Healing Doctor

Chapter 353 Unable to Go to the NBA

After the surgery, Ji Xiang has been wearing a brace and can only perform the simplest finger movements.

Ji Xiang even felt like he was bound up like a mummy or a bandaged monster, which was really ridiculous.

Even this isn't enough. Every time they see Ji Xiang move his fingers, his coach and agent will give him a good scolding with gloomy faces.

The money has already been invested, and Ji Xiang knows very well that if his body doesn't recover to its normal level, his agent, himself, and his coach will all face a situation where nothing is gained.

After removing the external brace that restricted his movement, Ji Xiang began to gradually perform abduction, adduction, and extension exercises.

Activities that seem simple in normal times, such as shrugging, now make Ji Xiang feel like his whole body is cracking when he does them.

The pain was even worse than before the surgery. Ji Xiang sometimes felt very strange. Even though it could be explained theoretically—postoperative local tissue edema, adhesions, etc.—he felt that it would have been better not to have the surgery at all.

Especially for an athlete, if the joint mobility does not reach 100% after surgery, the surgery is indeed a waste of time and effort.

Rotator cuff injuries and urinary tract stones are quite different.

Although the pain from urinary tract stones was excruciating when they flared up, giving Ji Xiang a feeling of being on the verge of death, once the stones were successfully broken up, the effect was immediate, bringing him back to life from hell.

However, arthroscopic surgery for rotator cuff tears is different.

I felt uncomfortable before the surgery, and it was even difficult to notice what the doctor had done after the surgery. Not only did I not recover to my pre-operative state, but the pain also seemed to increase.

And this was performed by a world-class sports rehabilitation expert!

Ji Xiang knew that the empathy wasn't over yet, most likely because there was still the subacromial osteolysis stage he hadn't experienced.

The initial rehabilitation training went smoothly. Ji Xiang endured the intense tearing sensation and tried to "loosen" the adhered tissues.

During this period, Ji Xiang has talked to many patients about postoperative rehabilitation. If they cannot endure the pain to do rehabilitation training, the functional recovery of the surgical area will be seriously affected.

When these words that Ji Xiang had long since grown tired of saying were said to him, "they" took on a different meaning.

Ji Xiang understood very well what those "lazy" patients were thinking.

Fortunately, Ji Xiang had long been used to the knife falling on his own body through empathy, and he gritted his teeth and began rehabilitation training.

The pain was excruciating, something Ji Xiang had experienced firsthand. Every time he felt the pain, it was unbearable, but there was always hope.

Even with late-stage cancer, Ji Xiang could predict his "death" time and find relief.

But this time!

Ji Xiang was truly desperate.

The daily abduction, adduction, and extension exercises do have some effect, but the results are extremely slow.

The pain wasn't the hardest part; the reason Ji Xiang felt so hopeless was that he didn't know when it would end.

day to day.

Three months later, Ji Xiang gritted his teeth and gradually returned to his original state.

The reason Ji Xiang was able to persevere was that he had said too much, and he had felt contempt when he saw patients who came for follow-up visits with permanent damage to their motor function due to inadequate rehabilitation exercises.

It turns out that rehabilitation training is this painful; Ji Xiang can't very well contradict himself.

So he persevered.

A smile gradually appeared on the agent's face, and when Ji Xiang was deemed ready to play basketball, he smiled broadly.

Ji Xiang also got to experience the fun of playing basketball.

When he was in school, Ji Xiang had also been exposed to basketball because of his height, wingspan, and strong athletic ability.

Who doesn't enjoy sweating it out on the basketball court, only to have seven or eight water bottles appear before them as the younger female students smile radiantly as they leave the court?

However, as expected, misfortune struck Ji Xiang once again.

A dozen days later, Ji Xiang noticed pain in his right shoulder joint during activities, which was especially noticeable when abducting.

He quickly contacted his coach and agent to go to the hospital for an MRI.

The findings are consistent with real-world imaging data, suggesting increased subacromial and intra-articular effusion.

Everyone except Ji Xiang went black.

From that day on, Ji Xiang could clearly sense that the agency's attitude towards him was becoming increasingly indifferent at a visible speed.

Ji Xiang had experienced the fickleness of human relationships before, but this time it was particularly evident.

A few months later.

This time, Ji Xiang went to a regular tertiary hospital accompanied by his coach.

All subsequent examinations proved that Ji Xiang's professional career was over and there was no possibility of him returning to the field. His agent's team gave up on him, and only his coach remained loyal.

The coach's face wasn't so dark anymore. After accepting the facts, he calmly stayed by Ji Xiang's side.

After completing the examination, Ji Xiang felt helpless when he saw that the MRI and CT scan showed thinning of the acromion and osteolysis under the acromion, measuring about 19mm × 13mm.

The doctor said a lot, and he and his coach left the hospital after listening.

"Ji Xiang, come on, have a smoke." The coach pulled Ji Xiang to sit at the hospital entrance, watching the people coming and going. He smiled, "How old were you when you came to the provincial team?"

"16 years old."

"I still remember that time when you were secretly smoking with other people and I caught you. I ignored them and locked you in the room and beat you for an hour."

"Hey." Ji Xiang smiled. "Coach, I know you meant well. I didn't understand then, but I understand now. It's a pity..."

"There's nothing to regret. That's just how life is. If you really go to the NBA, I'll have one more thing to brag about, and you'll make more money. Money is a really good thing. If you don't live to earn it, you don't live to earn it. It doesn't matter. You have to take it easy."

Ji Xiang did not refuse, took the cigarette offered by the coach, and took a deep drag.

"I gave my boss a bottle of my family's heirloom Moutai a few days ago."

"Haha, it's a family heirloom?"

The coach glared at him. "My dad saved it up back then, but he couldn't bear to drink it. After he passed away, I didn't drink it either, just to keep it as a memento. The boss said that although you can't go to the NBA, you can stay as an assistant coach to tide you over."

This was truly for his own good, and Ji Xiang was very grateful to the coach, even though it was just empathy; for them, it might just be a memory or a line of code.

"Coach, thank you."

"We've known each other for so many years, and I've beaten you countless times. If you don't take good care of the kids this time, I'll show you how I beat you."

Ji Xiang shrugged habitually.

Because it had been going on for more than half a year, he had formed a habit. Only his left shoulder moved when he shrugged, while his right shoulder remained steady, like a stone.

Ji Xiang could clearly feel the signs of muscle atrophy in his right upper limb.

"Sigh, I only trained one awesome guy like you, how come you're not good enough? Oh well, it's fate. From now on, be a good teaching assistant for me."

Before he could speak, the lights flickered, and Ji Xiang returned to the system's operating room before he had even finished his cigarette.

"Teacher, I want to learn surgery." After returning, Ji Xiang couldn't wait to say this, without even having time to miss his coach.

(End of this chapter)