Challenge (6)
Sssssssssssssssssssssss.
The virtual staff disinfected the surgical site and covered it with a cloth.
It’s a scene I’ve seen countless times in real life and in the training room, but today’s scene was different.
Is it because of the pressure of the surgery?
Drurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
A cannula was inserted and a heart-lung machine was turned on.
The moment when the second act of the new surgery developed by the teacher begins.
Choi Ki-seok was handed a scalpel and slashed from the patient’s neck to the solar plexus. Accordingly, the virtual staff opened the chest with a retractor and lifted the lung slightly to the side to secure the surgical view.
The first step in renal surgery is CABG (coronary artery bypass grafting).
The surgical method used by Charlotte did not deviate from that category.
Ki-Seok Choi was familiar with dissecting the internal thoracic artery and connecting it to the lower end of the coronary artery where the stenosis had occurred.
Hold. Hold. Hold.
The solution was injected and the blood vessel was pressed with forceps, but there was no leak.
Perfect anastomosis.
Since I have performed CABG countless times in the meantime, I have reached the level of being able to treat it with one hand.
‘The problem starts now?’
His eyes were fixed on the patient’s heart.
The patient’s left and right ventricles were thicker and harder than those of the general population, and were more than 1.5 times larger in size.
This is a typical symptom of dilated cardiomyopathy, in which the thickened heart cannot pump blood properly.
Choi Ki-seok took a deep breath and remembered Charlotte’s surgery.
The surgical method she developed is called total care.
It is characterized by performing incision, transplantation, and suturing at the same time.
While the teacher’s surgery involves incising the entire area and performing grafting and suturing, Charlotte’s surgery involves all procedures done in one section.
If the teacher’s surgical method was a straight method, Charlotte’s surgery could be seen to have involved an anomalous technique.
“….”
“….”
As the surgery was delayed, the virtual staff looked at him.
The empty gray eyes were anxiously waiting for instructions.
“Bovi (electrocautery).”
Choi Ki-seok was slightly disappointed because he divided the surgical area into three groups. Then, the tissue burned and a white line appeared.
“Today’s surgery, unlike before, is performed partially. The left ventricle is excised and sutured, and the same process is then repeated on the right ventricle at the center of the heart.”
The virtual staff nodded at his words.
“Meth.”
Ki-Seok Choi started by incising the left ventricle, which had severe cardiomyopathy.
His eyes were fixed on the left ventricle and his hands carefully cut into the myocardium.
If the incision area is not clean, not only does the difficulty of suturing increase, but the outcome is also bad.
This surgery was not easy from start to finish.
Empty!
The heart muscle, unable to function properly, fell to the crook.
Choi Ki-seok received the transplanted blood vessels and myocardium prepared by the virtual staff and began follow-up treatment on the affected area.
Microvascular anastomosis and myocardial tissue transplantation.
Both were not easy, but I gritted my teeth and did it.
No matter how hard it is for you, it cannot be compared to the pain of patients and their guardians suffering from cardiomyopathy.
Beep! Beep!
An ominous electronic sound sounded while the area near the center of the heart was being removed.
As I stared at the patient monitoring device, my vitals were dropping steeply.
As I looked at the patient through the eyes of Hippocrates, the diagnosis of mitral valve thrombosis and ascites came to mind.
It appears that the mitral valve is blocked by a crust formed when blood stagnates in the left ventricle, and ascites fills up due to decreased right ventricular function.
“You take out the ascites through paracentesis. You administer Lambrico (clot-busting agent) and Inotropic (pressor agent) IV and take vital care.”
Ki-Seok Choi quickly gave instructions and used a scraper to scrape off the blood clots stuck to the mitral valve. Afterwards, the dislodged blood clots were suctioned using a suction device.
After a series of treatments, vitals returned to normal.
“Phew…”
I sighed in relief without realizing it.
It’s been almost a month since I practiced renal surgery, but this was the first time I encountered such an unexpected situation.
Could it be the aftermath of Charlotte’s new surgery?
I pushed away the growing doubts and continued with the surgery.
How much time has passed?
Finally, treatment of the central part of the heart and the right ventricle was completed.
Charlotte’s Total Care surgery was successful.
The surgery time was approximately 10 hours, and the patient’s progress after surgery improved to normal.
In addition, the overall rank received after surgery was C+.
At this rate, the actual surgical success rate could be considered to be around 20%.
Considering that the teacher’s new surgery success rate is 5 percent, this is a remarkable improvement.
Nevertheless, his gaze looking down at the patient was not kind.
There was a critical problem with Charlotte’s total care.
That is the scope of surgery.
Total Care has drastically reduced the scope of surgery desired by the teacher.
Should I say that it is exactly half of what the teacher wants?
[sorry. Mr. Choi. This is my limit. I can’t possibly meet the scope of surgery that Mr. Choi insists on. I understand that you care about the patient, but why not further reduce the scope of the surgery? I think that’s more realistic.]
Suddenly, a phrase from the email Charlotte sent came to mind.
Will we compromise with Charlotte’s surgical technique or will we stick to the existing scope of surgery?
Numerous thoughts crossed my mind.
Many things could change with your own decisions.
[Training is complete. Would you like to practice again? Or do you want to end the training?]
Ki-Seok Choi ignored the notification that kept ringing and looked down at the patient.
Soon, his hand holding the forceps drew a horizontal line across the top of the surgical site.
“There must be a way. I’m sure.”
* * *
A few hours later.
Choi Ki-seok was lying on the bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling.
After completing Charlotte’s Total Care training, I continued to think about new surgery.
I appreciated Charlotte’s advice, but I couldn’t reduce the scope of the surgery.
The teacher’s new surgery is significant as an alternative to heart transplantation. In other words, as the scope is reduced, the meaning fades.
Of course, Charlotte’s surgical method could save many people, but it was difficult to be satisfied with that alone.
This was Surgeon’s greed and passion to save one more patient.
Ki-Seok Choi opened a status window where he was thinking about various things.
[There is a special mission that could not be solved.]
[Special mission: Things that were left unsaid. If you solve Vivian’s problem, you will receive a special reward. However, the mission must be completed within one day as of now.]
[Mission timer 0:23:00 elapsed / 1 hour remaining]
His face darkened as he stared at the mission window.
It seemed like the whole incident involving Vivian was over.
Vivian bravely confessed her feelings and was scheduled for a neuropsychiatric appointment. The person who did something bad to her was reported.
I couldn’t understand why the completion message hadn’t appeared yet.
“There’s only one hour left. Why on earth…”
Choi Ki-seok, who was muttering to himself, trailed off.
There was something that suddenly came to mind.
* * *
That evening.
Payne was using the computer in the PC room.
“Fuck bitch. Do I sound funny? Fuck. Fuck.”
A series of swear words came out of his mouth.
I arrived home after school and found the police near my house.
At that moment, I realized that Vivian had reported me to the police.
“You two can solve it quietly. You really are an annoying bitch.”
bang!
As he slammed down the keyboard, several people stared at him, but Payne instead gave them a murderous look.
Large size and rugged appearance.
People hurriedly avoided looking at him due to the intimidating feeling that the tattoos and piercings gave off.
Payne took a sip of coffee and tried to soothe his boiling stomach.
In fact, he still loved Vivian.
It is true that I was a bit rough when it came to physical relationships. It is true that I occasionally became violent when dating.
But it was all because I loved Vivian.
If I hadn’t loved Vivian, I wouldn’t have even thought of reuniting with her.
“Ah. Fuck.”
Another burst of cursing.
Even if I drank iced coffee in one go, my boiling stomach did not calm down.
All he wanted was to see Vivian again and to go back to the way things were with her.
But Vivian stabbed a dagger into his heart.
After being forced into a physical relationship, I didn’t pay attention to him or even talk to him.
Kang-soo is now even ready to report it to the police.
“Ha… how do I handle this?”
Payne thought for a while and then picked up his cell phone. Then he called Vivian’s acquaintance and asked about her whereabouts.
All I knew was that Vivian was sick and had been admitted to the hospital. But I didn’t know which hospital he was admitted to.
I called a total of three people, but they all remained clueless.
Payne called Kalife, feeling like he was reaching for a straw.
Kalife is one of Vivian’s best friends, and she and her boyfriend once went on a double date.
“Khalipe. It’s me, Pain.”
“What kind of face are you calling me with?”
“You know everything too.”
“Isn’t it even weirder what I don’t know? You piece of trash!”
Caliph’s voice rose.
“You are truly irredeemable nuclear waste. People like you should disappear from the face of the earth. You son of a bitch!”
“Hey. Do it in moderation. Before I sew your mouth shut.”
“I’m so scared that I’m going to pee. Is there really anything else you can do other than threaten and use your fists?”
“What a fucking bitch!”
“Stop swearing, you idiot. You’re done now. Let that proud mouth of yours hang out in the cell.”
When Kalife hung up, Payne couldn’t control his anger and threw his phone on the floor.
LCD broken into pieces.
In addition, even the ounce of reason that had been supporting him evaporated.
Payne looked at Vivian’s SNS account with red eyes. Then I found a photo taken in the hospital room.
When I looked at the photo with my eyes, I saw the MHC logo written on the bed cover.
I finally figured it out.
The hospital where Vivian was admitted!
Payne left the PC room and moved to a large supermarket. Then, I wrapped the kitchen knife I purchased in newspaper and put it in my jacket pocket.
The time for revenge has come.
I will return the disappointment and humiliation I have felt to Vivian many times over.
Upon arriving at MHC, the deceased visited the obstetrics and gynecology department.
A few weeks ago, I overheard her talking about her pelvic pain. After searching, I found out that when a woman suffers from pelvic inflammatory disease, she is hospitalized in an obstetrics and gynecology department.
Trudging. Trudging.
The deceased walked down the hallway of the obstetrics and gynecology ward and looked at the ward name plate with bloodshot eyes.
Then, I stopped in front of the hospital room located in the center of the hallway.
‘You were here.’
I entered the hospital room, fiddling with the kitchen knife I had in my jacket pocket.
The hospital room was a three-person room.
There was a patient covered in a blanket in the seat by the window, and the remaining two seats were empty.
The deceased immediately realized that the patient covered in blankets was Vivian. Because the bracelet he had given as a gift was placed on the table next to the patient.
“Peekaboo! Vivian. Look who’s here.”
“….”
“I came after you abandoned me and even reported it to the police.”
“….”
“Are you sleeping? Are you pretending to sleep?”
Vivian had no response to the deceased’s continued questions.
“Yes. It would be better to sleep. Please die quietly.”
The deceased approached her carefully and took out a kitchen knife. And as he lifted up the blanket, he struck down the kitchen knife.
Fuuuuuk.
A kitchen knife that cuts through the air.
“What…what is it?”
The deceased looked down at the bed with a puzzled expression.
There was no one under the blanket, and what was on the pillow was a wig.
What kind of situation is this?
Drurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I was embarrassed and didn’t know what to do, but an Asian doctor came into the room.
“Welcome, Payne. Is this your first experience like this?”
A wry smile appeared on the Asian doctor’s lips.
“Da… who are you?”
“I’m a doctor who will blow your sentence. Isn’t what you’re doing now an attempted murder?”
“Fuck. Shut up! Where’s Vivian? Give me Vivian.”
“That young fellow has a foul mouth.”
“Do you want to die?”
The dead man swung his knife threateningly, but the Asian doctor yawned as if he was bored.
Perhaps that was the cause of death, but armed police suddenly poured into the hospital room.
Payne, who sensed the situation, felt his legs weaken.
The hand holding the kitchen knife was trembling.
“Where has the person who was so energetic just now gone?”
The Asian doctor chuckled and continued.
“Baby. There’s a saying in Korea: If you live your life the way you want, you’ll be screwed. You’re screwed now.”
