Chapter 281: Practice Yoga
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Dai Li didn"t expect Feng Zhu"s reasons, and he asked: "How is your grandpa now?"
Feng Zhu said in a very low voice: "My grandpa will be over 70 this year. At this age, the risk of surgery is very large. And his body can"t take chemotherapy. Therefore, right now we can only consider conservative treatments."
In the field of cancer treatments, apart from conservative treatments, the other three useful treatments were surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. It was not difficult to understand the surgery method, which meant lying on the surgery bed and removing the cancer tissues, however, this treatment was not suitable for senior people. Just imagine the scene of cutting their skin and taking out a small part of their organs… a young man could bear the pain, but it would probably kill a senior person.
Radiotherapy equaled radiation treatment, which was a treatment that killed the cancer tissues by ray, wire, proton beam or other beams. However, those radioactive substances were bad for people"s health, and also, they had trouble identifying the cells, therefore, they tended to kill all the cancer cells, as well as healthy cells during the treatment.
Such reasons were why patients with lung cancer seldom chose radiotherapy. The treatment requires extensive exposure, which would affect other organs inside the thorax, such as the heart. It would be a loss to sacrifice your heart for the sake of your lung.
Regarding chemotherapy, it was a way to kill the cancer cells with a chemotherapeutic agent. It was a treatment that was applied to the whole body. No matter what way the patient took in the pills, the medicine would travel with the blood and reach almost every organ and tissue. It was really effective for tumor treatment, and for tumor inhibition in later stages.
The medicines used in chemotherapy were cytotoxic drugs, and they surely had side-effects. The most common ones were digestive system problems, hair loss, lessening of lung and kidney function, and leukocyte reduction. The problems in the digestive system would cause nausea, throwing up, and even cause trouble with eating. Therefore, patients who took chemotherapy tended to become thinner.
On the other hand, the patients still had to take supplements, because if they were to not, they would be weaker, and so would their immune system. The decline of leukocytes would definitely lead to the decreased functioning of the immune system. Therefore, the patients tended to catch other diseases, and those other diseases would harm the other organs in the body. Hence, as a consequence, the damage of the immune system would be fatal.
Many people found chemotherapy unfamiliar, which was why they thought it would speed up death if a patient took the chemotherapy treatment. Some people even thought that the hospital had "killed" the patient, when they saw the patient walk into the hospital safe and sound, only to later come out looking, and feeling, dreadful.
The chemotherapy itself had nothing wrong with it, it was just that the patients couldn"t bear the side-effects of it, and ended up with complications or the decay of organs, which would then lead to death. People who were weak or old were not advised to take chemotherapy, because while it took the cancer cells years to cause death, the breakdown of the immune system would make patients die in three months.
Those expensive anti-cancer medicines available abroad had less side-effects, or sometimes no side-effects at all. Therefore, those rich people that could afford them wouldn"t have to worry about their diseases, as they could get these medicines and maintain their lives. Also, when you got enough nutrition, your immune system wouldn"t be damaged as much, and you could live for 10 to 20 years more, living just like a normal person.
Feng Zhu was not born into a rich family, and it would be impossible for him to buy those extremely expensive anticancer medicines. Also, Feng Zhu"s grandpa was too old to try all the three methods for fighting the cancer, so he might have to wait for death at home.
…
After Dai Li knew about this, he forgave Feng Zhu"s bribe from before. "Feng Zhu, since you told me all this, I want to be honest with you." Dai Li paused, then continued, "Don"t believe what they say. I don"t have networks connections to the higher ups, and there"s no way for me to get you into the national team. I am not turning you down or lying, it"s just that I have no right to do that."
Dai Li looked sincere, while Feng Zhu looked like he had lost all hope. Dai Li continued saying, "But I may have something to help you with your flexibility issue."
"Really?" Feng Zhu suddenly raised up his head. He looked astonished and excited.
"Of course, it"s true. You think I would tease you?" Dai Li replied.
"No, that"s not what I mean." Feng Zhu explained, "Coach Li, I don"t doubt your words. It"s just that I am too old to practice flexibility. And plus, I have tried to do this for two years. However, I didn"t achieve anything in the last two years. I don"t have faith in myself."
"It is kind of late to start training flexibility at your age. And I don"t think the normal training routine would be suitable for you." Dai Li kept saying, "Therefore, we need to figure out other ways to do this, to use some special method… something you have never tried before."
"What method?" Feng Zhu asked anxiously.
"Well…" Dai Li hesitated, and didn"t reply immediately.
Dai Li was thinking of flexible yoga, which was similar to slimming and fat reduction exercises. Coaches were asked to guide the athletes to do yoga, and the athletes could improve their flexibility by practicing yoga.
Dai Li hadn"t used this skill after he learned it. He always thought this was a skill that was only used in sports like gymnastics.
Many people would think yoga was a sport that was specially taken by those office ladies who spent time in the gym only to relax. If so, it was okay for average people, but it would be ridiculous for high-leveled athletes to take it as a professional training.
That was why Dai Li didn"t point out the answer immediately, as he a.s.sumed Feng Zhu would think it was a joke. However, seeing Dai Li mumbling, seeming to hold words back, Feng Zhu mistook the method as something super hard and cruel.
Feng Zhu said, "Coach Li, don"t worry. I can bear the hards.h.i.+ps. No matter how hard it is, I will take it!"
"Bear the hards.h.i.+p?" Dai Li was stuck when he heard this, then he shook his head. "This training method is not hard at all. You can even say it"s quite easy, comparatively. It"s just a bit special!" Dai Li stressed on the word "special" on purpose.
"Coach Li, just tell me, no matter what it takes, as long as it can help improve my flexibility, I would do it!" Feng Zhu asked.
"Well then, my method is…" Dai Li said the last few words clearly, "Practice yoga!"