of the foundation, the house is balanced again.

For knee osteoarthritis patients, if Academician Zhang Yingze’s uneven subduction theory is done right, it will yield great results.

Academician Zhang Yingze’s theory of uneven subduction has paved the way for preserving the natural knee during surgery, and in practice, it has helped to save many knees.

Professor Yang combined Academician Zhang’s knee preservation surgery with autologous cartilage transplantation and successfully solved Old sir Wu’s problem.

After the surgery was completed, Old Sir Wu was wheeled out of the operating room with his three children waiting outside.

They had agreed that they would take turns caring for their father during his hospital stay. Letting a nurse attend to him didn’t seem reassuring enough for such a critical operation.

"Dad, are you okay? Does it hurt?"

The daughter tenderly touched her father’s forehead, her two brothers following suit.

Old Sir Wu laughed and said, "I didn’t know they were operating on my leg, I was dreaming that I was pulling a cart uphill. Before I could pull the cart up, the doctor woke me and told me the operation was done."

This operation was a combined spinal-epidural anesthesia, commonly known as "half anesthesia", and sedatives were used for sleep. So the patient wakes up clear-headed and alert unlike general anesthesia, where waking up can sometimes be confusing.

His words provoked a burst of laughter from his children. Seems like Old Sir Wu was an optimistic and interesting man with a positive mindset.

"That hill was quite steep then, wasn’t it? How come it took you so long to pull?" the daughter joked.

Old Sir Wu answered, "Not very long, just felt like my legs lacked strength, couldn’t pull it up, so frustrating!"

"Your lower limbs were anesthetized, of course, you didn’t have the strength. Do you want me to give you some more medicine so you can sleep and pull your cart up the hill?" Liang Fatty joined in on the banter.

"No—" Old Sir Wu shook his head.

"Don’t shake your head, lie still." Liang Fatty held down his head.

"You all have things to do, I can manage on my own. There’s no need to accompany me here, it’ll only hold you up, especially since my second child came from so far away."

"No matter how far away, it’s just these few days. Don’t worry, we’ve all arranged for our leaves accordingly."

His children reassured their father, and the family mood was harmonious.