Adventure (7)
Choi Ki-seok found the tongue depressor on the desk and put it on the pregnant woman’s mouth.
The treatment was to prevent tongue biting and secure the airway.
After completing first aid, he carefully checked the patient’s vitals.
Some patients with pre-eclampsia require emergency delivery. Even though the seizures seemed to have subsided, I couldn’t let go of the tension.
“Dr. Choi. Luckily, the hospital room was…”
Abna, who entered the treatment room, looked like a surprised rabbit when she saw the patient.
“I had a seizure and administered first aid. Fortunately, my vitals are normal.”
“Is there anything else you need?”
“If this has already happened, let’s get him hospitalized as soon as possible. “Before sending the patient to the hospital, please mix magnesium sulfate with saline solution and weigh it.”
“All right.”
Thanks to Abna’s quick actions, the patient was safely moved to the hospital room, and only then did Choi Ki-seok breathe a sigh of relief.
“Was there a TO in the hospital room? “When I saw it yesterday, it didn’t look like there was even a single seat.”
“One patient died overnight. And if there were no seats available, I would have made it as a pledge.”
“Aren’t patients protesting?”
Choi Ki-seok tilted his head and asked.
The hospital room at Obeid Hospital was overcrowded. Seven people were hospitalized in one hospital room, and the room was crowded with guardians.
The quality of hospital life is naturally poor.
“Everyone has no choice but to understand. “You have to accept that, so other people will accept you when they find themselves in the same situation.”
“It’s a bitter truth.”
“It’s also an unfortunate truth.”
The two people read subtle emotional currents in each other’s eyes.
“Anyway, there are too many maternal patients. “If I had known this would happen, I should have majored in obstetrics and gynecology instead of thoracic surgery.”
“There is nothing we can do for the time being, so please understand, Dr. Choi.”
Abna’s explanation continued.
In Sudan, each tribe holds a big festival between February and March. It is said that pregnant patients line up at this time due to the enthusiastic results(?) received during the festival.
Choi Ki-seok, who remembered that there was a World Cup baby in Korea, fully sympathized with the situation in Sudan.
The strange heat of the festival had a charm that heated up men and women.
“I’ll let the next patient in.”
“yes. Please.”
Soon, a patient came into the treatment room with a knock.
This patient was also a pregnant woman who did not disappoint.
“What makes you uncomfortable?”
“There is no particular pain. “I came to hear the results of my last test.”
“What is your name?”
“Ervan.”
After writing down the patient’s name, the chart on the monitor unfolded.
As he scanned the chart, his face soon took on an indescribable glow.
I was out of breath and no words came out of my throat.
It became difficult to even take my eyes off the chart and stare at Erban.
Although he experienced countless cases while working as a professor of thoracic surgery, the cases he encountered here in Sudan embarrassed him every time.
‘I’m going to turn away.’
I tried not to express my emotions, but I bit my lip and placed my hand on my forehead.
“Patient.”
“yes.”
“I’ll tell you straight. “The patient has AIDS.”
At his words, the mother raised her eyes and opened her mouth like an idiot.
He seemed to know what kind of disease AIDS was.
“Why… do I… have AIDS?”
“No matter how much a doctor he is, he cannot even know the cause of the disease. “The only thing that is certain is that there was contact with someone infected with AIDS.”
“….”
“I know that the current situation is scary and embarrassing, but the more it gets, the more calm you need to respond.”
Choi Ki-seok reassured her and gave her some directions.
One was related to the birth of the child and the other was related to Erban’s AIDS treatment.
Erban just listened to his story with his head down.
There was no reaction such as nodding or answering, so I couldn’t tell if he was listening properly.
Of course, his inner thoughts as he spoke were not all comfortable.
Even though it was not the root cause, the story that came out of his mouth was stabbing the patient’s heart mercilessly.
“I… right now… I can’t say anything right now.”
“….”
“Can I go home first and then decide and come back later?”
“yes. “Do what’s comfortable for you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Erban left the clinic as if running away.
“There are more cases like this than you might think. “You will have to adapt in the future.”
“If there are many cases, there is also a manual, right?”
“yes.”
Abna calmly nodded.
“I hate to say this, but I tend to recommend abortion. Of course, Obeid Hospital does not directly perform abortions.”
“Vertical infection of the mother and fetus can be largely overcome with drug treatment.”
“But it’s not 100 percent, right?”
Choi Ki-seok could not say anything to her point.
What would you do if you were pregnant and there was a possibility that your baby would suffer from AIDS from birth?
As I put myself in that situation, I was cautious about opening my mouth.
“This is a difficult issue to decide.”
“yes. This is especially true for abortion. “It is one of the few problems that has no clear solution, not only in Sudan but around the world.”
“Medical ethics are so….”
Choi Ki-seok trailed off with a pained expression.
After that, the treatment continued, but for some reason, I could not erase the look on Erban’s face when he heard the news of his AIDS diagnosis.
* * *
That afternoon.
Choi Ki-seok and Jeong Seol-hwa Nareka were standing in the hospital parking lot.
“Are you ready?”
“yes.”
“Then let’s leave.”
A jeep carrying three people left Obeid Hospital.
Hospital staff regularly travel to villages to provide vaccinations and medical treatment.
Until now, due to lack of personnel, it was not possible to participate, but with Choi Ki-seok and Jeong Seol-hwa joining, the circuit treatment service began again.
“How do you feel about your first treatment?”
“It’s definitely a difference from hospital treatment.”
In response to Nareka’s question, Jeong Seol-hwa held Choi Ki-seok’s hand tightly and continued speaking.
“The patients who come are different and the diseases are completely different. Just before my medical tour, I received a young patient who was malnourished, and her breastbone was clearly visible. “I could count each rib with the naked eye.”
“….”
“What was more heartbreaking… was that the child had no life. I hadn’t even grown up yet, but I felt like I had already given up on life. Kiseok, have you ever seen a smiling patient among the patients you saw?”
“no.”
Choi Ki-seok shook his head without a moment of hesitation.
“And today I heard for the first time that here, even when a child is born, they don’t give it a name?”
“yes. you’re right. Because you never know when you will die. “Children do not have names until at least a year after birth.”
“When I first received a newborn baby, I gave him a name and it was heartbreaking. “I feel like this child wasn’t born blessed.”
“Patients here do not simply receive treatment because they are sick.”
Nareka started crying.
“They go to the hospital out of desperation to survive. “It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s different from patients in wealthy countries who visit hospitals for colds.”
“I really think so.”
Choi Ki-seok, Jung Seol-hwa’s voice trembling slightly, placed his hand on her shoulder and pulled her into his arms.
In fact, he felt the same way as Jeong Seol-hwa.
He was born and raised in a country where it was difficult to dream, but this was a place where it was difficult to even survive, let alone dream.
It may be an expression of regret to these people, but it might be more accurate to say that their situation was thrown to the bottom of life for no reason.
“Are you going to continue the mission even though you know that? “It would be easier to go back to your own country.”
“It’s not that the patient is where the doctor is, but the doctor is where the patient is. “If there is a patient anywhere in the world, we just treat them.”
Choi Ki-seok responded to Nareka’s provocative question.
“Does that make sense? “No matter how hard we try, no matter how good Dr. Choi is, we cannot change the poor medical environment here.”
“I’m just doing the best I can at this position. “The rest is God’s will.”
“You’re a person with a bigger heart than I thought. I’m relieved. “Sometimes there are doctors who turn the hospital into a muddy mess, but I don’t think that’s the case.”
“What does it mean?”
“Even if you don’t want to know, you will find out sooner or later.”
Nareka closed her mouth after saying those words.
After an hour of riding in a jeep, we arrived at a small village called Kirima.
Kirima is a small village with about 70 households, and the houses are similar to the huts commonly seen on TV. When I turned my attention to the
strange
sound, I saw a man playing a flute. Villagers were gathered around the man, and a large snake was dancing to the sound of the man’s flute.
It struck me once again that this was neither America nor Korea.
“Let’s go to the village chief’s house.”
“yes.”
Ki-Seok Choi and Seol-Hwa Jeong gathered their treatment tools and headed to the village chief’s house.
As the three people in the reception room prepared for treatment, patients began to flock in one by one.
The two people started getting vaccinated against tuberculosis with the help of Nareka’s interpretation.
In developed countries, tuberculosis may be nothing more than a low-level disease, but that was not the case here.
He was able to turn into a grim reaper and take a person’s life.
Ki-Seok Choi and Seol-Hwa Jeong, who had completed the tuberculosis vaccination, which was called a non-injection in the past, began providing medical treatment on the spot.
Perhaps because there were no circuit clinics in the meantime, the waiting line stretched all the way outside the house.
The main diseases of the patients were diarrhea, malnutrition, cholera, etc., diseases that were rarely seen in the United States.
“Kiseok, what’s wrong?”
“This patient is a bit strange.”
Choi Ki-seok tilted his head as he looked at the patient in front of him with his big eyes blinking. At first glance, the symptoms seemed like a cold, but both of the patient’s eyes were severely swollen.
“Why is it like that here?”
“I was bitten by a bug.”
He answered his question as if the patient was not a big deal and scratched the wound on his forearm.
Feeling strange, he used the Eye of Hippocrates on his patients.
The diagnosis that came to mind was Chagas disease.
Chagas disease.
This is a disease infected with parasites and has similar symptoms to a cold, but if left untreated, it can cause various heart diseases.
Fortunately, the patient’s Chagas disease did not become chronic.
“It’s a snowflake. “Do you have benznidazole in your medicine cabinet?”
“huh. “I brought plenty.”
“First, I’ll give you ten days’ worth. “It looks like Chagas disease.”
Jeong Seol-hwa took parasite medicine and offered it to the patient, but the patient waved his hand and stubbornly refused to take the medicine. Then he shouted something at Nareka, who was interpreting, and pointed to a medicine cabinet with his index finger.
“What are you saying?”
“That…”
Nareka scratched her head as if she was troubled.
“Do you want the big red pill over here? That seems to work better.”
“Please tell the patient that this white medicine is absolutely necessary.”
“I took a white pill last time, but they say it wasn’t very effective. On the other hand, the person next door said that he got better immediately after taking the red pill.”
Choi Ki-seok smiled bitterly at Nareka’s words.
It’s a shame.
Judging the effectiveness of a medicine based on its color and size…
