Chapter 514 Find Someone to Talk To
After Li Jie released the height limit that restricted the suspension supercar, he adjusted the ground clearance of the car body to a height of 50 meters. In this way, you can completely avoid the congested traffic in New York City.
This is no longer driving on the road, but flying at low altitude. Especially when flying at a low altitude of 300 kilometers per hour, and regardless of the traffic lights.
Li Jie took Thor and his party to the Almond Central Hospital in Manhattan from the southern suburbs of New York in less than seven minutes.
"The situation is not very good." After sending Penny to the emergency room, Christine used her relationship in the hospital to read Penny's previous medical records.
This is not the first time she has been ill. It's just that Christine didn't know Penny before, and she didn't know that there was this patient. After reading through Penny's previous case report, she said to Thor and Li Jie with a bad face.
"What's the situation with this girl?" Li Jie already got some basic information about Penny just now on the road, knowing that this child is one of the fifty children currently under Thor's care.
Thor's complexion was not very good-looking, so Li Jie asked instead of him: "Why did this girl named Penny suddenly pass out? There was no warning."
"Because of a congenital disease." Christine found an empty lounge so that everyone could sit down and talk. She pulled out a medical record and a CT photo from Penny's personal data.
"When I checked the information just now, I found that Penny was a patient of this hospital. The hospital has her file records, and she has come to the hospital for examinations in the past few years. The person who took her for examination before was her father. But In the past six months or so, she hasn't been here."
Thor understands why, he said: "Maybe it's because you got caught after committing a crime? Most of the parents of children in District 2A are like this. If her father is caught, then no one will come to take her to the hospital for examination. "
"Then what is the congenital disease?" Li Jie glanced at Thor, thinking that now is not the time to talk about plans with him, but the child that needs to be cared about at this time.
"Congenital neurodevelopmental dysplasia." Christine pointed to a CT image and said: "Penny was born because of the compression of the brain and spine, which caused her brainstem and spinal nerves to be damaged. dysplasia."
"The first time she got sick should be when she was three years old. Her father should have sent him to New York Central Hospital, and then because of a neurological disease, he was transferred to our hospital." Because of the Almond Center The hospital is the most outstanding hospital in the field of neurology.
"This kind of neurodevelopmental dysplasia is difficult to control. Some people will gradually get better as they grow older, but some people can't get better." Christine sighed.
"It's like a time bomb. No one knows if it will explode. The brainstem and spinal nerves are the most important central nervous system in the human body. They control most of the organs and limbs of the human body. Even thinking. If there is no cure, Then there are serious consequences.”
Li Jie and Thor had already heard the meaning of Christine's words, Li Jie chewed his mouth unconsciously, and then he said in a bad tone: "What is the worst result?"
"Paralyzed for life, the kind of high paraplegia. Either brain dead, or become a vegetable." Christine said dryly: "Even if you want to be cured by surgery, the risk is extremely high. And the cost of surgery will also be An astronomical figure. Five hundred thousand dollars is already the most conservative estimate, and it may be even higher. Penny, she..."
Christine shook her head while talking, but she didn't go on. But everyone knew what she was going to say next. Even if Penny's father hadn't been arrested, he couldn't see that he could afford the money. That's a lot of money, and the surgery is prohibitively expensive for the vast majority of middle-class American families. What's more, Christine still said it at a low level, maybe the actual cost will be higher than what she said.
Li Jie gasped. A six-year-old girl was sentenced to the worst outcome of her life? But she hasn't even really started her life yet!
And Thor was still holding two candies that Penny gave him, and he moved the stiff muscles on his face. Then he glanced at Li Jie and said, "Can you lend me some money?"
Li Jie knew what Thor wanted to do, he nodded and said, "Of course there is no problem."
For the first time, Thor showed a look of gratitude to Li Jie. He turned his head and glanced at Christine and said, "Then, can Christine trouble you to arrange the operation as soon as possible through the relationship of the hospital?"
Christine took a look at Li Jie. She knew that Li Jie owned a comic company, and the sales volume has been increasing now. Li Jie's annual income from the comic company is very reasonable.
Li Jie is not a person who cares about money very much, so if he is willing to pay, then the basic operation fee will be covered. But some surgeries are not something money can do.
"This operation is very difficult, Jason. It is very likely that your hundreds of thousands will be in vain." Christine reminded Li Jie first: "This operation requires a doctor with a knife to cut Penny's brain stem and The underdeveloped nerves in the spine were cut off and then reattached, and the success rate of this kind of surgery is not high. Moreover, Penny is so small, the risk of operating on her is very high, and ordinary doctors are afraid to operate on her of."
Li Jie touched his chin and suddenly thought of the new technology that the Osborne Group is working on, which is also about nerves. Nerve growth is more complex and sophisticated than limb regrowth.
The current spin-off of the Osborne Group's limb regeneration program, neuroprosthetics, is still flawed.
"Such as reflexes, such as explosive power, etc. Before the company performed such an operation on a former world track and field champion except for a car accident. Although he could run and jump after the operation, he couldn't recover to a subversive state." Li Jie roughly said Talk about the pros and cons of the surgery.
"He can only move at the level of a normal person. It is impossible for him to run as a world trapeze man running 200 meters like he used to. And his flexibility will be greatly reduced. It can be regarded as changing from a trapeze man to a mortal."
Thor and Christine glanced at each other, and Christine said: "I think it might work for little Penny, if she didn't aspire to become a world trapeze, or the world's top piano There's nothing wrong with just living happily as an ordinary person. Her life is just getting started."
Thor also agreed with Li Jie's proposal, and he was going to ask the child his own opinion after Penny woke up from the emergency room.
But Li Jie thought of another thing, he said with a slight frown: "But there is still a problem here."
"What?" Thor glanced at Li Jie.
"Nerve regeneration technology is similar in essence to the regeneration of severed limbs. The original nerve needs to be removed and then injected with a special agent to allow the exercised nerve to re-grow in a normal and healthy way. The original nerve needs to be removed without damage For other parts, this technique is difficult." Li Jie said.
"Currently, among all the operations of this type in the Osborne Group, there is only one doctor who can guarantee the success rate, and that is the external consultant doctor Steve Strange." Li Jie shook his head.
"What the Osborne Group signed with Strange is only an external consultant agreement. It is impossible for us to force him to treat a certain patient. He has the right to choose whether to accept or not. As for Strange's character, I think the two of you One, especially Dr. Christine should know better than me." Li Jie waved his hand.
"He never performs unsure operations, and you just said how difficult Penny's operation is."
The whole rest room fell into a complete silence.
Suddenly Li Jie heard the sound of tearing the plastic packaging bag. It turned out that Thor tore off the plastic packaging of the two candies in his hand, and Thor threw the melted candies into his mouth. One is fruit candy and the other is toffee. The taste of mixing them together is not very good, which is weird.
Thor casually crumpled the candy wrapper and threw it on the ground. He stood up and was ready to go out.
"Thor, Penny's first aid won't end so soon, wait now." Christine thought Thor was going to see Penny.
"No, I'm not going to see Penny. I just want to talk to someone." Thor didn't have too many emotional fluctuations in his tone.
But Li Jie felt a bad smell, and he asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"Steve Strange!"