Surgery Godfather

In less than half an hour, the conjoined twin sisters were pushed out of the operating room. The anesthesia revival effect was excellent, and they actually started chatting again.

"Oh, doctor, please don't push our carts together, keep some distance."

"Yes, otherwise we'll mistakenly think we are still conjoined."

"It's being pulled apart."

"Wow, we are really separated."

The door of the operating room opened, and Morris and his wife rushed up to support the carts, constantly shaking hands with the doctors, but he didn't see Professor Yang.

"The surgery went smoothly. Now, they're being sent to ICU monitoring for 24-72 hours, just routine post-operative monitoring, no need to be nervous," Song Zimo told Morris.

Morris looked at his separated daughters, so emotional he almost cried. Just a few hours ago, they were still conjoined, and now they have separated into independent individuals, lying on different carts.

"Oh, Mom and Dad, thank you, we're still alive, this is amazing, you must thank Doctor Yang properly; he is truly amazing."

"We didn't feel any pain during the surgery. I even heard them talking, truly not a hint of pain."

"We are really separated."

Morris and his wife kissed their daughters' foreheads.

"Yes, you are separated."

The conjoined twin sisters were sent to ICU monitoring.

---

John Ansen had already arrived in the operating room. He caught Yang Ping's immediate post-operative teaching session. Because of the uniqueness of this surgery, Yang Ping used this operation to explain to everyone how to handle complex high-risk surgeries without reference cases.

Normal surgeries have certain cases to refer to or procedures from textbooks. There have always been ready-made plans in the past; it's just that the illness is different, and the plan is tailored to the specific circumstances with some personalization.

But for surgeries like that of conjoined twins, there are no reference cases at all. The surgery must be independently designed, especially the separation of the brainstem. How to find the boundary - there's no method to refer to at all. Consulting the literature is of no use. You have to rely on yourself, using your knowledge to create methods for finding the boundaries.

When John Ansen arrived, Yang Ping was standing in front of the lightbox explaining. It seemed the lecture had just started, and he didn't miss important information.

John Ansen stood in the crowd, listening intently.

"Our foundational knowledge must be solid, whether it is clinical medicine or basic medicine. Foundational knowledge must be particularly solid. Only then can we face complex cases and clarify our own lines of thought. Foundational knowledge is like the modules of our thinking. Using these modules, we piece together different lines of thought. If there is a blind spot in foundational knowledge, it's like lacking a module timed to be important. Once a specific problem-solving thought process needs this module, then that line of thinking is without a doubt formed."

Yang Ping explained from the very basics. In his view, any complex problem is composed of simple problems solved in certain ways, so only by being able to solve fundamental knowledge can one have the ability to solve complex problems.

The doctors nearby, including Song Zimo, Xu Zhiliang, John Ansen, and many graduate students and visiting doctors, listened attentively. Some even took out small notebooks to take notes.

Now is different from before. Now Yang Ping is akin to the founding master of a school. He not only has to pass on knowledge to the students, but also teach them some concepts, teaching them how to think and how to approach medicine.

"For instance, in this case, from the head to the cervical spine, then to the thorax and abdomen, such an extensive range connected together, the surgery choice, there is only this case in the world. In fact, the previous judgment by United States doctors was correct. Why do I say this? Because in existing head anatomy, there is no anatomical knowledge of this conjoined brainstem. In current medical knowledge, we haven't even fathomed the brainstem of ordinary individuals, let alone this type of conjoined brainstem. It's impossible to determine which nerve nucleus belongs to the elder sister and which one to the younger. No instrument can test it. In such a situation, performing surgery is bound to lead to erroneous brainstem separation, and the consequence of such errors is patient death."

"So their judgment was --- surgery is impossible. Within the scope of current medical knowledge, this conclusion is correct."

"But we cannot be content with just solving problems within the current scope of knowledge. We need to drive medical advancement, need to break through the boundaries of existing knowledge and expand them. If every doctor stays within existing circles, that circle will never expand, and medicine will never progress."

"So, when we face this case, how do we solve the problem?"

"Firstly, we must understand the mechanism of how the conjoined twins formed. Being clinical doctors, we often lack basic medical knowledge. As a research-oriented doctor, one must possess ample fundamental medical knowledge; otherwise, when faced with complex or unknown issues, you have nothing to start with."

"So, how are conjoined twins formed? Many people may know or have checked literature; it's a rare pregnancy phenomenon caused by a single fertilized egg failing to completely separate. Since it's a single fertilized egg that didn't separate, we follow this line of thought to further understand it."

"Twins can be identical twins or fraternal twins. Identical twins result from one sperm and one egg forming a fertilized egg that splits into two embryos during the early developmental stages."