A turning point (1)
“It is illegal to leak a patient’s personal information. If you want to properly view the data, bring the documents.”
“Don’t I know that? But, if you were looking at a patient’s chart and I just happened to happen to see it, wouldn’t it be okay?”
Matthew frowned at Jacob’s words.
“It’s been a while since we met, and you’re just talking like a snarky snake. You’ve been tired a lot lately, so let’s quit the search battle. Let’s get to the point first.”
“It’s what I was hoping for.”
Jacob briefly told the story of his promotion and Freed.
On the other hand, Matthew showed no reaction throughout the story.
“So all you want is the patient’s personal information? What can we do with it?”
“Finding out his identity won’t make much difference, but we can’t wait for him to suffocate to death if he falls into the water. All we can do is try as hard as we can.”
“Do whatever you want.”
Matthew displayed Freed’s chart on the monitor and allowed Jacob to view it.
‘This?’
While looking at the chart with Jacob, we discovered something surprising.
It was true that Fried had previously undergone surgery at Mayjo for a cerebral artery malformation.
And the surgeon who performed the surgery happened to be Lucas.
Sons Drake, Lucas, and Jacob.
Something that could tie three people together ran through Matthew’s mind.
“Did you get anything?”
“Luckily there is.”
The two people looked into each other’s eyes and smiled sinisterly.
I knew it instinctively.
I’m thinking the same thing right now.
“I think you will handle this as I expected. But you would never be able to do it alone.”
“Of course. Isn’t that why I found my old motivation?”
“Then… I will do you a favor.”
Jacob tilted his head at Matthew’s exciting answer.
“This quickly?”
“Think about it between you and me. Is there any reason not to?”
“That’s true, but… your position may be in jeopardy.”
“There is no opportunity without crisis. And actually, I have a favor to ask of you.”
Matthew talked about his son Drake.
That he committed theft and is being investigated at the police station.
“For some reason, the answer was bold.”
Jacob chuckled and continued.
“Good. I will take care of your son, and you will take care of Freed.”
“Let’s do our best, buddy.”
The two people shook hands.
* * *
That afternoon.
Choi Ki-seok settled in the rosette with the conjoined twin surgery staff.
Unlike usual, there was no anesthetist, and a 3D printed model was placed on the operating table instead of the patient.
[You used the dragon’s eye. Automatically ensures optimal visibility. Record surgery video through shooting mode.]
After using the skill, I lightly bent my neck.
Even though I was performing preliminary surgery on a model, I was nervous.
Surgery on conjoined twins.
There will not be many opportunities to encounter such rare and difficult surgery in the future.
“Is everyone ready?”
“yes!”
“Today, only 20 percent of the actual surgery will be performed. The remaining part will be practiced every two days, and after that, we will practice on a new model.”
Lucas added a brief explanation and stared at Choi Ki-seok.
After receiving a look in his eyes telling him to start the surgery, he disinfected the model’s head and covered it with a cloth.
Even though it was a model, it felt special to kill the twins whose heads were attached at both ends.
“Meth.”
Lucas carefully parted the model’s scalp.
Since the twins share part of the skull, the process of removing the skull was bound to be different from usual.
“Professor. How should we drill?”
“Better get through this side and this side. Same goes for Brian.”
“You mean to approach the forehead and parietal bones? I understand.”
Drurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
The sound of the drill echoed loudly through the rosette.
As the hole in the skull was drilled, Lucas took the scalpel in his hand.
He slowly connected each hole in the skull as if with a line.
The skull resection proceeded with a line left where the scalpel passed.
“I’ll take it off.”
Choi Ki-seok held the incised skull in his hands and carefully lifted it up.
The head of the model that finally reveals itself.
“Wow. I didn’t expect it to be this elaborate. At this level, it doesn’t seem to be much different from an actual patient.”
Choi Ki-seok couldn’t take his eyes off the model.
The model, including the membrane that protects the brain, nerves, blood vessels, and skull, almost perfectly reproduced a real person.
“Still, the conditions are not completely the same. Blood does not flow through blood vessels, and things like cerebrospinal fluid cannot be implemented. Anyway, the important thing is the anatomical approach.”
“….”
“First, let’s expose the meninges and look at the extent of the brain tissue that is adhered.”
“yes.”
“Meth.”
Lucas received a scalpel from a sterilizing nurse and cut the dura mater and arachnoid pia mater of the model in turn.
“Chief. Adam and Brian share a significant portion of the brain tissue of the frontal and parietal lobes. If they are excised, it seems inevitable that one of them will suffer brain damage.”
“That cannot be avoided no matter what surgeon in the world performs it.”
Lucas answered Choi Ki-seok’s question in a calm voice.
Since the twins share part of their brains, loss inevitably occurs in the process of separating them. If the brain was simply attached, there would be no problem.
“How do you plan on separating them?”
“The separation starts from the first motor area located in front of the central sulcus (a slightly hollow part of the brain). There are simple adhesions here, so they are separated, and from the central sulcus…” Lucas continued with a painful expression
.
“Starting from the central sulcus, the first sensory area is separated diagonally. After the middle part of the parietal lobe, part of the occipital lobe is separated diagonally.”
“….”
“The real work starts now. Everyone, keep your wits about you.”
“yes!”
“Bovi (electrocautery).”
Lucas treated the adhesions with an electric cautery given to him by the disinfection nurse.
Cheeeeeeeek.
A burning sound was heard and the adhesions slowly fell off.
Choi Ki-seok and Cindy secured visibility of the treatment area and began work on disinfection and cleaning.
The speed of the house was much slower than usual.
A small mistake by the staff could cause the patient to suffer various permanent aftereffects, including paralysis.
“Professor. I think this surgery will be a mental battle.”
Cindy spoke slowly.
“It’s been an hour since I started the separation work, and I haven’t even finished the first motor area separation. My whole body feels frustrated because the work is slow.”
“That’s right. This surgery is 180 degrees different from the brain surgeries we’ve done so far. If it’s a normal surgery, we need to complete the surgery as quickly and accurately as possible to relieve the patient’s burden. In a way, you could say it’s like running a hundred meters? “….
”
” But this separation surgery is a marathon. That’s equivalent to walking 42.195 kilometers. Nikolai.”
“Yes… Yes?”
“You’ve been squirming too much since a while ago. Didn’t you learn to maintain an upright posture during surgery?”
“I’m… sorry.”
“Don’t relax just by practicing on a model. You can’t possibly think that you can do well in practice after practicing like crap, right?”
Lucas spewed out harsh words. His
unusually sharp appearance. This
part shows how he thinks about this surgery.
“Mr. Choi is doing well . I’m giving it to you to maintain the current pace. But keep in mind that since you’re operating on a model, there’s less work to do. It’s different in real life.”
“Yes!”
The separation surgery followed.
After two hours, the staff managed to complete the first stage of the separation surgery.
And that was the easiest part.
After model practice, Choi Ki-seok drank coffee in the break room with his colleagues. .
Lucas had a surgery schedule, so he immediately moved to another rosette.
“It’s hard to endure even three hours, but having to have surgery for 20 hours… It
’s really terrible.” “Me too. ” I wonder if I should just give up.”
Nikolai agreed with Cindy’s words.
“But Mr. Choi didn’t give up? Aren’t you frustrated because the treatment is so meticulous and slow? I feel like there are ants crawling all over my body.”
“At least I was able to tolerate it today. I don’t know what will happen in the future.”
A bitter smile appeared on the corner of Choi Ki-seok’s mouth.
It was difficult for him as well.
As Cindy said, it felt like ants were crawling all over my body and it felt like chains were constricting my limbs. The
extreme pain that comes from the slow speed of treatment. Frustration.
Physical fatigue could be overcome with items, but mental frustration was difficult to handle. If I
wanted to focus on the surgery, I would have to come up with something.
Jiyiing.
The moment I checked the number, I came to my senses.
“I had a call to the intensive care unit right away. I’ll go.”
Choi Ki-seok walked quickly and connected the call.
As expected, something was wrong with Freed.
An abnormal signal came to him, who had entered spontaneous circulation in an unconscious state.
He ran into the surgical intensive care unit and stood by Freed’s side.
“Welcome, teacher. The patient’s breathing continues to drop. I think I need to wear a respirator. The blood pressure is still low.”
“I’ll take care of the treatment, so look at other things.”
The nurse returned to the station and put Freed on a ventilator.
Afterwards, a vasopressor mixed with intravenous fluid was administered.
The general treatment was completed.
Click!
I turned on the light and looked at Freed’s eyes.
Both pupils were dilated and could not reflect the light properly.
‘No. That can’t be possible.’
Feeling ominous, he shook Freed lightly and called his name.
Freed did not respond at all.
The brainstem reflex test followed. Choi Ki-seok’s expression gradually turned earthy. Choi Ki-
seok left the intensive care unit after asking the nurse to keep a close eye on Freed. .
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do at the moment.
Time passed and the work day came to an end.
Ki-Seok Choi was typing Pullman’s manuscript in the dormitory and stared at the wall clock.
The current time was 9 p.m.
The fateful time came.
He left the dormitory and returned again. I visited the surgical intensive care unit. After checking Freed’s condition again, I used the eyes of Hippocrates. The
moment I confirmed the new diagnosis, the hospital ceiling turned yellow and I felt dizzy.
Choi Ki-seok looked down at Freed with a devastated expression and then taught. I called resident Leon.
“Mr. Choi. What’s going on?”
“Ha… Leon. “This patient…”
Choi Ki-seok continued speaking with difficulty.
“I did pupil, respiration, and brainstem reflex tests seven hours ago. And now I tried it again. Because the results are the same.”
“Really?”
Leon frowned and repeated Choi Ki-seok’s process.
A bitterness appeared on Leon’s face after the test was over.
“I came to the same conclusion as Mr. Choi. It’s unfortunate, but it’s something that can’t be helped. Because the damage to the brain was so great to begin with. Now you know what to do, right?”
“…Yes.”
Choi Ki-seok bit his lip.
Although he didn’t want to do it, something had to be done.
