Kingmaker (2)
Ki-Seok Choi used the Eye of Hippocrates on Carter and dropped his head.
Hemiparesis was added to his diagnosis.
Hemiplegia.
It is a disease that paralyzes one side of the body, usually due to a stroke or brain tumor. In Carter’s case, brain damage from a car accident left him paralyzed.
“Teacher! It’s not just my arm. My left leg doesn’t move either.”
“What about the right one?”
Carter raised his right hand in response to Choi Ki-seok’s question.
“There’s nothing wrong with the right side, but only the left side is like this. Why is it like this?”
Carter’s embarrassed eyes turned to Choi Ki-seok.
Choi Ki-seok bit his lip and explained the cause of hemiparesis and hemiplegia.
“….”
“….”
Even after the explanation was finished, there was a heavy silence.
Carter placed his right hand on his forehead with a sad expression.
“Wasn’t the surgery successful? But why! Why on earth did I become paralyzed!”
“Yes. The surgery was a success. Carter was diagnosed with a subdural hemorrhage and underwent surgery to remove the hematoma. Currently, the hematoma does not remain in his head. However…” “….” “The paralysis is not an aftereffect
of
the surgery. “It is an aftereffect of a car accident. It appears that the cranial nerves were damaged due to the trauma.”
Choi Ki-seok answered with difficulty.
I had already read Carter’s surgery report several times and found nothing that was problematic. There was no bleeding or nerve damage during the surgery.
“So what do I do now? Am I never going to be able to play the piano again?”
“There is no need to feel so hopeless.”
“Then…”
“As I said earlier, we will work with the neurologist to determine the direction of treatment. As of now, it is likely that drug treatment and rehabilitation treatment will be carried out together.”
Carter did not respond to Choi Ki-seok’s words.
I just look up at the ceiling with empty eyes.
Choi Ki-seok also remained silent upon seeing Carter.
The obvious consolation that things could get better with rehabilitation treatment was better not to do it in the current situation.
“Dr. Choi. I want to be alone.”
“…Okay. I’ll see you later.”
Ki-Seok Choi said hello to Carter and left the intensive care unit.
My heart felt heavy, like a rock was hanging on it.
If you suffered from hemiparesis, how would you feel if you had to quit your career as a doctor and focus only on rehabilitation?
It was hard to even imagine that feeling of despair.
Jiiiing.
As I was walking with a heavy heart, the call phone rang.
It’s a ward phone call.
[Dr. Choi. Now, the outpatient professor has admitted a patient under your name. I think you should come quickly.]
“Yes. I’m on my way now.”
Choi Ki-seok’s steps became faster.
Upon arriving at the ward, a family is waiting in front of the station.
Everyone looked fine, so it seemed like there were no patients among them.
“Doctor. This is the patient, Mr. Harrison, and this is Mr. Harrison’s wife. The rest are the children.”
“Hello. My name is your doctor Ki-seok Choi.”
“hello.”
“i look forward to.”
After greeting the guardian, I used the Eye of Hippocrates on the patient.
‘The number of patients continues to be overwhelming.’
Choi Ki-seok muttered to himself.
Harrison suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
70% of the dementia that people commonly talk about is Alzheimer’s disease.
It mainly appears in old age and causes problems with memory and language skills, causing great disruption in daily life.
“The patient’s room assignment has been completed, right?”
“yes.”
The nurse nodded to Choi Ki-seok’s question.
“First of all, the patient and guardian are resting in the hospital room. I will go to the hospital room right away.”
“All right.”
Choi Ki-seok went into the medical office and looked at Harrison’s chart.
There was a need to confirm why the outpatient professor had hospitalized Harrison and what the future treatment plan was.
“Hmm…”
I groaned involuntarily while examining the MRI and PET.
On MRI, the temporal and parietal lobes showed severe atrophy.
As a result, it looked like a black hole had formed in the center of the head.
The PET image also showed shading in the center of the head and the ventricles were excessively dilated.
Alzheimer’s disease is already at an advanced stage.
After looking at the chart, I went back to the ward.
“Why are you making such a fuss by locking me in the hospital?”
Harrison began to loudly scold his family.
“I’m fine! Let’s not do anything nonsense and go home.”
“Dad, the doctor said you really need treatment. You said earlier that you would get treatment too.”
“When did I!”
Harrison huffed and wrinkled his nose.
“Harrison.”
“Da… are you a doctor?”
“Yes. This is the doctor I greeted you earlier, Ki-Seok Choi.”
“See this person? When did you say hello to me? This is my first time seeing you.”
Harrison clicked his tongue as if it was absurd.
Choi Ki-seok noticed that his cognitive function was much lower than he thought.
“Harrison, do you know what season it is now?”
“Of course. It’s summer, summer.”
At his answer, the family sighed and sighed.
It is currently April, far from summer.
“How are you feeling now?”
“It’s not good. I’m annoyed and depressed. But…”
Harrison stopped talking and looked at his eldest daughter, Amy.
“Who is that person, who has been here since a while ago? Her face is familiar, but I don’t know her name. Is she my second son’s wife?”
“I’m Amy. Dad’s first daughter.”
“okay?”
Amy bit her lip and turned her head at Harrison’s words.
I turn around and hold back tears.
“I think I know enough about the patient’s condition. Did you hear the nurse explain the hospitalization?”
“yes.”
“Seeing how you’re acting, I think you need to have someone by your side. Would you like to hire a caregiver or…”
“The family will take turns staying in the hospital room.”
“All right.”
Choi Ki-seok continued calmly.
“I will tell you briefly about the treatment plan. We will monitor Mr. Harrison’s progress over the next few days and perform stem cell transplantation and brain peacemaker implantation on Mr. Harrison. Once the treatment is completed, he will be transferred to the neurology department for treatment.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Choi Ki-seok also bowed his head in response to the family’s greetings.
Meanwhile, Harrison, who had been thinking about something else for a while, looked at Choi Ki-seok.
“who are you?”
* * *
Mayjo Clinic Thoracic Surgery.
Song Myeong-jin was doing paperwork in his office.
Cardiac surgery part, Pulmonary esophageal surgery part, Pediatric thoracic surgery part.
As the head of all three departments, there were a lot of chores to take care of.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
I heard a knock and asked to come in.
The person who entered the office was none other than Yasada, the world’s best lung and esophagus surgeon.
“Are you busy?”
“It’s okay. Come in.”
Yasada sat on the sofa and Song Myeong-jin sat across from him.
“What a surprise. You came to visit me…”
“Why can’t you come?”
“Well, it’s not like that… I’m just sick of seeing it too often.”
The two people looked at each other and burst into laughter.
Both of them are of Asian descent and are experienced thoracic surgeons, and their skills have been recognized internationally.
We had so much in common that we were able to quickly become friends.
“It’s crazy what residents are like these days.”
Yasada cried out.
“Yesterday, during the lung transplant surgery, the guy who was assisting touched a blood vessel and was in trouble. To think he would make such a ridiculous mistake after 5 years of surgical training…” “You should consider that too. That guy was assisting in the lung transplant surgery
. Because it was my first time.”
“That’s no excuse. This is clearly a case of the doctor creating the disease.”
“Honestly, I don’t have anything to say about that. But, you know, I’m a trainee who hasn’t even finished residency yet. No human being is perfect from the beginning. Even children learn to walk by falling.”
“You are too generous to your subordinates. That is the problem.”
Yasada gave a disapproving look.
“Is the friend I brought from Korea doing well? I remember stopping a suicidal patient and being involved in a shooting incident, but there is no news since then.”
“There is a saying in Korea that no news is good news.”
Song Myeong-jin smiled and continued.
“Mr. Choi was promoted early from general surgery and is now training in neurosurgery.”
“You were promoted early from general surgery?”
“okay.”
“I can’t believe it. That strict Smith gave me an early promotion…”
A look of admiration appeared on Yasada’s face.
Although the Meijo Clinic is said to be filled with great doctors, there are only two doctors that Yasada recognizes.
Song Myeong-jin and Smith are right in front.
However, Choi Ki-seok impressed the two sergeants he recognized.
I couldn’t help but be surprised.
“Why? Are you interested in Mr. Choi?”
“It would be a lie to say there isn’t one. To be honest, there isn’t a single person I like in the pulmonary and esophageal surgery department. Not to mention the residents, even the fellows and professors.”
“Didn’t I tell you this many times? That’s your greed. Just because you’re perfect doesn’t mean other people can be perfect, too.”
“My thoughts have never changed since I picked up the scalpel. Every surgeon must be perfect. Do you know why?”
“….”
“Because we deal with life. If the surgery fails, the patient dies. They can never come back.”
Song Myeong-jin nodded slightly at Yasada’s impassioned speech.
“I deeply sympathize with what you say. But what I’m saying is that we need to acknowledge reality to some extent. I’m saying this now, but I never dreamed I’d meet a warrior who had more ideals than me.”
“Birds that fly higher see more.”
“Yes. He will appear soon. The best thoracic surgeon who surpasses you and me. At that time, I will have to give everything I have. “Just hearing you say that makes my heart flutter.” Yasada stood up while there was a moment of silence. “
Enough
.
” I need to see it. It’s surgery time.”
“Okay. Let’s have a meal together this week.”
After Yasada left, Song Myeong-jin took care of the remaining chores.
Suddenly, he looked at the clock on the wall and saw that work time was over.
Today, he plans to go home and rest well.
Jeeeeeeee.
Let’s clean up the place . As I was leaving the office, the call phone rang.
[Head Chief. This is Alfred, a first-year resident. Sorry for calling you so late.]
“It’s okay. What patient did you call about?”
Myung-Jin Song got straight to the point.
The reason the resident called him directly, the head chief.
It meant that a problem that could not be solved in someone else’s hands arose.
[That… I just went to the emergency room . [A patient with a gunshot wound was brought in. He was shot twice in the chest. One bullet entered the lung and the other appeared to have penetrated. The condition is such an emergency and he is a VIP patient…] “Keep his vitals and get him in the operating room
. “I’ll come down right away.”
[Yes. I understand.]
Song Myeong-jin hung up the phone and stood in front of the elevator.
Ride, ride, ride.
The elevator going up to the rooftop was so fast that I rushed down the stairs.
Jump up!
As he entered the emergency room, Alfred spotted him and waved.
“Ha…ha…. What about the patient?”
“We are stopping the bleeding from the wound and maintaining a ventilator. Since the bleeding is still severe, we are using a blood pack and intravenous fluid treatment in parallel.”
“Let’s look at the test results.”
Song Myeong-jin sat in front of the monitor and examined the X-rays and CT scans.
His face became increasingly earthy.
“Hey… Head Chief, I have something to tell you. Well… I got the operating room…”
“I got it?”
“We couldn’t find any auxiliary staff. There is a regular surgery that hasn’t been completed yet and an emergency surgery as well…” “
Let’s go to the operating room first.”
“But…”
“Didn’t you hear me?”
Alfred hurriedly moved the patient at his shouting.
Song Myeong-jin held his cell phone in his hand while traveling with Alfred.
“Mr. Choi. Are you done with work? Can you help me scrub?”