In Korea (4)
“It was during my training as a vice hospital director…”
“Yes.”
“Fill up my glass and I’ll think about it.”
As Choi Ki-seok quickly filled his glass, Jang Hyuk-pil smiled with satisfaction.
“It’s not hard to tell. But why are you suddenly asking that?”
“I was really wondering if I had been looking at the vice hospital director wrong all this time.”
“What did you think so far?”
“I thought he was a person who would do anything to achieve career advancement and success.”
Jang Hyuk-pil burst into laughter at his direct remark.
“It stings because I feel like I’m telling my own story. For now, I’ll just tell you one episode I know.”
“thank you.”
“Kiseok, I know you heard this somewhere, but the vice hospital director was someone who cared deeply about his patients. Ever since his intern days, he’s been told that patients are idiots.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Choi Ki-seok heard about Jo Ji-hwan’s past through reporter Park Gwang-soo.
“The reason the vice hospital director changed was probably because of that incident. It happened when the vice hospital director was in his third year as a resident.”
Jang Hyuk-pil slowly opened his eyes.
At the time of the incident, a man was brought to the emergency room at Uijin University Hospital.
The man suffered serious chest trauma in a car accident.
After examining the man, Jo Ji-hwan concluded that surgery was necessary. Since it was a problem that could not be resolved at the Chief Line, I contacted the director of thoracic surgery at the time, but the response I received was cold.
“Don’t do the surgery, just go to another hospital.”
“What? Chief! This patient needs surgery right away! He will die during transport.”
“Jo Ji-hwan. Do what I say sound funny?”
The manager continued speaking in a cold tone.
“If it is as you said, there is no chance of the patient surviving the surgery. Instead of needlessly increasing the patient’s mortality rate, send him or her to the hospital immediately. Just tell the guardian that emergency surgery has been delayed.”
“Chief. But the patient…”
“Do you not want to be a doctor?”
“….”
“If you’re really frustrated, you should do the surgery yourself. Why? Are you not confident about that again? Don’t make your mouth hurt anymore and just quit.”
Jo Ji-hwan looked down at the phone with a dejected expression.
Then, I happened to meet a guardian and noticed a tear flowing from the eye.
“Doctor. Is surgery possible?”
“…I’m sorry. Due to a backlog of emergency surgeries, we cannot perform surgery right away. Instead, we will transfer you to a nearby hospital where surgery can be performed.”
Hyukpil Jang contacted a nearby university hospital and went to the emergency room with the patient and guardian. However, even though I contacted him in advance, the university hospital there also refused to perform the surgery.
This is the third hospital I visited after being rejected twice.
The patient passed away in the emergency room there.
“Ah…”
Choi Ki-seok lowered his head without realizing it.
It feels like someone is squeezing my chest.
I could feel with my whole body the devastation that Jo Ji-hwan must have felt at that time.
Having no choice but to kick out a patient by order from a superior and even being kicked out of another hospital…
Isn’t this the worst feeling of helplessness that a doctor can experience?
“Let’s have a drink.”
“yes.”
Ki-Seok Choi and Hyuk-Pil Jang exchanged glasses.
“They say that the deputy hospital director started to change right after that. I would say it was the moment when the patient idiot turned into the embodiment of power.”
“I’m sorry, but I would like to ask one more question. What does Director Jang think of the vice hospital director?”
“An old fox blinded by power. I don’t know what kind of person he was in the past, but now he is nothing more or less than that.”
“You don’t think the deputy hospital director is a person who cares about patients, do you?”
“You call that a question? After watching the deputy hospital director with your own two eyes?”
Jang Hyuk-pil narrowed his eyes and stared at Choi Ki-seok.
“Do you think the deputy hospital director might be a good person?”
“It suddenly occurred to me that that might be the case.”
“You have a rich imagination. Then why did a person who cared so much for patients become the embodiment of power?”
In response to Jang Hyuk-pil’s question, Choi Ki-seok quietly touched his glass.
There is one answer, assuming that Hippocrates’ eyes were not mistaken. But that conclusion is too cartoonish to be true.
“I guess I was wrong. I was too drunk.”
“Ahm. Of course. Let’s have one more drink.”
Chaeaeaeang.
The two clinked their glasses and emptied their drinks in one go.
Afterwards, we exchanged information about what happened at Mayjo Clinic and medical school.
Meeting after almost seven months.
They both had a lot to say to each other.
Choi Ki-seok talked with Jang Hyuk-pil for a while and then moved to another table.
The second table has an almost wave-like atmosphere.
Shin Areum, the anesthetist, was busy comforting Kang Hana, who was drunk, and Byungse Yoo was making up his own mind and listening to the stories around him.
“Mr. Byeongse. It’s been a while.”
“Mr. Choi, too. I think your face actually got better while you were in America.”
“Hahaha. Do you see it?”
Choi Ki-seok smiled and poured a drink for Yoo Byeong-se.
“Doctor Yu knows a lot about medical devices, right?”
“I may say it with my own mouth, but it’s true. I originally worked in the field of biomedical engineering, but then moved on to becoming a cardiopulmonary technician.”
“If this is the reason you chose this…”
“It’s a personal matter, so please don’t talk about it…”
Since Yoo Byung-se kept his distance, he didn’t dig in any further. So, I continued the topic towards medical devices and then got to the point.
“Do you know much about ECMO?”
“Of course I know. I’ve participated in development before.”
I was internally delighted by his exciting answer.
“I know it’s rude to say this after returning after such a long time, but there’s one thing I’d like to ask you.”
Ki-Seok Choi summarized his father’s business story.
My father’s company recently developed a new ECMO device, and the device, which was working well, suddenly developed an error.
“I can’t tell just by looking at it, I have to see the machine myself.”
“Then maybe…”
“Yes. I will go to the company and check in person. I have work tomorrow, so I don’t think I can do it. How about the day after tomorrow?”
“I’m welcome anytime.”
Choi Ki-seok smiled brightly and clinked glasses with Yoo Byung-se.
The alcohol was particularly sweet today.
* * *
The next morning, Choi Ki-seok was eating with his mother.
“What about your father? He doesn’t eat breakfast?”
“It’s not that he doesn’t eat, it’s that he can’t eat. He said he was sleeping late yesterday in a sauna nearby because he worked overtime.”
My mother’s words got my side dish stuck in my throat.
It appears that the ECMO business has been seriously disrupted.
He often worked overtime, but it was even rarer for him not to come home.
“Your father usually doesn’t show it even though he’s having a hard time. I wonder how upset he must be right now.”
“Don’t worry too much. Something good will happen soon.”
“Why? Are you going to see my son after he takes off his feet?”
“Not the feet, but the sleeves?”
My mother burst out laughing at his joke.
“There are a lot of events this month, including your father and the general. Oh, by the way, what happened to the general?”
“I have a disease called acute gastric dilatation torsion, which causes the stomach to swell and twist. The surgery went well, and I should be able to pick you up tomorrow.”
“That’s good. Anyway, I don’t know if my son will become a veterinarian like this. He even sees through the general’s pain.”
After the meal, my mother went to work.
Choi Ki-seok remained alone today to guard the house.
‘Let’s see.’
I stood on the veranda and got lost in thought.
The problem with my father can be resolved tomorrow, and I have already made reservations for where I can go on a trip with Jeong Seol-hwa.
Since I attended the medical school dinner yesterday, I didn’t have anything to do today.
If I had to choose, it would be training and studying neurosurgery?
Jiyiing.
The cell phone I had left on the sofa rang.
Because it was an unfamiliar number, I tilted my head and connected the call.
“hello?”
“Wow. You really got on the phone. Doctor, do you remember the patient Choi Mi-soon who was hospitalized before?”
“Of course. From the sound of your voice, I think it’s your second son. Is that correct?”
“Yes. That’s right. This is Yang Tae-man. You remember me.”
Yang Tae-man’s voice became brighter.
“I thought I wouldn’t be able to call you because I heard you were overseas. I was surprised when you answered the phone.”
“It’s true that I live abroad, but I recently went on vacation.”
“Ah. I see.”
Yang Tae-man spoke carefully, and Choi Ki-seok quietly listened to his story.
His expression became increasingly unusual.
“All right.”
Choi Ki-seok hung up the phone and left the house immediately.
* * *
That afternoon.
Choi Ki-seok was driving up a sloping road.
The current location is in a mountain valley, with only green mountains spread out next to the road.
‘Haa…’
Suddenly, the sky I looked at was dark.
Dark clouds gathered in the distance and the wind became violent. It is not unusual for it to rain at any time.
How much time has passed?
The car passed the rice field ridge and stopped at the village parking lot.
Choi Ki-seok got out of the car and looked around.
The red tile-roofed house at the entrance I heard about while talking on the phone immediately caught my eye. As I opened the rusty iron door and entered, a man lowered his head.
“Teacher. Are you here?”
Yang Tae-man came up and held his hand.
“Thank you for your hard work coming this long way. I’m sorry you should have rested at home.”
“No. I really wanted to see you too. How are you now?”
“After suffering all morning, he took painkillers and fell asleep for a while. The doctor who came to visit said it would be a good idea to mentally prepare…”
Yang Tae-man was unable to finish his sentence.
“I’m sorry, but can I see you for a moment? I’ll just look at your face quietly.”
“Yes. Of course.”
As Choi Ki-seok headed to the floor, Choi Mi-soon’s children and relatives recognized him and greeted him all at once.
After exchanging greetings with them, I carefully entered Choi Mi-soon’s room.
Choi Mi-soon fell asleep peacefully like a child.
He didn’t look like someone who had been struggling all morning in pain.
‘Elder.’
Choi Ki-seok bit his lip without realizing it.
After a phone call in the morning, I was told that Choi Mi-soon was suffering from terminal cancer. I had surgery for stomach cancer and once for lung cancer, but eventually a third metastasis occurred.
It seemed like the cruel sky would eventually take her away.
I tried using Hippocrates just in case, but her condition was Emergency and Near Death.
It means that death is near.
Choi Ki-seok used Pain Killer on her and looked down.
He was complaining that he didn’t want to get the injection.
The way he secretly served me bean jelly, the way he spoke in a thick dialect and smiled, etc.
Memories of her flashed through my head.
So close.
The fact that all I can do now is watch her.
Choi Ki-seok came out of the room carefully so as not to wake Choi Mi-soon.
“Sir. Would you like a drink?”
“If you give it to me, I will be grateful.”
While Taeman Yang was drinking the vitamin drink he had been offered, he discovered a bag of medicine on top of the refrigerator.
“Do you think anyone in your family is sick?”
“Ah. I’m not feeling well, so I’m taking medicine. “There’s Congressman Yonghan a little bit away.”
“Ah. Is that so?”
Choi Ki-seok looked at the medicine bag as he answered.
“Are you hurting somewhere?”
“It’s just a cold.”
“You don’t have allergic rhinitis, do you?” ”
Not at all. But why is your expression like that? I wonder if something is bothering you…”
“Yes, because of this.”
Choi Ki-seok shook the medicine bag.
