Almighty Coach

Dai Li seemed very calm. He didn’t know how much the upgraded rehabilitation massage could do for Helheim’s recovery, but was sure that it would make Helheim recover much faster, compared with the speed of his self- healing.

"Mr. Helheim, I’m going to massage your arm. Please relax," Dai Li put on special rubber gloves as he spoke.

Nelson shook his head helplessly. He considered what Dai Li was doing as being something totally useless. How would a case, remaining unsolvable to all experts on rehabilitation, over the whole, get effectively cured by such a simple muscle massage?

"Prof. Nelson, what did coach Li mean by epilepsy?" Corinna asked.

Her words reminded Nelson of the present business, then he replied, "That’s why I’m here today. Epilepsy is a chronic recurrent transient cerebral dysfunction syndrome, which is one of the most common diseases on the nervous system, featuring a recurrent epileptic seizure caused by abnormal discharges of brain neurons. According to the latest test results, Mr. Helheim has been in the early stages of epilepsy."

"Why did it happen? Isn’t he recovering?" Corinna asked.

Nelson immediately explained, "Acquired brain injury is one of the etiologies of epilepsy. After a brain surgery, the nervous system will inevitably encounter inflammations, including central nervous system infection caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and spirochetes, and nervous system complications of AIDS are among those etiologies, too. The brain hypoxia can also cause myoclonic epileptic seizures."

"That is to say, that my condition is now more complicated?" Lying in bed, Helheim asked.

"Yes," Nelson nodded, then went on talking, "But don’t worry. You are now in the early stages of epilepsy, with less obvious symptoms. We are able to control the seizures by medication..."

He then went on with a torrent of introductions about epilepsy, as if he was giving a lecture about epilepsy in a college. Foreign doctors are very good at explaining the illness to their patients. Different from their counterparts in China, who must make diagnoses about hundreds of patients, a doctor receiving ten patients a day could be regarded as a model worker in a country with the top healthcare in the world, such as Switzerland.

A word-class leading expert like Nelson offered his services with a high price. His patients were all rich. Usually, he was scheduled for only two patients each day, so that he could explain their conditions thoroughly to them, from the pathogenesis to symptoms, and then he would propose a list of therapies, along with the advantages and disadvantages of each, for his patients to choose from.

If the patient wanted therapy plan A, Nelson would take him through a comparison among plan A, B, C and D, and then would recommend the most suitable: plan D. In the end, Nelson would add, "That’s only my suggestion. It’s you who will make the final decision."

A same case in China would never see so many explanations and suggestions from the doctor. He might directly choose plan D for the patient, even without a word to make the therapy clear to the patient and his family. The doctor just would just simply them about the decision and ask them to pay for the treatment.

Nelson’s long "lecture" made Helheim and Corinna, as well as Claude, a fitness coach with a little knowledge about medicine, confused. As for Dai Li, he did not listen to Nelson at all. There were so many medical terms that Dai Li needed a dictionary to help him understand.

Foreign doctors respect their patients’ rights to know. If there is nothing special in the case, they will tell the patient about his illness in detail. Such a way of communication between doctors and patients cannot be defined as "correct" or not, nor can it be judged by the standards of good and bad. What it will result in only depends on the psychological endurance of the patient in each specific case.

For example, in the case of a terminal cancer patient, doctors in China usually tell the condition to the patient’s family member, instead of the patient himself. They are afraid that the patient cannot accept such a fact, and that would make him suffer in his last few days. But foreign doctors believe that patients should be told the truth, so that they can use their time left to fulfill some of their own unfinished wishes.

Those patients, who treat life positively, will indeed spend their final period of time to realize their own wishes. There is always news about someone with an incurable disease selling his houses and cars in order to travel around the world. And the one in the news is usually a foreigner.

As for those who cannot accept the fact they will soon die, they will be destroyed by their own fear about death, some of them even committing suicide to end their lives early. Such things are also frequently reported by domestic media. A patient, usually who was fatally ill, jumped off a building in a hospital because he could not face death. Hence, his family could get an economic compensation from the hospital, since his death happened in the hospital building.

Helheim, after serious injuries, was obviously not someone who could think positively. He looked upset upon knowing about his current conditions. He felt that he was one more step away from recovery.

My health is getting worse and worse, and now I have epilepsy. Maybe I can’t recover. Helheim couldn’t help but taking a look at Dai Li, who was massaging him, and he recalled Dai Li’s words before and sighed in his heart. It is never easy to make a miracle happen!

A sense of disappointment hung over Helheim, and he felt that the world had turned grey again. It’s useless. I’ve been in such a situation. A brain surgery, nerve damage, and now epilepsy. How can it be possible that such muscle massage works? It’s just a waste of time. A sense of despair rose from the bottom of his heart, and he opened his mouth, intending to stop Dai Li from doing such a futile massage.

Helheim was then ready to give up.

"Coach Li..." Helheim said with a faint voice, but at that moment, a pain suddenly came from his arm. Helheim grinned with the pain, and then his mind was filled with joys. To him, it was a long-lost pain. Helheim had been unable to move his arms and legs flexibly after the brain surgery. Sometimes he couldn’t even feel the existence of his arms at all. He even thought his two arms were no longer there with him. He was not even so sensitive to pains.

But the pain at the moment made him refreshed at once. He felt that his arm was coming back to him, with the numbness fading away and being replaced by the clear pains gradually...vivid, real pains.

Without a reason, Helheim thought of an image of a wasted and silent black land, covered by dark clouds that was suddenly enlightened by a ray of sunshine breaking the barrier of clouds. And a green seeding grew out of it. It was a wonderful symbol of life and hope.

"Mr. Helheim were you calling me just now?" the voice of Dai Li brought Helheim back to reality.

"Never mind..." Helheim shook his head hesitantly. His subconscious suddenly told himself that maybe he should give Dai Li a chance, as a chance to himself, too.

"It will be alright soon. Don’t worry please," Dai Li explained further, "It’s normal to be painful occasionally."

"I can endure it," Helheim answered, now full of trust for Li.

Nelson shook his head contemptuously. He thought it was useless. They’d be better off spending time on his detailed introductions of follow-up treatment for epilepsy, rather than on such meaningless massage.

"Mrs. Helheim, I would like to go back, if you have no question," Nelson bowed slightly and said. He did not want to remain here any longer.

"Thank you very much, Prof. Nelson. If there is any question, I’ll call you!" Corinna saw him out.

"It’s time to leave," said Nelson, turning to leave the room.

At the same time, Dai Li finished his massage and asked, "Try moving your arm, Mr. Helheim. Let’s see what’s different."

What difference will a muscle massage make? Nelson thought. He had reached the door and reached to open it...

...

Helheim stared at his newly-massaged arm on his bed. At that moment, he felt a little nervous. He then had a hunch that his condition had gotten better. Meanwhile, he was worried that the fact would be the totally opposite.

He took a deep breath and began to lift his arm. Wow! Helheim suddenly realized that his arm was much higher than it had been before. He used to be able to raise his arm up to, at most 30 degrees, and now he moved it to about 60 degrees. Then he tried moving his fingers...

...

"Oh? Oh!" Claude cried out happily.

"Ahhh! My holy God!" Corinna cried out, too. Her voice revealed her pure joy.

Meanwhile, Nelson had almost left the room, with his one foot out of the door. But the cry of surprise stopped him. Nelson turned back to see Claude clenching his fists and waving them near his chest, Corinna covering her mouth, with surprise in her eyes.

What happened? Nelson was confused, then turned around to find Helheim,

who raised his left arm high and clenched his fist.

For God’s sake, that’s impossible! Nelson was stunned the moment he saw this.