After three days in the hospital, Li Jingshuâs swelling had significantly subsided, and she was ready for manual reduction.
According to the original plan, if manual reduction was unsuccessful, they would proceed to surgery.
Professor Zhang insisted on walking on his own, leaning on his crutch, with everyone guarding his sides.
To be honest, not to mention a complex dual bone fracture reduction in the forearm, everyone had little experience with even the simple ones.
Manual reduction was like an endangered animal teetering on the brink of extinction.
Li Jingshu was wheeled in by her mother. It was only a case of an upper limb fracture, and she could walk, but Mrs. Li still used a wheelchair to push her along.
She rubbed her eyes, she looked a little haggard. This sudden trauma was a double attack emotionally and physically.
Her orderly life had been disrupted. The uncertainty of recovery kept haunting her, making her worried and scared.
âMom, I donât want surgery?â Li Jingshu turned her head, looking pitiful.
Mrs. Liâs heart ached as she stroked her daughterâs hair, âSilly girl, not everything can go according to your wishes. I would rather it was me who had the fracture, not my precious baby.â
Her phone vibrated, Mrs. Li answered, âWeâre about to head to the operating room, donât worry, everything will be fine. Professor Zhang will personally attempt the reduction. If it doesnât work, then we have to do surgery. Everything has been arranged, donât worry.â
âItâs your father.â Mrs. Li handed the phone to Li Jingshu.
âUh-huh, dad, Iâm afraid of scarring. Uh-huh, I understand, donât worry.â Just like a wronged child, tears flowed from Li Jingshuâs eyes.
After ending the call, Mrs. Li said, âJust relax, when the time comes the doctor will do cosmetic stitches for you. You know Sanbo Hospital, theyâve successfully done a five-section replantation that sensationalized the whole country, youâve got nothing to worry about.â Mrs. Li reassured her, clutching her daughterâs hand which was stretched over her shoulder. She knew well that the chances of successful manual reduction were slim. It was just a case of not giving up hope until the very end.
âNo matter how they stitch it, there will be scars. You are lying to me. Iâm scared of surgery.â Li Jingshu sounded like a little girl.
âI will let you get a tattoo on your arm afterwards, okay?â Mrs. Li kept comforting her.
âIâm not getting a tattoo.â Li Jingshu said.
The surgery naturally took priority, and the operating room had long been prepared.
While lying on the operating table, staring at the ceiling and the surgical lights, Li Jingshuâs body started to shake slightly.
The anesthesiologist was positioning her arm under a surface ultrasound, preparing to administer an axillary block anesthesia.
This was the first time she felt so helpless. Her arm was in someone elseâs hands, and whether it was a success or failure was no longer up to her.
âDonât be afraid, itâs going to be alright. Even if we have to do surgery, we wonât let the scar be too obvious. If worse comes to worst, you can work in the Northeast where youâll be bundled up in thick clothing all the time. Who will notice?â Yang Ping tried to comfort her. Seeing her pitiful look, Yang Pingâs heart softened, and she no longer found her annoying.
âYou make it sound like eating candy.â Li Jingshu said, becoming more and more scared, terrified of failure and ultimately, of surgery.
Professor Zhang only assigned Yang Ping as a spectator, the assistant position was given to Song Zimo, and there was also that assistant graduate student, Xiao Mo. So she had nothing to do, she could chat with Li Jingshu a bit, it was purely voluntary encouragement.
This kind of reduction normally required three people to cooperateâtwo to do the traction and one to reposition the bone. It was just like a surgery, with clear roles for the main doctor and the assistant.
âHelp me pull up my cap, itâs covering my eyes. Iâm scared that if it doesnât work, Iâll need surgery.â Li Jingshu turned her head.
Yang Ping noticed her disposable sterile cap had slipped down, covering her eyes. She reached out to pull it up.
âWill the anesthesia lower my IQ?â Li Jingshu asked.
Iâm faint, are you a well-educated person, asking such a stupid question.
But on second thought, she isnât a medical student, of course she wouldnât understand. Itâs all assumptions when people are uninformed.
In the past when he rotated in the emergency department, there were parents who firmly refused anesthesia for their children, especially general anesthesia. When asked why, they said their child was so smart they didnât want to make them stupid.
Can anesthesia make people stupid?
Only after Yang Ping had looked through a great deal of anesthetics literature, did he dare to conclude that anesthesia would not make people stupid.
âYour IQ is so high, losing a little bit wonât matter. Itâs like losing one note from a $10,000 bundle, itâs not a big deal.â Yang Ping casually replied.
âSo it will lower my IQ after all?â She was almost in tears again.
Yang Ping had thought she was joking. But it turned out she was asking sincerely.
Patientsâ IQs drop to zero in front of diseases. This is a statement Yang Ping believed in now.
This is also the theoretical basis for the rise of miraculous healers, like Tian.
âNo, it wonât!â Yang Ping reassured her, âAnesthetics just temporarily block nerve conduction. The liver and kidneys of the human body will clear these substances. After a period, the body will have cleared the drugs, and they wonât have any effect anymore. How could that lower your IQ?â
Educated people like to hear the theory. After this explanation, she understood, and her crying turned into laughter.
The anesthesia puncture was successful, and the drugs were infused into the nerve sheath and the surrounding area.
The equipment on the other side was also almost ready. Bandages, splints, bone separators, pressure pads were laid out. The C-arm X-ray machine was also brought over.
The Patrolling Nurse used a lead apron to shield Li Jingshuâs lower abdomen, and a bib to cover her neck.
To protect against X-rays, the focus was on the glands, such as the thyroid and gonads, for females the gonads are the ovaries.
The splints were made of cedarwood bark, Sanbo Hospital didnât have such equipment, they only had splints with aluminum cores, which were not very suitable.
These cedarwood splints were meticulously selected from the storeroom of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.
Professor Zhang didnât yet know that this patient was the Mayorâs daughter, not because he was slow, but he simply didnât care about these things.
âYoung lady, donât be nervous, weâll help you with another reduction. If it doesnât work, weâll have to resort to surgery. But thereâs no need to fear surgery, weâll try our best to sew it up in a way that the scars are not noticeable,â Professor Zhang reassured her kindly.
The Head Nurse had already brought a chair, Professor Zhang sat on it, after all he had just finished an operation, even though he could walk, he couldnât be as relaxed as usual.
The height of the operating bed was adjusted to match the height of Professor Zhangâs chair.
Director Han was also present, as for the reduction, it was something he had done in his youth, it was merely a youthful memory to him.
Others who missed the surgery, those whose surgeries had not yet started, all gathered around to see. The Head Nurse drove many away because too many people would interfere with the operation.
The office director, dressed in visitorâs clothing, also came in, representing the hospital leadership, to show their concern.
The hospital leaders and their families staying in the hospital, those who Dean Xia personally visited, the time of the visit, the duration, and the quantity of flower and fruit baskets, none of these were done at random, there were rules.
âMiss Li, hello! Dean Xia is in a meeting and asked me to come on his behalf. Donât be nervous, Professor Zhang is an expert in manual reduction, we will do all we can to assist.â
The purpose of a visit is to make your status known, otherwise, the visit would be deemed as wasted.
The Office Directorâs words were quite bureaucratic, but he was addressing Li Jingshu who was trembling and looking as feeble as a little girl, hence it felt a bit misplaced.
Li Jingshu looked innocently at the Office Director, seeming to have not registered what he had said.
The details didnât matter, what mattered was that the protocol had been completed. When he left, he wouldnât simply leave but would report the progress in the operating room to Mrs. Li. The idea was to make it clear to Mrs. Li that a representative of the hospitalâs leadership had visited, otherwise, it would have been a wasted visit.
Although Yang Ping disliked these formalities, he understood its necessity in these professional settings.
Xiao Mo was using the small splint to compare against Li Jingshuâs upper right limb, trying to measure the splintâs length and width.
Generally, the limbs on both sides are similar, by comparing with the healthy limb, it can alleviate the patientâs pain and fear.
Li Jingshuâs reaction was intense, she immediately tensed up and said, âYouâve got it wrong, itâs the left side.â
âHeâs just comparing the size of the splint, to estimate the measurement.â Yang Ping explained.
Nowadays there is pre-surgery check, the patientâs surgery is checked once upon acceptance at the ward; checked again upon entering the operating room; and once more before surgery. There are very few cases of operated body parts being misidentified.
Previously, without these strict regulations, mistakes did happen. The most serious case was at a big hospital, two children, same sex, same age, same name, one was to undergo surgery for a congenital heart defect, and the other to have his tonsils removed.
The child with the tonsils problem was mistakenly sent to the thoracic surgery room, and the one with the congenital heart defect was sent to the ear, nose, and throat department operating room.
In any case, the surgery was prepared by assistants, sterilizing and arranging sheets, everything was done, then the professor came onto the stage, and all he saw was the prepared surgical area.
The professor was very efficient, his skills were top-notch.
Opening the chest!
Damn it, something was wrong, there was no heart malformation.
The professorâs hand was shaking so much that he could not hold the instrument steadily.
As a result, the patient with the heart malformation had his tonsils removed, and the one with the tonsils problem had his chest opened.
This incident was later reported nationally, hence hospitals had organized doctors for learning sessions.
But this was a low-probability event, similar to a plane falling from the sky.
The anesthesia took effect, the splint was cut to the correct size, Li Jingshuâs left limb was placed on the C arm machineâs detector.
Professor Zhang had also finished studying the CT 3D reconstruction.
Professor Zhang, Song Zimo, Xiao Mo put on their lead clothing, everything was ready, they began the reduction.
âDonât leave!â Li Jingshu saw Yang Ping preparing to leave and seemed a bit frightened.
Possibly because he had just accompanied her in a chat, she got a brief sense of security.
Professor Zhang said, âPut on the lead coat, itâs good to watch.â
Yang Ping put on the lead coat that Little Five brought, and stood aside.
All other personnel were cleared from the room.