At the Department of Neurology, Ping Tian City Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine.
Many patients were quite happy to see Zhang Pingliang begin his rehabilitation and gradually recover.
Especially those whose conditions were not significantly different from his.
They were even happier.
After all, if he could be cured, then people with conditions similar to his would definitely be cured too.
"Doctor Lin's medical skills are truly remarkable.
She's far more skilled than that department director at the hospital. Didn't that director previously say that Little Zhang's condition was complicated and he should prepare for two to three years of slow recovery?
Yet now, after only a month, Little Zhang can walk on his feet. Although he's not very agile yet, the rehabilitation center said that as long as he persists, he'll definitely recover to normal within half a year at the latest. If I had known Doctor Lin was so capable, I would have had her treat me sooner."
Seeing Zhang Pingliang, who had been hospitalized around the same time as her, able to walk, Zu Hongying, filled with both envy and regret, complained to her fellow patients.
"Who can say otherwise?
It's all because a doctor previously said that Doctor Lin had just graduated and lacked experience. Now that I think about it, how could Doctor Lin, at her age, lack experience?
My guess is that the so-called 'Doctor Lin just graduated with no experience' was likely because Doctor Lin was an old Chinese medicine practitioner before. Back then, doctors didn't need all these certificates and qualifications. Now they do, so Doctor Lin had no choice but to go back to university and get some certifications to work here."
Tang Zhe, lying opposite him, chimed in, not only agreeing but also offering his new theory.
"Oh, that makes sense..."
"Exactly, exactly. This explains why Doctor Lin's skills are so outstanding right from graduation. It's not what she learned in school; it's that Doctor Lin was already brilliant. This is our destiny!"
"We must cooperate with the treatment from now on.
After all, the feeling of being paralyzed in bed and unable to move is simply too unbearable. Saving a few months lying down is a few months saved. Moving sooner also saves money for the family."
As the first neurology patient treated by Ding Yun recovered about one to two years earlier than the hospital's projection, other patients with similar conditions in the neurology department became very excited and all requested to switch doctors.
They insisted on being treated by Doctor Lin.
Besides them, the hospital was also quite pleased.
Although the patients' hospitalization time was significantly reduced due to Ding Yun's superb medical skills, indirectly leading to less revenue for the hospital, the hospital was not foolish. They understood that having a nationally top-tier doctor specializing in a certain area brought far more benefits than the profit generated by patients staying for an extra year or two to recover.
Therefore, the hospital immediately promoted Ding Yun, increased her salary, and signed a long-term contract with her.
The contract was signed as a re-hired expert.
There was no alternative. Ding Yun was too old. She was already sixty-seven when she was studying, and although she graduated early, she was now sixty-eight, well past retirement age, making a standard employment contract unsuitable.
Coupled with Ding Yun's exceptional skills,
The hospital signed a contract with her under the terms of a re-hired expert, and it was for a full five years.
As for why they didn't sign for more years, it was still due to her age. It was uncertain how many more years she would live, so signing for a longer duration was pointless.
Moreover, sometimes in terms of medical skills,
It's not always true that the older, the better.
As people age, their physical functions decline, which has quite an impact. If it were a doctor responsible for diagnosis or internal medicine management, the impact might be manageable. But for surgery or acupuncture, age could have a significant effect.
Take orthopedic surgeons, for example.
How many elderly surgeons are still operating?
At that age, even with supreme medical skills and extensive experience, their physical condition may not keep up. Their hands might start to tremble, their eyesight might blur, they might not be able to stand for extended periods, or maintain intense focus – these are all unavoidable realities.
Acupuncture is similar.
Many old Chinese medicine practitioners stop performing acupuncture when they get older because they can't accurately locate acupoints, their eyesight isn't sharp enough, or their hand strength is no longer sufficient to insert needles with the same precision and force as before.
One wrong move could ruin their reputation.
Therefore, it's crucial to know when to stop.
In the hospital's view, Ding Yun was clearly an "old player" who could potentially work for a few more years but might encounter various issues if she continued for too long.
She was important, but not critically so.
Keeping her as a figurehead for a few years was considered a good arrangement.
Anything more than that was not to be expected.
Ding Yun accepted these changes with equanimity and immediately dedicated herself to working overtime, without fear of fatigue, to treat patients as much as possible.
What was the reason for this? Besides medical ethics,
The more important reason was undoubtedly skill proficiency.
Subsequently, patients were treated and discharged one by one. Other hospital patients, upon learning about the faster treatment here, transferred, and continued to be discharged.
Before long, her skills upgraded again.
This time, the upgrade brought about even greater changes.
In the past, each upgrade involved Ding Yun distilling the essence from the knowledge she had acquired, discarding the dross, and filling in the gaps. Most of the knowledge and experience were gained through her own learning, not provided by the system.
But this time was different. Because Ding Yun had learned all the knowledge currently available, and the experience points for this skill upgrade primarily came from treating patients, the change brought about by this upgrade was that she now knew how to treat patients with more severe injuries.
This included injuries of the same severity as her daughter's.
This level of nerve damage was something that hospitals worldwide currently had no solution for.
Ding Yun's joy at this upgrade was beyond words. The next moment, she immediately took leave to go back and bring her daughter over. She completed the hospitalization procedures for her daughter and had her admitted for treatment alongside other patients. At the same time, she upgraded the original treatment plan to the latest and best one.
Following this, she focused all her efforts on treatment.
As the treatment plan was updated, patients who had previously suffered extremely severe injuries and were deemed unlikely to ever walk again by other doctors began to feel sensations, experiencing rapid improvements in their bodies.
The new plan gave them hope for recovery.
Then, in less than three months.
Liu Linxia, due to Ding Yun's acupuncture assistance over the previous few years, recovered the sensation in her legs and body earlier than other patients in similar conditions. She was able to walk with the aid of various devices, albeit with difficulty.
At that moment, she was happier than ever before.
Overwhelmed with joy, she couldn't stop crying.
Other patients, seeing her stand up, were all happy for her and for themselves. After all, if she could stand, it meant they could too.
It meant that the treatment was effective.
Under such circumstances, who wouldn't be happy?