Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 969 I'd rather be paralyzed than let the Japanese treat me (Bonus chapter for Alliance Leader [Guagua Gui])
"Didn't they consider performing surgery on you back in the US?" Fang Yan asked Grandpa Han.

To be fair, Americans are actually very skilled at treating gunshot wounds, even globally.

Free America, gunfights every day.

I'm not kidding, they really do it.

Leveraging their post-war economic advantages and investment in medical research, they have become more advanced than most countries in standardized procedures for gunshot wound treatment, surgical techniques, and infection control.

During World War II and the Korean War, the U.S. military accumulated a wealth of experience in treating combat injuries, especially in the management of ballistic injuries (gunshot wounds and shrapnel wounds), which promoted advancements in trauma surgery, anesthesiology, blood transfusion techniques, and infection control.

After the war, these military medical achievements were gradually applied to the civilian sector, and civilian hospitals began to establish more systematic trauma treatment procedures.

After 1970, some major cities, such as Chicago and Los Angeles, began to pilot specialized trauma centers.

At that time, their level of gunshot wound treatment was arguably among the highest in industrialized countries.

Grandpa Han said:
"Of course we've said it. We've said it several times, but it's just that it's been too long for us, and they themselves aren't sure."

"Moreover, nerve damage is a very complicated situation. If the surgery is unsuccessful, other parts of my body may also be affected. Later, we consulted several hospitals, and although their opinions differed, they all basically advised against surgery..."

Fang Yan then realized that the development of nerve repair surgery was slow.

There weren't many solutions for this type of injury at the time. New technologies didn't emerge until 1980, just two years later, and it took many years of exploration to gradually mature before a systematic grading standard for peripheral nerve injury was established in the 1990s.

In this day and age, peripheral nerve injuries mainly rely on traditional nerve suturing and transplantation techniques, with a success rate of only about 30%. Moreover, old injuries are generally considered difficult to repair once they have been present for more than 6 months (data from the Journal of Neurosurgery, 1976). Even for new injuries, the functional recovery rate after surgery for nerve injuries caused by gunshot is less than 40%.

Old Master Han paused for a moment, then said quietly:
"Besides, there are Japanese doctors there, and I don't want them to operate on me. How can I face the brothers who sacrificed their lives if I get cured? I'd rather be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life!"

Fang Yan paused, realizing that after World War II, many Japanese doctors and scholars went to the United States to study and work, especially in the 50s and 60s. With the recovery and internationalization of the Japanese economy, more Japanese professionals immigrated to the US. Therefore, there were indeed Japanese doctors practicing in the United States.

Complex surgeries often require multidisciplinary collaboration, making it difficult to completely avoid Japanese-American medical staff.

However, as a surviving officer of the Battle of Zaoyi, he harbored a natural aversion to the Japanese.

So, the fact that he wasn't cured is partly due to this.

Seeing that the old man was getting a little agitated, Fang Yan changed the subject and asked Grandpa Han:
"Can you still move the right side of your body?"

Upon hearing this, Grandpa Han moved his right leg:

"It's on the right, take a look."

"What about the left upper limb?" Fang Yan asked again.

The old man raised his hand and mimed aiming a gun with his right hand, without any problem.

He spoke in dialect:

"Right now, I can't move my left side below my waist, but my hand is fine for the time being."

After saying that, he turned to his son and said:
"By the way, we also had a comprehensive check-up in the United States a while ago."

"Take the report out and show it to Dr. Fang."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man in a suit and wearing gold-rimmed glasses standing next to him immediately took out a file folder from his bag, opened it, and handed it to Fang Yan with both hands:

"Dr. Fang, the things are here."

Upon opening the document, one finds a test result from an American hospital.

This includes physical examination, motor function examination, sensory function examination, reflexes and overall physical condition examination.

The appearance and motion function inspection states:

Old Han's left lower limb muscles are significantly atrophied; his knee joint cannot straighten, his foot is drooping (his toes cannot be lifted), and his toes are flexed and deformed; his hip and knee joints cannot move actively, but he can still move passively (with the help of others).

The muscle strength of the left gluteus maximus, tibialis anterior, tibialis posterior, extensor hallucis longus, and extensor digitorum commonis is all grade 0 (complete paralysis, no muscle contraction).

Peroneus longus and brevis muscle strength grade 1 (muscle only slightly contractes, but cannot move the joint).

Other lower limb muscles have a strength level of 3 (able to overcome gravity and complete joint movements, but unable to overcome resistance).

This muscle strength grading is a common method used in Western medicine to assess muscle function. Clinically, the manual muscle strength test (MMT) grading standard is mainly used, which divides muscle strength into 6 levels from 0 to 5.

Grade 0 is complete paralysis, with no muscle contraction at all (no movement upon palpation or observation).

Grade 1 is characterized by slight contraction; muscles can contract slightly, but cannot move the joint (only perceptible by palpation, with no visible movement). Grade 2 is characterized by limited joint mobility; muscle contraction can enable the joint to complete its full range of motion in a weightless state (e.g., the limb can slide when passively placed flat on the bed), but cannot counteract gravity (cannot be lifted off the bed).

Level 3 can counteract gravity; muscle contraction can drive joints to complete a full range of motion against gravity (such as lifting limbs off the bed), but cannot counteract external resistance.

Level 4 can resist some resistance; muscle contraction can resist certain resistance and complete joint movement, but the strength is weaker than normal (resistance is less than normal muscle strength).

Grade 5 indicates normal muscle strength; muscle contraction can overcome full resistance (same as the healthy side), completing the full range of motion of the joint, with normal strength.

Grades 0 to 1 indicate severe nerve damage (such as nerve rupture) or severe muscle atrophy.

Grade 2-3: Commonly seen in cases of partial recovery of nerve function or mild muscle weakness.

Grade 4: Near normal, commonly seen in the later stages of recovery or mild muscle weakness.

Grade 5: Muscle strength is completely normal.

Fang Yan then continued looking down.

Old Han's sensory function test showed:
The pain sensation at the level of the left lumbar vertebrae is completely absent; (This is a segmented description of the human spinal anatomy, used to locate specific areas of the spine. The vertebral numbers of the lumbar and sacral vertebrae are mentioned below.)
Decreased pain sensation at the lumbar, lumbar and sacral levels (reduced pain sensitivity);
Decreased tactile sensation (reduced tactile sensitivity) from the lumbar to sacral level.

Then, regarding reflexes and overall body condition:

He has lost his left knee-jerk reflex and Achilles tendon reflex, has burning neuralgia from the gunshot wound on his left side, his right side is normal, his internal organ indicators are basically normal, but he has symptoms of anemia.

Fang Yan didn't completely believe the old man's report, so he checked it again with Grandpa Han himself.

He also noticed that the old man's skin was cool and clear, and the other test results were basically consistent with those from the United States.

Then, Fang Yan said to the old man:
"Mr. Han, please open your mouth so I can see your tongue."

Upon hearing this, Grandpa Han stuck out his tongue in agreement.

The tongue appears pale in the dialect.

In addition, his pale and lackluster complexion was indeed indicative of anemia.

"Give me your hand, I'll take your pulse again," Fang Yan continued.

Then Fang Yan took his pulse on his left hand and found that the pulse on the left Guan and Chi positions was deep and thin.

Then, after switching hands, I felt the pulse on the right Guan and Chi positions again and found it to be weak and thready.

Fang Yan thought about it for a moment:
The left Guan pulse corresponds to the liver (which is responsible for regulating the flow of qi and storing blood).

The left radial artery corresponds to the kidneys (which govern reproduction, water metabolism, and vital energy).

If a deep pulse is not felt with light pressure but is felt with heavy pressure, it indicates an internal symptom (the disease is located internally).

A thin pulse, as thin as a thread, but clearly perceptible under the fingers, indicates deficiency of both qi and blood, yin deficiency, or dampness.

The right Guan pulse corresponds to the spleen and stomach (which are responsible for transportation, transformation, and the generation of qi and blood).

The right cun pulse corresponds to the Mingmen point (related to kidney yang and primordial qi), and the right cun pulse can also be used to observe the kidneys.

A weak pulse is weak in all three parts of the pulse when touched, indicating a deficiency syndrome (insufficient qi, blood, yin, and yang).

A thin pulse indicates the same condition as above, signifying deficiency of both qi and blood.

Both the left and right pulses are thready, and the cun pulse is abnormal (deep and thready on the left cun, weak and thready on the right cun), which together reflect the underlying deficiency state of liver and kidney yin deficiency, qi and blood deficiency, and kidney yang deficiency.

Dialect analysis is associated with factors such as long-term damage from gunshot wounds, surgical trauma, and emotional depression.

The difference between the left and right hands is more pronounced in the left hand, which shows a greater emphasis on insufficient Yin and blood, and malnourishment of tendons and veins, such as nerve damage and muscle atrophy.

The right hand shows more signs of insufficient Yang energy and inadequate blood and qi production, such as anemia and cold limbs.

Dialectical analysis: Mr. Han's injury was caused by gunshot wounds, which led to the leakage of Yin blood. Qi followed the loss of blood, and the deficiency of Yin fluid further affected Yang Qi, resulting in the decline of vital energy. The tendons and veins lost the nourishment of Qi and blood, and at the same time, cold and damp evils took advantage of the weakness to invade the body. Stagnant blood and bad blood lingered in the meridians, causing the meridians to be blocked.

PS: I got 100 more monthly votes. After finishing this chapter, I currently owe everyone 91000 words.

Thank you to reader 【瓜瓜鬼】 for the generous donation.

As agreed, each alliance leader owes five chapters; this is the first chapter.

(End of this chapter)