Chapter 188 - 0179: Invitation of the Flying Knife

On Monday afternoon, Li Jingshu arrived punctually, bringing her mother to see Yang Ping.

Mrs. Li’s right shoulder had been in intense pain for over a month. She couldn’t raise her arm, especially not above her head. Each lift produced an excruciating tear-like agony that grew worse at night, leading to sleepless nights mitigated only by sleeping pills and analgesics.

The rehabilitation department at the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital had diagnosed her with Periarthritis of the shoulder. Despite undergoing physical therapy and receiving personal treatments and acupuncture from the department head, the pain persisted, and she felt relief only when taking analgesics.

Function limitation in over-the-top positions and nighttime pain in the neck and shoulder—based on these distinct symptoms, Yang Ping was about 70-80% confident that Mrs. Li was dealing with a rotator cuff injury rather than periarthritis of the shoulder. In fact, the latter diagnosis was becoming increasingly obsolete.

Most cases of shoulder pain arise from a rotator cuff injury. After taking Mrs. Li’s medical history and performing a physical examination of her shoulder, Yang Ping conducted a series of special tests, especially those for diagnosing rotator cuff injuries. These included the painful arc test, the impingement test, and the arm drop test. The results all pointed towards a rotator cuff injury. To be cured, she would have to undergo an arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

To save time, Li Jingshu asked Director Zhuang to assist, so her mother already had an MRI scan of her right shoulder. Conveniently, the results were out, and Director Zhuang joined them with the films, slightly out of breath.

Director Zhuang put the film onto the view box. Looking at the MRI scan, Yang Ping saw that the rotator cuff area indeed showed a long strip of high signal, aligning with his diagnosis. Not only was the rotator cuff torn but also Mrs. Li had type III acromion according to Bigliani classification, a hooked type. This shape is most prone to impinge with the rotator cuff. The normal degeneration in the rotator cuff of middle-aged and elderly people combined with repetitive impingement and wear leads to a tear, which in turn, causes pain.

In the past, due to a lack of understanding and effective diagnostic methods for this condition, it was mostly misdiagnosed as periarthritis of the shoulder, resulting in less-than-desirable treatment outcomes. Over the past twenty-plus years, with the advancement in MRI and arthroscopy technology, many ailments originally considered periarthritis of the shoulder have been reevaluated, leading to accurate diagnosis and thus, markedly improved treatment outcomes.

“These are the medicines that the doctor prescribed,” Li Jingshu took out the drug packaging.

Yang Ping took a look, recognizing a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that had a significant impact on the stomach, “You shouldn’t take this medicine for a prolonged period as it can lead to bleeding in the upper gastrointestinal tract. If needed, take it concurrently with a gastric protection medicine.”

“Auntie, you have a right rotator cuff injury and require arthroscopic shoulder surgery for a complete recovery,” Yang Ping told her matter-of-factly.

Mrs. Li was a bit alarmed to hear about the surgery, “Dear me, it’s that serious, I need surgery? But also, I’ve undergone so much physical therapy, and it hasn’t worked.”

Mrs. Li had been seeking treatment from a wider range of medical professionals and did not yet fully trust Yang Ping, considering his young age. It was only due to her precious daughter’s insistence that she agreed to consult with Dr. Yang.

“Dr. Yang is very competent. If she says it’s a rotator cuff injury, then it is. If surgery is required for recovery, then we should go for it, right?” Li Jingshu encouraged her mother.

Mrs. Li had mixed feelings. Her daughter had made such a significant decision about her surgery so breezily. Mrs. Li felt caught between a rock and a hard place.

“Get admitted to the hospital, you’ve been undergoing physical therapy for over a month, and the pain is worsening. Don’t wait anymore, get admitted and undergo the arthroscopy. It’s a simple procedure involving just a few small incisions, right, Dr. Yang?” Li Jingshu made the decision for her mother.

Standing on the side, Director Zhuang didn’t offer to admit her to the hospital since Mrs. Li hadn’t agreed yet. He decided to wait until they had discussed it further.

“I need to discuss the surgery with your father. It won’t hurt to wait a little longer, right?” Mrs. Li asked Yang Ping.

Yang Ping replied, “No, it’s not an emergency surgery, but it’s better not to delay too much, as that would increase the scope of the tear.”

“Is the surgery complicated?” Mrs. Li wanted to understand the procedure better.

“We make a few holes and, with the help of an arthroscope, suture the torn rotator cuff. Once it heals, the pain will stop,” Yang Ping explained simply.

“Dad’s really busy, I’ll give him a call, we can’t delay this anymore.”

“Don’t rush, mom. Take your time to consider, and when you’re ready, you can return to be admitted to the hospital. Don’t worry,” Jingshu consoled her.

Pouting, Li Jingshu watched as Director Zhuang helped pack away the MRI films. Mrs. Li stood up, “Thank you, Dr. Yang, I’ll give it some thought, and I’ll let Jingshu contact you when we’re ready.”

“No problem at all. You can reach out to me anytime,” Yang Ping assured her, turning off the viewing light box.

Despite her initial reservation towards the young doctor, Mrs. Li ended up very satisfied, owing mainly to Yang Ping’s accurate diagnosis of her condition.

Yang Ping walked them to the elevator. Just before they departed, Yang Ping said to Li Jingshu, “Thank you!”

She smiled, “It was nothing!”

—

“That Yang Ping, he’s really something!”

Director Zhao waved the external consultation application in his hand back and forth, having read it several times already, leaning back in his chair in the light from the window.

“The last time Fuer One invited him for a consultation, this time they directly asked him to perform the surgery. The Flying Blade has flown to Fuer One, it seems, this young man is really something.” Director Zhao was very happy, having been the head of the medical office for so many years, never having seen a request for surgery from Fuer One and Fuer Two. The requests he sent to Fuer One and Fuer Two went out like snowflakes.

He picked up his phone and dialed Director Han’s number: “Old Han, where are you? When will you be back in the office, good, prepare the Longjing, I am coming over, good news, of course, it’s good news.”

After Director Zhao finished his call, his assistant said, “Director, Doctor Yang is really amazing, even Fuer One invites him for surgery? Is he related to Fuer One?”

“Relatives? They might invite you for a meal, but for a consultation or surgery, even if the relationship is like that between father and son, no invitation would be sent. Fuer One isn’t going to invite just anyone for surgery. They would invite top-notch big names from Beijing and Shanghai or world-class masters, foreigners.”

Director Zhao rubbed his hands: “Han Jiangong has a sharp eye, this young man initially submitted his resume to the human resources department, the emergency department was short-staffed, so they moved him to apply in the emergency department, apparently Han Jiangong intercepted him halfway, I was puzzled, how does he recognize people so precisely? Look, the few people he brought in, each one is more remarkable than the last. Tian Yuan, recruited from Huaxi Hospital, is proficient in scientific research and surgery. He was made associate senior at just over thirty, steady as a bull, and what is the name of that other one?”

“Song Zimo, Director!” the assistant reminded.

“Right, Xiao Song, recruited from Shanghai, this young man is weird. He can perform surgery after just seeing it once. In his twenties, trained by Han Jiangong, he can handle spinal scoliosis, spinal tumors, all very steadly. The first two are graduates from prestigious schools, understandable that they were perceived promising. But this Yang Ping, I see, just a Master’s degree, graduated from a very ordinary medical college, how did he catch the eye of Han Jiangong? Do you think, can Old Han read people’s fortun?” Director Zhao scratched his head.

The assistant mysteriously said: “There’s a book called ‘Maffia’s Method of Divination’, I’m sure Director Han must be proficient in it! Otherwise, how can he be so accurate in judging people, never making a mistake, look, initially everyone disagreed with the decision to move Director Tan to our hospital.”

Initially the one who disagreed the most was Old Zhao, Director Zhao was quite embarrassed, the assistant realized he misspoke. This is the pot calling the kettle black, at that meeting, Old Zhao was the first to object.

Tan Boyun is arrogant, can’t get along with anyone, at Fuer Two he was at daggers drawn with Director Yu, they’ve come to the point where they don’t speak to each other.

For such a person to come to Sanbo Hospital would mean creating a big mess, or bringing in a time bomb, if he didn’t make the orthopedics department at Sanbo a mess it would be strange.

However, as soon as Tan Boyun arrived at Sanbo, he was extremely respectful to Han Jiangong, making the department of microtrauma orthopedics now thrive. The number of patients is growing day by day, now, trauma orthopedics in G City is second to none.

“In terms of understanding people, not only am I not as good as Han Jiangong, I dare say, no one at Sanbo is as good as him, even Dean Xia is half a step behind.” Old Zhao made a sweeping gesture, not feeling ashamed at all.

“I’m going to have tea with Han Jiangong, and by the way, get some Longjing from him, haha.” Old Zhao was very happy.

Zhang Lin was in the doctor’s office telling the story of his time in detention, passionate, surrounded by Fatty, Little Five and several trainees, interns.

Their eyes were as wide as dinner plates, just like when they used to listen to scary stories as children, their expressions constantly changing along with Zhang Lin’s speech. Zhang Lin was a great speaker.

Yang Ping and Song Zimo were also sitting far away, watching his gesticulating.

He said there were all sorts of people in there, just in that room, those who stole electric bikes, sold lottery tickets, gambled, fought, drunk drove, and there was even a boss, driving a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, who got on well with Zhang Lin. This brother was caught in a raid when he went out to fool around with his mistress, when asked what her name was, he actually had a short circuit in his brain and couldn’t say it, so he was arrested for solicitation instead.

Zhang Lin scolded him: “Are you a fucking idiot, you don’t even know the name of your own mistress?”

The brother was stunned and said: “I have so many mistresses, different ones for Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and have to change again on Sunday, so many, how can I remember all the names? If it was you, could you remember?”

So Zhang Lin said, “You must be a Viagra salesman, right?”

Which made everyone else laugh out loud again.

“Then there was this black brother, an international friend, who was brought in at night. Everyone was trying to talk to him in Chinese, and he was like a fool. I tried talking to him in English, and he was still like a fool. What language does this guy actually speak? One brother got anxious and said, ‘Are you a fucking moron, coming to China and not learning Chinese?’ As a result, this brother spoke fluent Mandarin: ‘We’re all hard-luck brothers, let’s just chat, why the need for name-calling?'”

Everyone laughed again.

Director Han saw off Director Zhao, who was carrying a can of tea leaves, top-grade Longjing, he glanced at it from time to time, walking lightly, he had eyed this can of tea leaves for a long time, today he caught a good opportunity and asked for it to be given to him.

“Xiao Yang, come in!” Director Han called.

Yang Ping came in, a consultation invitation from Fuer One was on the desk, Director Han flaunted it, smiling: “You’ve made progress, last time it was Liquan, this time you jumped straight to Fuer One!”

Su Nanchen invited him to perform surgery at Fuer One, Yang Ping slapped his own forehead.

He had just been planning to report this to Director Han, but he forgot about it because of Zhang Lin’s antics.

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