Chapter 780: Surgery
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Neurology had always been a difficult medicine discipline, especially when it came to the spinal nerve, where the situation would become increasingly complex.
If the end of the spinal nerve was damaged, the entire lower human body would become paralyzed. When this happened, doctors would usually tell patients that it was basically impossible to stand up again.
Li Gaoliang’s situation was the same. Once the central nervous cells were damaged, the cells couldn’t be regenerated. Even the best doctor in the world couldn’t repair a broken spine.
However, Lu Zhou’s treatment plan was rather unconventional.
A nerve signal modem was going to be implanted at each end of the damaged spinal nerve segment. The damaged nerve would be covered by an imitation nerve sensing device made of molybdenum/t.i.tanium alloy.
It was equivalent to building a bridge over the damaged spinal nerve by using electrical signals to replace the complex signal transmissions between the neuronal cells. Then, they could use “translators” at both ends to translate electrical signals into neural signals. Thus, the signals could control the built-in electric t.i.tanium alloy bones. This allowed the patient to restore their leg motor function.
In order to maximize the recovery of the subject’s athletic ability and to extend the shelf life of the nerve access prosthetics, the t.i.tanium alloy bones used in his legs were jointly designed by the Inst.i.tute of Computational Materials and Mechanical Engineering of the Jinling Inst.i.tute for Advanced Study.
The average unit price was at least US$2,000 per gram.
Adding the costs of the neutral access device and various other equipment, this experiment wasn’t going to be cheap…
After this transformation, almost the entire half of his lower body would be replaced with machinery parts. Even though it wouldn’t be quite like the Terminator, after he fully adapted to the transformation, he would return to the athletic abilities of a normal human being.
Operating room.
The anesthesiologist already prepared the anesthesia and was ready to inject it at any time.
The surgeon, who had already put on his gloves, took out the surgical tools. He looked at Li Gaoliang before the operation began and asked carefully, “Are you ready?”
Li Gaoliang was lying on the operating table, and he calmly replied, “I’m ready, let’s begin.”
All preparations were in place, and the surgery soon began.
w.a.n.g Peng stood outside the operating room. He found a cigarette in his pocket, but he decided to throw it in the trash can.
He took two steps back and couldn’t help but looked at Lu Zhou.
“Do you think this operation will be successful?”
Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “I’m not 100% confident. I can only say that I tried my best to minimize the risks.”
In order to ensure that the operation was foolproof, Star Sky Technology invited the most experienced surgeon from Beijing and performed numerous operation exercises.
Even then, Lu Zhou couldn’t guarantee that there would be no accidents.
w.a.n.g Peng nodded and said nothing. He stared silently at the door of the operating room and clenched his fists. He silently prayed for his former comrade.
The operation was very long.
The original plan was to finish at 6:00 pm, but it was delayed until 3:00 am.
Lu Zhou was sitting on a bench in front of the operating room, taking a nap. He suddenly woke up to the sound of the operating room door opening. When he saw the surgeon come out of the operating room, he immediately asked, “How’s it going? Did the operation go well?”
The chief surgeon took off his mask and looked at Lu Zhou with a tired look.
“The operation is generally successful… As for whether or not it will work, we will have to wait until the patient wakes up.”
Lu Zhou sighed in relief.
w.a.n.g Peng unclenched his fists and looked at the doctor gratefully.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Fortunately, the patient is in great physical shape. To be honest, this is the first time I have done such a messy operation… I have never heard of bridging the spinal nerve before.”
The doctor was full of emotion.
For the people outside the operating room, the result of the operation was either success or failure. But for him, it was ten-hours of hard work.
The doctor paused for a second and said, “Generally speaking, if a spinal cord injury damages his nerve fibers, the paralysis caused by the trauma is permanent… If he really is able to stand up again, he will become a medical miracle.”
“Hopefully, a miracle will happen.” Lu Zhou nodded towards the doctor and said, “You should go rest.”
The doctor smiled reluctantly.
“Yeah, thanks.”
He had been working intensely for the past ten hours, and he had reached his mental limit.
…
After the surgical operation was finished…
Li Gaoliang lay in the hospital bed until morning.
He finally woke up.
Even though the physician in charge of anesthesia was experienced and the dose control was perfect, central nervous system operations required a large amount of anesthesia. Right now, he still couldn’t speak and could only open his eyes.
After hearing he was awake, Lu Zhou immediately rushed over from the Jinling Inst.i.tute for Advanced Study.
When he arrived at the ward, Li Gaoliang had been lying on the hospital bed for a while.
He could only move his eyeb.a.l.l.s and part of the muscles on his face. After hearing the door open, he moved his eyeb.a.l.l.s and looked at Lu Zhou.
“How are you feeling?”
Li Gaoliang’s facial muscles twitched, but no words came out of his mouth.
“Sorry, I forgot that you can’t speak yet.” Lu Zhou shook his head with a smile and paused for a while before continuing, “The operation was very successful. As for whether you can adapt to your new body, that will depend on how well you are doing after the rehabilitation. The surgery is the hard part, the rest should be easy.”
Li Gaoliang didn’t say anything. He just looked intently at Lu Zhou.
Lu Zhou could tell Li Gaoliang was grateful, so he smiled and replied, “I’m glad you’re safe.
“You should rest for a couple of days. I’ll come and visit you in a bit.”
“I…” Li Gaoliang’s face twitched, and he struggled to open his mouth. “Thank… you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Lu Zhou smiled at him.
He then turned around and left.