Chapter 646: A Surgeon’s Miracle

He’s cured over four hundred cases of neurosurgical disorders with his own hands.

That includes twenty-three extremely difficult cases where other major hospitals had already declared the patients hopeless. Most were victims of car accidents, high falls, or spinal injuries from dancing, but thanks to his meticulous surgeries and the patients’ own determination in rehabilitation, many regained some nerve function while others fully recovered.

These successful surgeries not only earned Zhou Can widespread renown, elevating him as a star in neurosurgery, but also gave him invaluable experience in the diagnosis and treatment of spinal cord injuries.

Many of the insights he’s developed can’t be taught by any other doctor.

Even Wu Baihe now often seeks him out to discuss challenging neurological cases.

Every doctor brings their own understanding, perspective, and approach to medicine. Their ways of applying medical and surgical knowledge in treatment plans can vary dramatically—and that matters a lot.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that Zhou Can learned neurosurgical techniques and medical knowledge by following Wu Baihe.

When faced with the same case, their opinions might still be very different.

Take the time they jointly treated a worker with a serious lumbar spine injury. He’d been impaled by a steel bar at a construction site. In addition to injuries to his abdominal organs, the most severe damage was to his lower spine.

By the time he reached the hospital, he’d already lost all feeling below the waist.

After emergency surgery to remove the steel bar and repair the damaged intestines, Zhou Can personally debrided the wound to keep infection risks to a minimum.

Though the patient later developed mild peritonitis, quick medical intervention and proper nutrition, plus his strong health and immunity, pulled him through.

Once the abdominal wounds healed, his life was saved—but he still couldn’t feel his lower body.

For patients like him, life from here on usually means a wheelchair or being bedridden. He’d be dependent on family for everything.

Zhou Can remembers clearly the morning he urged the family to complete the discharge paperwork.

After finishing his rounds in the Emergency Department, he made his usual stop at the neurosurgery inpatient unit to check on cases he’d operated on or consulted for.

He caught a nurse urging this patient’s family to process the discharge.

Unlike small hospitals desperate to keep patients as long as possible, Tuyu Hospital has tight bed availability and strict performance metrics. Long-stay or hard-to-cure patients mean docked pay and lost points.

Actually, even small hospitals have evaluation criteria—just set by regulatory bodies, not the hospital itself.

Their trick is to discharge patients after fifteen days, then readmit them for another round—it’s a loophole commonly exploited.

Rumor has it some elderly people are admitted even without real illness, just so doctors can boost business, lounge around during the day playing cards or mahjong, all meals and accommodation included.

They can even go home to sleep at night.

It doesn’t cost them a cent.

All paid for through medical insurance claims.

Top-tier hospitals like Tuyu are the complete opposite. Once the team thinks a patient is stable enough, or meets all requirements for home recovery, immediate discharge is pushed.

That morning, the paralyzed man sat half-upright in bed, with his wife and two children at his side. She brought him water, brushed his teeth, washed his face.

The nurse told them about discharge, and the patient and his family agreed.

After all, every day in this place cost a fortune.

More expensive than a hotel.

But when Zhou Can came in for rounds, the patient looked at him with eyes that almost begged.

“Dr. Zhou, thank you and Director Wu for saving my life. But now I’m paralyzed below the waist—my wife has to help me with everything. We have a school-age child at home… how are the four of us supposed to get by? Please, I beg you, try again to treat me!”

The man pressed his hands together in a deep bow from the bed, begging Zhou Can to help cure his paralysis.

Zhou Can could see his hands,

skin rough and crisscrossed with scars from past injuries.

“Doctor, please help my dad!”

Both kids were so mature—the younger not even three, the older just a little over four.

Both knelt before Zhou Can, pleading with him to save their father.

“Stand up, you two! Your dad’s spinal injury is very serious—not that I don’t want to help, but medical science just can’t fix central spinal cord trauma like this right now.”

Zhou Can gently lifted the kids from their knees. Watching them, honestly, his heart ached.

The patient’s wife remained silent throughout.

When Zhou Can finished his rounds and was about to leave, he saw the man’s eyes brimming with despair.

Both children clung to the side of the bed, watching their father.

The wife caught up to him outside.

“Dr. Zhou, please, can you think of any possible way? Just give my husband hope to keep living. He’s already written a will behind my back on his phone. I can’t lose him, and our three kids can’t lose their dad. No matter how hard it gets, I’ll stand by him. Even if he never walks again, I’ll spend my life caring for him. But please, just give him a reason to go on.”

Her eyes were filled with tears.

She struck Zhou Can as an educated woman.

At the very least, her wisdom and attitude earned his deep respect.

To be honest, what you see most in hospitals is harsh reality and the darkness of human nature.

Many husbands or wives find out their partner is permanently paralyzed or in a vegetative state, and just cut off contact—disappearing without a word.

The worst are those who get a donation for a sick woman from charitable people, then the husband runs off with the money.

Leaving the woman devastated in the hospital, attempting suicide seven times, until they had to assign two nurses to watch her around the clock.

Left with nothing but heartbreak.

The desperate look in this woman’s eyes made Zhou Can’s heart soften, even if it were made of steel.

“Here’s what we can do—let me discuss with Director Wu. Don’t handle the discharge just yet. We could attempt a second surgery, but there are no guarantees. He’s already paralyzed—worst case, nothing changes. But if we succeed, he might stand up again. It’d be huge for your family, for you, for the kids.”

Normally, Zhou Can would never say this to a patient’s family lightly.

Some relatives secretly record conversations, and if things don’t work out, they use it against the doctors.

They’ll even take doctors to court.

You know what they want? To win a fat settlement from the hospital, to make up for the patient’s losses.

This kind of thing chills any doctor’s heart.

But sometimes, there’s just no avoiding it. Some families are like that.

“Dr. Zhou, if there’s even a sliver of hope, please treat my husband. I’ll sell everything I own to cover the costs. No matter what happens, I’ll accept it.”

This woman was truly extraordinary.

Sometimes, a good wife can lift a man’s fortune for generations. It’s a blessing hard-earned across lifetimes.

With the family’s agreement, Zhou Can went to discuss with Wu Baihe.

Wu Baihe believed the patient’s spinal cord damage was irreparable.

But Zhou Can’s research revealed the injury wasn’t just nerve damage—there was compression from spinal bone fractures making things worse. The patient suffered from both at once.

Cases like this are rare.

A single problem, but caused by two or more complicating factors.

After deep joint research, Wu Baihe agreed with Zhou Can’s findings.

They developed a detailed surgical plan—Zhou Can would operate, while Wu Baihe supported from behind the scenes.

Because multiple surgeries were needed, the cost was enormous.

Especially the spinal bone

repairs, which were extremely complex.

The total ran over 370,000 yuan.

For this already poor family, that was an astronomical sum.

Zhou Can used his influence to launch an online crowdfunding campaign for the patient.

Maybe it was the heartfelt write-up, or just how much the family’s plight touched people. In just one day, they’d raised over 420,000 yuan. Zhou Can quickly shut down the fundraiser when he saw the amount.

The extra 50,000 yuan became a rehabilitation fund for the patient down the road.

After five operations, the patient was still paralyzed below the waist, but sensation had returned—and his knees could reflexively kick.

Zhou Can boldly predicted the spinal cord had healed. If rehab was done properly, there was a real chance he’d walk again.

About five months later, Zhou Can suddenly got a call from the patient’s wife.

“Dr. Zhou, I’ve got great news! My husband could urinate on his own today.”

Paralysis often means total loss of bladder and bowel control.

Regaining the ability to urinate independently is a massive step forward.

On the other end of the line, the wife’s voice trembled with tears.

She was probably crying with joy.

Zhou Can encouraged her, instructing them to keep up rehab and start the next phase of exercises.

Of course, none of this progress would be possible without the wife’s help.

Supporting rehab meant doing everything—lifting his legs, helping him stand, and more.

But the rehab was painfully demanding for both patient and family. If either side gave up, all previous effort would be wasted.

Three months later, Zhou Can had already fixed several high-risk central nerve cases—even those inside the skull. His reputation was soaring.

Only the brainstem remained a forbidden zone.

For outer brain regions, he was confident. But for the core, he didn’t dare cross the line.

It was just too risky.

A single misstep could leave a patient dead, severely disabled, or lose vital organ functions—true medical disasters.

The brainstem is the chief command center for all nerves; even a tiny injury there can kill your ability to breathe.

It’s no joke.

They’d actually seen this happen while saving a car crash victim.

One day, while Zhou Can was operating in the Emergency Department, a nurse ran in to say a lion dance troupe had shown up outside with a huge thank-you banner.

They’d come to thank Zhou Can and Wu Baihe for restoring a paralyzed man, driving over 600 kilometers and hiring the whole lion dance team as gratitude.

Zhou Can handed off surgery to two doctors and went to check.

Sure enough—outside was a full lion dance troupe and a drum team, as if it were New Year.

They were performing energetically right outside the Emergency Department.

Leading the group were two people holding a bright banner, faces beaming.

Those two banner holders? None other than the formerly paralyzed man and his wife.

Seeing all this, Zhou Can felt a warm surge of joy.

After treatment and relentless rehab, the patient had truly created a medical miracle—he could walk again.

His legs were still a bit stiff, but with further training, he’d be back to normal in months.

It wasn’t just Zhou Can’s achievement alone.

He called Wu Baihe and grinned: “Come down and accept this banner, then let the patient go—don’t block the hospital entrance!”

Wu Baihe, hearing about the parade moving toward the neurosurgery floor, nearly burst out swearing.

He even threatened that if Zhou Can dared bring the troupe, he’d be banned from the department.

Chasing fame and fortune

is human nature.

But once you reach Wu Baihe’s level, you actually stop caring about recognition.

Zhou Can accepted the banner from the patient and his family, thanked them, and quickly asked the music and lion dance teams to disperse.

Unexpectedly, news of this blew up in the media. Reports came pouring in.

Zhou Can’s name in neurosurgery suddenly shot to new heights.

With fame came a flood of patients seeking him out.

Every patient hopes a doctor can rescue them from misery and bring healing.

But Zhou Can’s strength and stamina are still just one person’s.

Most of these new patients were handled by the rest of neurosurgery.

Business in the neurosurgery department skyrocketed. Even Wu Baihe was surprised—though he enjoyed it for a while.

Zhou Can judged that it was the right time.

One day, he drove alone to a secure, official compound downtown.

Green trees lined the paths, buildings stood tucked away inside. Only the powerful lived here.

At the gate stood a soldier, perfectly straight.

In the whole provincial capital, there were few places so well guarded.

Zhou Can slowly pulled up to the entrance in his Mercedes.

As expected, he was stopped at once.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Zhou Can from Tuyu Hospital. Here’s my work badge and ID. I’ve come to visit Mr. Song Dingxian.”

This Mr. Song Dingxian was none other than the patient involved in Dr. Xu’s medical accident.

That single incident changed Dr. Xu’s destiny forever.

Zhou Can had been longing to repay his mentor for years. He’d quietly prepared all this time, and now he finally had the means.

He still couldn’t say he was guaranteed, but he’d earned the right to meet Mr. Song.

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Please wait a moment while we notify them.”

The soldier was polite and immediately called in from the guardhouse.