Surgery Godfather

365  Chapter 0346 Ten Cups of Tea

After observing the arthroscopic micro-engraving, Doctor Robert was filled with regret.

He regretted rushing off too quickly and not bringing a decent gift with him.

In the following days, Doctor Robert became increasingly curious about the department of orthopedics, as it was completely different from their hospital.

The most significant surgical indications were different, some patients who were considered useless for surgery, or even relatively contraindicated, became surgically advisable here.

These patients were scattered throughout the corridors, wearing braces, undergoing postoperative gait training, and often gathered to exchange experiences.

Among them, many patients who had undergone multiple ligament reconstruction of the shoulder and knee were professional athletes, including football and basketball players.

No matter if they were doctors or nurses, or the patients, there seemed to be no significant apprehension about the difficulty of this surgery. The treatment was no different than the common anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.

The day after surgery, these patients were allowed to walk freely in the corridor wearing their braces, going on their own to the rehabilitation room for training.

With Zhang Lin's permission, Doctor Robert performed stability tests on a few patients who had undergone multi-ligament knee reconstruction. Whether it was a manual examination or the KT2000 test, the stability was very good, and their return to the field would not be a problem.

Doctor Robert felt as if he had stepped into a parallel universe. Had it not been for a miraculous paper, he would have no idea that such doctors and techniques existed in China on the west side of the Pacific.

After observing several surgeries led by Song Zimo for a few days, Doctor Robert was a bit embarrassed. The assistant's skills were not inferior to his, and even the ability to reconstruct multiple ligaments in the shoulder and knee completely exceeded his level.

Today, he could finally observe Doctor Yang Ping leading a surgery. Doctor Robert arrived at the operating room early, following everyone else.

How could Director Gao miss Yang Ping's surgery? He rushed in just before the operation commenced.

Now, under Yang Ping's guidance, Old Gao's technique in multiple ligament reconstruction of the knee and shoulder has been leaping forward. Given time, he will advance to the national forefront, which is inevitable.

Director Gao silently sneaked into the operating room, a behavior he was used to. Doctor Robert greeted Old Gao, who had just entered, in a jerky Chinese, "Hello!"

Everyone was wearing masks and could not see each other's faces. But when he saw the eyes of this European and American fellow, Old Gao found it familiar but couldn't figure out who he was.

Director Gao had spent a year as a visiting scholar at the New York Special Surgery Hospital in the United States and recognized a few foreigners. He always felt this person's eyes were familiar.

Perhaps he was another one coming for advanced studies. The Japanese have already come, so it would not be strange if an American or European showed up.

All foreigners look alike; Director Gao did not have time to speculate. He found the best viewing angle and staked out his position.

Doctor Robert noticed that Old Gao's position was very good, very safe. It was convenient to watch the screen or the operating table. Hence, he stood next to Old Gao.

Director Gao did not intend to relinquish his position. It didn't matter if people squeezed a bit. These are here to learn. First-come, first-served. It was his own fault that he wasn't proactive, came in so early, and wandered around the operating room.

Old Gao has now mastered the basic techniques of such surgeries and is now learning fine-tuning ligament balance.

Currently, there are quite a few patients of this type. With Yang Ping providing technical guidance and support, Old Gao is progressing very quickly.

A little more effort, learning the fine-tuning of ligament balance, he would step into the national forefront. With experience in performing more surgeries, Old Gao could join the international first echelon for this type of operation.

When the preparatory work for the operation was done, Yang Ping took over the lens and began the operation.

This racing speed of surgery struck the New Yorker, Doctor Robert, causing his eyes to widen in astonishment. He was genuinely worried that too much force could make his eyeballs pop out.

Let alone the endoscope operation, the micro-engraving was so incredible that it took Doctor Robert a few days to return to normal thinking.

Whether it's anterior or posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, no positioning tools were needed. Just drilling holes directly in the tibia and femur. Yet, the start and end points of the ligament can be extremely precise.

Whether it's the posterior medial structure or posterior external structure, the complex ligament starts and ends were as simple as drawing lines in Yang Ping's hands.

Doctor Robert stood behind the yellow line. His tall body blocked Director Gao's view, and this foreigner seemed a bit selfish. When he squeezed a bit, Old Gao kindly made way, but this fellow took a mile when given an inch and continuously encroached on Old Gao's space.

Old Gao was somewhat dissatisfied and squeezed Doctor Robert to retrieve his position.

Robert was engrossed in watching, and with his tall and robust physique, he casually shifted his body and squeezed Old Gao back, seeming quite justified.

When he squeezed for some space, Doctor Robert took even more. Old Gao's anger flared up, but the physical difference was too considerable, and Old Gao couldn't out-squeeze him. He immediately called out to Zhang Lin: "Xiao Zhang, Xiao Zhang!"

Zhang Lin heard Director Gao calling: "Director Gao, what's wrong?"

"This international friend, what's going on? Is he a new intern in your department? Why doesn't he have any discipline? He keeps squeezing people." Old Gao complained.

Zhang Lin took a look, and indeed Robert was indeed taking up too much space. That was a bit of bullying.

"Doctor Robert, discipline! Follow the discipline! Otherwise, I have the right to forbid you to enter the operating room." Zhang Lin sternly warned Doctor Robert.

I don't care if you come from Japan or the United States. In my territory, you must duly follow the rules, or there'll be no discussion.

Robert immediately moved a little to the side his chin and gestured to the vacated space. His meaning was that he conceded; here I leave half for you, his eyes continuing to observe the surgery.

Witnessing the seriousness of the Japanese intern helping Zhang Lin make tea, Robert could guess the weight of the secretary's power. Just like at the New York Special Surgery Hospital, all interns are under his management.

He could grant or forbid interns from performing certain actions, even recommend to the hospital to advise interns to leave.

To actually meet Doctor Robert in the operating room. Anyone who's seriously into sports medicine knows Doctor Robert—he's the Chairman of the North American Sports Medicine and Arthroscopy Association and the Director of Sports Medicine at the New York Special Surgery Hospital.

What is he doing here? Old Gao wondered.

The man stood outside the yellow line, his feet touching it but not crossing it, not even blinking once.

His eyes shifted between the operating table and the screen, just like when he observed surgeries at the New York Special Surgery Hospital.

"Doctor Robert from the New York Special Surgery Hospital?" Director Gao asked Zhang Lin.

Zhang Lin nodded, "He arrived a few days ago, here to learn surgery from Doctor Yang."

That confirms it, it's Playboy Robert. Right now, no matter who he is, Director Gao doesn't have time to engage him and just quietly continues watching the procedure.

Even if the American President stood there, he wouldn't get in the way of Old Gao watching the surgery. The American President has nothing to do with Old Gao, but this surgery matters a lot to him.

The entire surgery was finished in half an hour, bypassing the ligament adjustment steps altogether.

Could it be? There's no need for deliberate adjustment; once the surgery is complete, the ligaments naturally adjust themselves. Has his intuition reached this level?

This kind of surgery surely opened Robert's eyes. Generally, he's the one enlightening others, but this time, it's his turn.

After the surgery, the patient's limb was bandaged and the sterile sheet was lifted.

Robert dared not go a step further, so he made a request from outside the yellow line, "May I perform a knee examination on the patient? Under your supervision, of course."

Such a non-invasive examination is acceptable in the presence of our hospital's doctors.

Yang Ping also knew that he wanted to evaluate the results of the surgery, so he allowed Robert to give it a try.

Robert put on gloves, completed the whole set of knee examinations, gave thumbs up with both hands, and raised his eyebrows, "Incredible, the stability of the knee joint is excellent."

With such stable joints, one might actually question whether any damage occurred at all. Every time he performs a surgery, he hopes to achieve such a feeling, but over the years, he's never once managed to attain this sensation until today.

This feeling is marvelous. Robert fiddled with it a few more times, and if he was currently in New York, in his own operating room, performing a surgery that he had conducted himself, he would definitely be dancing for joy.

This surgery is significantly better than the one he performed based on a research paper. This is a procedure that can allow patients to return to the sports field. This is the operation that can end the career-ending syndrome.

With the trip to China, Robert has discovered a new world. This is a magical place with magical people and magical techniques.

No one understands the enormous significance of this surgery better than Robert. If such results are achievable, many sports stars from the past wouldn't have had to leave the stage so sadly.

For surgeries like this, Robert tried every means possible, collaborated with Cornell University, and Columbia University, utilizing computer technology, 3D imaging technology, and motion analysis technology, attempting to find the optimal balance, but results were still far from satisfactory.

Patients from all over the world with such conditions are lining up to see him, considering him the final destination on their path to seeking medical help. After being treated by him, the patients have reached the pinnacle of medical science.

Typically, once Robert performs the surgery, patients regain the ability for normal walking. If they are lucky, they can even continue some jogging and other exercises, but retirement is inevitable sooner or later.

If Robert wants to achieve Doctor Yang's level, standardized operations won't cut it. He must gain his experience. When the surgical methods are similar, the difference lies in experience.

However, experiences aren't readily shared by everyone. Even Robert himself doesn't always have enough patience to share his minute experiences with all his students around the world, except perhaps his own favorite disciples.

It's a pity that he's not allowed to participate in the surgeries himself; otherwise, he could have learned so much more. He was quite envious of Takahashi; how could he be allowed to perform surgeries along with Doctor Yang?

Seeing is believing. Robert was a bit disoriented after witnessing the carving of fruit kernels under a microscope during their first meeting and the current arthroscopic surgery. He had always thought of China as a mystical country, and now his impression was even stronger.

Back when Bruce Lee movies were popular in America, American hooligans took care to avoid Chinese people in cloth shoes. Kung fu!

Now, Robert had this misconception that everyone in the operating room was highly skilled, and he had just misused humor to jostle the doctor beside him.

"Sorry!" Robert said in his untuned Chinese.

In front of Yang Ping, Robert felt that his surgery skills were obviously one level lower. Robert, world-class and stationed at the top of the pyramid for a long time, was not accustomed to this.

But seeing is believing - the arthroscopy of this young doctor not only surpassed his own, but the ligament reconstruction surgery was simply... The starting and ending points of the anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments were all positioned in mere moments and absolutely centered anatomically.

In front of him, Robert was a true student. With the world's largest number of surgeries per year and the highest quality surgeries, this doctor was several times faster than himself.

"In the short term, it will be difficult for you to achieve a high level in this kind of surgery. Start with common people, then non-confrontational professional athletes, before finally moving on to strongly confrontational professional athletes, such as football or basketball players," Doctor Yang didn't hold back from sharing his experience.

In comparison to others, experience is much cheaper for him. As long as he's willing, he can accumulate decades' worth of experience in an instant.

"Zhang, can making tea for you earn me a chance to operate?" Robert pulled Zhang Lin into a corner and showed him a translation on his phone.

"If possible, let me make tea for you. Ten cups a day. Not the Japanese man, he's unsanitary. He doesn't wash his hands before making tea."

"Cigars, from Cuba. I have plenty. I'll bring some for you tomorrow," Robert felt he had discovered the shortcut to Oriental wisdom.