Legend (6)
Jiiiing.
The door opened and the thoracic surgery staff and Choi Ki-seok came out into the operating room.
‘It’s a miracle. This.’
Choi Ki-seok’s eyes were fixed on Yasada.
His surgical skills were amazing.
Treatment for the ruptured lung was prompt and flawless.
What’s even more impressive is that he even performed a pulmonary artery anastomosis. Originally, pulmonary artery anastomosis was a task that had to be performed in the cardiac surgery department and was the job of the first assistant accompanying the patient.
However, Yasada, who was in charge of the pulmonary esophageal surgery part, completed it himself.
I asked for understanding from the first assistant who accompanied me and finished it at lightning speed.
This could happen when the level of the warrior reaches its peak.
Ki-Seok Choi gained a new realization.
In addition, it was reaffirmed that Song Myeong-jin’s popularity was strong and that there were many people who cared for him other than himself.
“I watched you do the work from the beginning. You went absolutely crazy.”
Lucas blocked Yasada’s path.
“The moment Dr. Song lay down on the operating table, I was already crazy.”
“Thank you for your hard work. Leave the finishing touches to me.”
When Lucas put his hand on Yasada’s shoulder, Yasada nodded slightly.
Soon, the thoracic surgery staff and the neurosurgery staff crossed paths.
A long journey to save Song Myeong-jin.
It was running towards the final curtain.
“Mr. Choi, do you have anything to say?”
Lucas, who was scrubbing, stared at Choi Ki-seok.
The back of my head felt itchy from his gaze that I felt earlier.
“I would like to assist in this surgery.”
“You already took first place in the general surgery section and second place in the thoracic surgery section. It would be better to take a break this time.”
“My physical strength is still fine. I can maintain enough concentration. If you trust me, I will never disappoint you.”
Fire spewed out from Choi Ki-seok’s eyes.
Even other staff members could vividly feel the desire to save Song Myeong-jin.
“Anyway, I can’t stop that stubbornness.”
“….”
“Finish the scrub quickly and stand first.”
“thank you.”
Choi Ki-seok bowed his head and began rubbing his arms and forearms with a brush.
After a while, the neurosurgery staff took their seats in the rosette.
‘Everyone worked hard.’
Lucas’ eyes rested on the surgical clock.
General surgery and thoracic surgery.
It only took two hours to do these two things.
It would have been impossible if a surgeon other than Lucas and Yasada had performed the surgery. In a typical case, the patient would have already died before neurosurgery.
“After thoracic surgery, my vitals dropped significantly.”
Before surgery, the anesthesiologist reported the patient’s condition.
Song Myeong-jin’s breathing, blood pressure, and pulse were at the bottom.
The surgery was completed quickly and completely, but the body cannot withstand it.
“Administer a vasopressor and administer high-concentration oxygen. Second, administer aminoban IV (intravenously).”
“All right.”
“yes!”
While raising vitals to normal range, Ki-Seok Choi shaved Myeong-Jin Song’s head.
In the case of brain surgery, shaving is essential to prevent contamination from hair.
“We will now begin surgery for subdural hemorrhage.”
At Lucas’s words, the second assistant disinfected his head and covered it with a cloth.
Lucas carefully cut Myungjin Song’s scalp with the scalpel given to him by the disinfection nurse.
After the incision was completed, Ki-Seok Choi drilled a hole in the incision site.
Drurly.
The sound of the drill rang loudly.
After the craniotomy was completed and the skull was exposed, Song Myeong-jin’s mind was revealed at a glance.
“It’s more serious than I thought.”
Lucas’s brows narrowed.
The impact of the car accident resulted in severe bleeding in the left temporal area.
Because of this accumulated blood, the brain in the temporal region was pressed to the opposite side.
“First, we need to lower the cerebral pressure. Mannitol and barbiturate IV.”
“yes.”
While the instructed second administered the medication, Lucas and Choi Ki-seok began full-scale treatment.
The two people used a suction device to suck out the blood that had accumulated under the dura. Then, a clip was used to tie up the brain blood vessel that had burst due to the impact.
After a series of treatments, the intracranial pressure dropped to 30 mm Hg.
Normal intracranial pressure ranges from 5 mm Hg to 15 mm Hg.
Considering that the cerebral pressure before treatment was 30 mm Hg, it could be said that significant progress had been made.
But at that very moment.
A distant, cloudy water-like substance flowed from Song Myeong-jin’s nose and ears.
It is cerebrospinal fluid.
“Stay still!”
“Chief, shouldn’t we leave it like this? Stop the cerebrospinal fluid, or at least disinfect it…”
The second, who was about to treat him, looked aggrieved by Lucas’s point.
“No. When cerebrospinal fluid is flowing, it is best to leave it alone. Trying to stop it or disinfect it forcibly often causes infection.”
Second nodded as if he understood Choi Ki-seok’s explanation.
“Professor. What should we do now? The brain pressure has dropped, but…”
Choi Ki-seok frowned as he examined the surgical site.
The bleeding was controlled, but the damage to the brain parenchyma was too severe. As a result, part of his brain swelled severely.
Treatment for open fractures has not yet begun.
“First, we have to remove the hematoma and perform a lobotomy. Treatment of the fracture is the last step.”
“All right.”
As follow-up treatment continued, Ki-Seok Choi helped Lucas wholeheartedly.
Through training in the training room, I personally performed and assisted in various surgeries.
Therefore, there was a tremendous amount of know-how accumulated about what the surgeon needed during surgery and how to provide more effective assistance.
Based on that know-how, we helped Lucas perform the procedure as quickly and accurately as possible.
How much time has passed?
Hematoma removal, temporal lobe resection, duraplasty, and treatment for the open fracture were all completed.
All procedures that can be performed in surgery have been completed.
Ki-seok Choi looked at Myung-jin Song with the eyes of Hippocrates and bit his lip.
The condition is still emergency.
The performance was downgraded from non-recoverable to defective.
The teacher’s future was still like a hazy fog.
* * *
Midnight that day.
Choi Ki-seok was keeping Song Myeong-jin in the surgical patient room (a doctor’s job of closely observing the patient’s progress).
The surgery was successful, but his vitals were still unstable.
So I put on ECMO an hour ago.
“professor.”
He gently held the unconscious Song Myeong-jin’s hand.
The teacher’s hands were warm.
It’s hard to believe that I’m wandering between life and death.
“Dr. Choi, come back after taking a short break in the break room.”
The nurse who was making rounds spoke to me.
“I’m fine.”
“What’s okay about being okay? I heard he was in the operating room from start to finish. If this continues, Dr. Choi will get sick first.”
“It’s really okay. Thank you for your concern.”
Because he stubbornly refused, the nurse eventually returned to her seat.
Time passed and it was two in the morning.
Choi Ki-seok fell asleep briefly without realizing it.
Although I received help from various stamina buffs and a frozen heart, the mental pressure and stress that had built up over the years was difficult to bear.
Bleep! Bleep!
An unpleasant sound struck my ears.
Ki-seok Choi opened his eyes and stared at the patient monitoring device.
Suddenly my vitals plummeted.
Using the Eye of Hippocrates, a new diagnosis came to mind: sepsis.
At that moment, I felt a shock as if I had been hit on the head by a hammer.
Sepsis is a disease in which a serious inflammatory response occurs throughout the body due to contaminated microorganisms. It is like a grim reaper that leads to the death of patients after surgery.
He quickly drew blood and sent it to the lab.
This is to confirm the type of bacteria that caused sepsis.
At the same time, the infectious disease resident on duty was called.
“Ha… ha… how’s the Head Chief?”
An infectious disease resident stood next to the bed, breathing heavily.
“I suspect sepsis. His body temperature is over 38 degrees and he is hyperventilating even though he is wearing ECMO. His pulse is also rising.”
“What about a blood test?”
“I sent it ten minutes ago.”
“Then let’s check.”
The two people looked at the test results with nervous expressions.
Song Myung-jin’s white blood cell count was far below 12,000 cells/mm3.
“It’s sepsis. It’s serious, too…”
The infectious disease resident started shaking his legs as if he was nervous.
“It will take a while for the culture test results to come out, so let’s do what we can right away. Given the circumstances, we suspect a gram-positive bacterial infection, so we will start antibiotic treatment and also administer vasopressors and steroids.”
“Yes. Please.”
Ki-Seok Choi began treatment with an infectious disease resident.
Despite being administered various medications, Song Myeong-jin’s vitals continued to worsen.
“Shouldn’t I use more medication? If anything, my condition is getting worse.”
“The Head Chief can’t handle the drug if used too much. This is the best he can do for now.”
The two people’s eyes were fixed on Song Myeong-jin.
Beep! Beep!
An ominous sound came from the patient monitoring device.
The electrocardiogram graph, which was moving faintly, drew a straight line.
Choi Ki-seok used the Must Be Saved skill, applied the awakening CPR buff, and began providing first aid.
Chest compressions and high-concentration oxygen administration.
Injecting epinephrine at regular intervals and even using a defibrillator.
CPR was performed for nearly 30 minutes, but Song Myeong-jin showed no reaction.
His body grew cold, and soon the patient monitoring device stopped sending any signals.
“This can’t be happening. This is a dream.”
Choi Ki-seok put his hand on his forehead and burst into maniacal laughter.
I couldn’t and didn’t want to admit this situation.
“Sir, I think CPR isn’t enough yet. Let’s continue.”
“Mr. Choi. I understand your feelings, but…”
The infectious disease resident trailed off, avoiding his gaze.
“What is there to understand? Professor, you can survive with just CPR. I don’t know of anyone who survived after doing CPR for over two hours!”
“….”
“Keep going. Then you can survive.”
Choi Ki-seok continued CPR alone.
I thought that the resurrection effect of the title received from Choi Mi-soon was enough to spark recovery.
puck! puck! puck! puck!
Every time CPR was performed, Song Myeong-jin’s body bounced violently.
The madness shown by Choi Ki-seok made not only the infectious disease residents but also the intensive care unit nurses harden like stones.
Time flows so endlessly.
Choi Ki-seok, who was performing CPR alone, collapsed on the floor next to the bed.
My wet hair drooped like seaweed.
I let out a rough breath.
Even if I had all kinds of physical strength items, I couldn’t endure a long period of CPR alone.
Drurr.
The door opened and Yasada, who had been waiting in the office, entered the intensive care unit.
He stood next to the bed and looked down at Choi Ki-seok indifferently.
“Are you calm now?”
“No, I’m just resting for a moment. I’ll rest for just one minute and then do CPR again.”
Choi Ki-seok’s eyes were still burning hotly.
“That’s enough.”
“What are you saying? Chief. There is still hope.”
“There is no way to save a dead person. What you are holding on to is not hope, but stubbornness.”
“But…”
“In life, you have to accept things you don’t want to accept. I think I gained a new insight today.”
Yasada bit his lip and looked down at Song Myeong-jin.
Even though he gave cold advice to Choi Ki-seok, he could hardly do his job.
He too was experiencing a conflict between reason and emotions.
“Phew… Damn it.”
Yasada shined a light into Song Myeong-jin’s pupils and rechecked the pulse and respiratory electrocardiogram of the patient monitoring device.
Lastly, he checked the time with the watch on his wrist.
“Patient Song Myeong-jin… in the early morning of March 28th. “He died of sepsis caused by a car accident around 4:10.”
