The demonstration room of the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center was packed with people.
There were more than thirty doctors on staff, more than ten doctors for in-service training, more than ten interns, and a considerable number of nurses and office clerks. Not only did they fill up the seats and block the aisles, but some people even stood on the tables at the back.
Everyone was really curious.
They were not curious about the surgery itself, but about the patient who was undergoing the surgery.
Liu Weichen could be said to be the most famous sports star since the establishment of the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center. Of course, when Academician Zhu Tongyi was young, he participated in the surgery of more famous patients, but after he became an academician, he had fewer opportunities.
This was especially so for domestic sports stars. Since the millennium, more and more of them went to foreign medical institutions. It could only be said that the wave of globalization had also swept through hospitals and the accompanying medical field.
The basic medical field, which was not profitable, was at most invaded by imported drugs. But in the medical service industry, which was the most profitable, competition from Japan, the United States, and even South Korea and Hong Kong was everywhere. Globally famous specialists competed against nationally famous specialists, the big shots from the New England Journal of Medicine competed against the big shots from China, the names on the teaching materials from Johns Hopkins University competed against the editorial board of the teaching materials from the Ministry of Education, and the devil from Mayo College of Medicine looked down on Xiao Moxian from Jishuitan Hospital …
Sports medicine was especially competitive.
Top athletes were a minority, and they had a lot of choices. When they were injured, the medical institutions and doctors who could participate in the competition could only be the top few.
If Liu Weichen's injury was not so serious and his requirements were not so high, he would not have not received treatment for so long.
In fact, Achilles tendon rupture was known around the world as the end of an athlete's career. It was the athlete's "Achilles' heel".
It was not terrible for ordinary people to have Achilles tendon rupture. Whether they used minimally invasive or open surgery, they could get better results. After the surgery, they could wear high heels for a few months, pay attention to their actions, and they could recover to their original state. At most, they could not participate in badminton, basketball, or other sports that required more running and jumping.
However, if athletes could not run and jump, could not stop, and could not jump quickly, what kind of competitive life was there?
In fact, in terms of injury repair, the development of modern sports medicine was enough to deal with Achilles tendon rupture. The more famous patients with Achilles tendon ruptures, such as Kobe, Beckham, and Serena Williams, could not only run and jump after surgery, but they also did not show signs of Achilles tendon ruptures again.
However, most athletes could not return to their previous competitive level after their Achilles tendons ruptured. For example, Kobe, Beckham, Billups, Thomas the Smiling Assassin, and others announced their retirement a few years after their Achilles tendons ruptured.
Although Kobe, Beckham, and the others were still professional athletes when they retired and had a competitive level that surpassed most people in the world, in the end, the extremely high requirements of competitive sports could not tolerate a slight decline in competitive level. Therefore, there were extremely high requirements for sports medicine.
It was an almost miraculous request.
However, there were indeed athletes who had miraculously recovered. For example, Serena Williams continued to dominate the women's tennis world after her Achilles tendon ruptured in 2010. Wilkins, an NBA star player in the early years, once again put on a performance as the "best of the human movie" nine months after his Achilles tendon surgery.
Miracles gave birth to hope.
This was the kind of hope that Liu Weichen wanted to obtain.
He was already the best in the field of track and field in China. If he continued to work hard, although he might not be able to get an Olympic medal, it was still possible for him to make a name for himself in the Golden League.
This was also his minimum requirement. If he could not meet this requirement, what was the point of continuing to run at the risk of Achilles tendon rupture?
Even advertisers and fans needed a certain level of achievement to build a foundation.
Liu Weichen knew this very well. Everyone might be shouting that "health is the most important", but when he returned to the field, if he could not meet the minimum expectations, his popularity would instantly drop. After two or three times, he would become what Cao Yu said, "the second time, the third time, the third time." It would not take long for him to be replaced by sports stars who had more exposure, were more attractive, and had better results.
He could not become the top three in the world, but he had to at least be the best in China.
China's sports stars all had similar logic and requirements.
…..
Liu Weichen changed his clothes and lay on the operating table. He had a ring on his arm. His body was cold, and he looked miserable.
His gaze converged on the floor. The floor of the operating theater was blue, just like what he saw on the screen.
Two nurses were chatting and laughing. They even talked about his calves and muscles, and they asked Liu Weichen a few questions. He chose the shortest answer and did not want to talk.
However, Liu Weichen was usually a talkative person. He could often make the reporters laugh, and when he appeared on television, he was also known as a man with a sense of variety. Advertisers especially liked Liu Weichen, and they would often accommodate Liu Weichen in their advertisements because of one of his jokes. It was even more so for his teammates. Every time they traveled in the team's bus, Liu Weichen would not put on any airs of being the boss. He would always start his speech with a joke …
It was probably the cold operating table that froze all the enthusiasm in the room.
Liu Weichen suddenly missed his parents very much.
His father should be in his hometown at this time to help his older brother, who was a civil servant, take care of his child. His mother just went home to help him get a change of clothes.
Liu Weichen was a little regretful. Maybe he should have waited for his mother to come back and chat with her before deciding on the surgery. Maybe it would have eased his nervousness. However, his mother would most likely cry again. If he did not do well, his mother would cry for a few hours while he performed the surgery. She might even call his older brother.
What he should have done the most was probably to find a girlfriend, a girlfriend who could understand him and not be like the previous one, who only changed positions and bought handbags.
When he thought of this, Liu Weichen began to feel that Ling Ran was unreasonable, unlike Doctor Qu. Doctor Qu was a doctor who was good at getting along with people. He could properly arrange everything, comfort his mother, and make Liu Weichen feel at ease. It was just that his surgical skills were a little lacking. There was no surgery that he was particularly good at …
"Have you verified his identity?" Ling Ran's voice was heard when the operating theater door opened.
"I've verified his gaze. He's Liu Weichen." The young nurse looked very lively.
Liu Weichen thought that this joke was not bad, but he did not want to laugh. He only raised his head and wanted to greet Ling Ran.
"Anesthetize him." Ling Ran's voice was extremely calm.
Liu Weichen was stunned for a moment. He then heard the anesthetist's footsteps, and the anesthetist said, "Dalang, get up and take your medicine …"
Liu Weichen cursed and raised his head. A few seconds later, he lost consciousness.
The two young nurses did not know whether they were amused by "Dalang" or by Liu Weichen's sudden swearing. They giggled, and they only stopped laughing when Academician Zhu Tongyi entered the operating theater.
"Are you ready?" Academician Zhu Tongyi changed into his surgical gown, crossed his arms, and gave the position of chief surgeon to Ling Ran. He stood by the side. In name, he was the surgical director, but in reality, he was the surgical supervisor.
Ji Tianlu and Lu Wenbin stood beside Ling Ran. They were still the first and second assistants for Ling Ran. In terms of the internal ecology of the research institute, Academician Zhu Tongyi could be said to have abandoned his seniority and rank to do his best.
After Ling Ran confirmed with a few people, he said, "I'm ready."
"Yes, all of you are familiar with the plan. The key now is to choose the right path, reduce the damage to the nerves and other muscle tissues, and try to strengthen the suture as much as possible …" Academician Zhu Tongyi emphasized. He made it sound very simple, but in fact, every requirement was extremely difficult to achieve.
Ling Ran nodded in silence. He did his best every time he performed a surgery. However, the surgery that was truly close to perfection, which was the one that he deliberately carried out before, cost a lot of money, and there was an unavoidable element of luck.
Fortunately, Liu Weichen was rich, and the hardware in the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Center was good enough to provide sufficient technical support.
However, external help could only go so far. When the incision was made, Ling Ran would be faced with a new plan that kept improving.
"Let's start." Academician Zhu Tongyi waited for two minutes. When he saw that everyone had calmed down, he gave the order.
Ling Ran waved his hand and made an S-shaped incision on the back of the calf. It was a full 14 inches long.
Academician Zhu Tongyi's eyes widened, and he almost screamed.
Ji Tianlu coughed hard and thought, 'Do you think we're running away?
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