Sui Wenjing Begins Rehabilitation After Surgery; New Program Tells Her Own Story

Article on Wenjing’s surgery and a little bit about Sui/Han’s new programs for next season. Published May 10th on China Sports Daily. (Source)

Translated by magicaleggplant. (Disclaimer: I might have gotten some of the medical jargon wrong, please correct me if you see any errors.)

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Last Wednesday, that is, May 5th, Chinese pairs champion Sui Wenjing underwent foot surgery at Beiyisan Hospital. On the 9th, Sui Wenjing entered the rehabilitation phase. After four months of hard work, she will try to return to the ice and show figure skating fans two new highly-anticipated programs in the new season.

In late April, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong returned to Beijing after choreography sessions in Canada. After two or three consultations, a plan for surgery was finally determined. But the process was full of twists and turns. “Originally we thought I would rest for a day after returning and have the surgery right away on the second day. We didn’t expect that the doctors would be really cautious and disagree with each other, and the final plan wasn’t decided until after May 1st. It was Ren laoshi (Winter Olympics Party Secretary Ren Hongguo) who finally arranged it,” Sui Wenjing said.

No wonder the doctors argued; Sui Wenjing’s surgery must preserve her future competitive performance, but she must be able to recover quickly and it must not affect future competitions.

The final surgical plan was this: Both feet would undergo surgery. “To reset the tendon in the left foot, they put in a nail/staple and stitched it up. The main thing in the right foot was to repair the ligament, so they put another nail/staple in to connect the ligaments. Additionally, they needed to remove pieces of dead bone from both the inner front area and outer back area of the foot.” Just hearing the description from Sui Wenjing is enough to cause terror. Although the surgery in the right foot was not invasive, it bled considerably afterwards and was severely swollen.

“The anesthetic used during the surgery was very strong so I didn’t feel much, but that night I couldn’t sleep from the pain, I couldn’t stand it. I screamed and cried. It hurt even more on the second day, I cried all day.” What about medication? It was no use. Sui Wenjing could finally sleep after painkiller injections in the evening, but once the medication wore off, it was back to the cycle of pain and injections. After the surgery she also developed high fevers and fluctuations in her blood content. It wasn’t until May 9th that Sui Wenjing was discharged from the hospital and could start rehabilitation.

Fortunately, throughout the surgery process, Sui Wenjing felt everyone’s love and concern. “My surgery lasted much longer than a normal surgery, I had to get three anesthetic injections. It was very late by the time I got out, but there were many people waiting for me outside. Our team leader, coaches, big brother Han Cong, my mom, and lots of people from the national team…” During her subsequent hospital stay, Party Secretary Ren Hongguo, Deputy Director Liu Chengliang, Team Leader Tang Yehong, Head Coach Zhao Hongbo and many others from Team China rushed to see the young girl. The vice president of the hospital, head doctor, anesthetists, and nurses also gave Little Sui warm memories.

After her discharge from the hospital, Sui Wenjing must face the recovery process. “In about four months I should be able to stand on the ice again, but only stand and skate a little bit,” she said.

While plans for the surgery were still in their early phases, Sui Wenjing and Han Cong already completed choreography for new programs after the World Championships. Regarding their new programs, Sui Wenjing was at first coquettish. “I won’t reveal the short program now, but it’s different from previous seasons. I’ll save it as a nice surprise for everyone!” As for the free skate, she couldn’t help but talk about it. “The free skate is music with vocals, it’s a piece of music that Lori [Nichol] really loves. Usually she wouldn’t use it for skaters, but she knew that I would get surgery after returning home, so she choreographed it specially for me.” According to Little Sui, this music is rather slow; the story seems as if it’s tailored for her and Han Cong. “It’s the story of us from this year, it describes our experience: a man and a woman, the two of them each other’s best friends, but they’re only friends, they share one goal and career, helping each other, supporting each other - it’s very emotional! This program’s content has increased from last year’s, the result is a program that feels more like an exhibition performance. After experiencing this year’s injuries and rehab, I believe that after I’m fully recovered, we’ll be able to interpret this program better,” Sui Wenjing said. While choreographing the program in Canada, her feet injuries were severe, and the program was created with someone else taking her place.

“Our coach, Zhao Hongbo, also likes it a lot. He and Lori both hope that this year we’ll be able to perform this program like a beautiful work of art.” Seeing the optimistic Little Sui, this reporter looks forward to the young girl’s return to the ice rink, and for her to bring us more beautiful performances with Han Cong, especially in the interpretation of this program for the two of them. “I’m still young, I’ll be able to recover quickly! I will try very hard and progress as fast as possible. Our team has found the best rehab specialists for me, and there are many people helping me, and I will put in my best efforts!” Sui Wenjing said confidently.