Nothing (1)
“….”
“….”
Erban, who sat down, did not say anything, and Choi Ki-seok also remained silent for a long time.
The atmosphere in the treatment room becomes tense like a time bomb.
It was Erban who spoke first.
“teacher. “I will give birth to a child while receiving treatment for AIDS.”
“Is that what you mean?”
“yes.”
Ervan nodded without a moment of hesitation.
“If that is the patient’s wish, I will respect it.”
“Thank you… thank you.”
Erban suddenly starts sobbing.
She constantly talked about how her life had changed after being diagnosed with AIDS. Not only did her family stay away from her, but her husband openly encouraged her to have an abortion.
“It’s not that I haven’t thought about abortion. But… this is a child we barely got after five years of marriage. “If I give up on this child, I don’t know when I’ll get another chance.”
“….”
“But, teacher. “If I have AIDS, will my child be born with AIDS?”
“That is unlikely.”
When a mother gives birth without taking antiviral medication, the chance of the baby contracting AIDS is 30%.
If you give birth while taking antiviral medication, the chance of your baby contracting AIDS is 2 in 100. Contrary to
popular belief, the risk of vertical transmission of AIDS between mother and child was not as great as people thought.
Of course, it is natural that even that probability is considered uneasy.
“oh. Oh God.”
Erban’s expression brightened at Choi Ki-seok’s explanation.
I always had trouble sleeping at night worrying that if I gave birth to a child, the child might also contract AIDS.
“Then how is the treatment…”
“Abna. “Is inpatient AIDS treatment possible at our hospital?”
“As you know, there is no proper isolation room, so… it is impossible.”
“Then we will have to evacuate him to the Red Cross hospital.”
Choi Ki-seok explained the situation to Erban and made him wait outside the clinic. I then contacted the Red Cross hospital directly and received confirmation that it was okay to send the patient.
“It’s not like you got sick or anything like that, right?”
Nareka, who was in charge of evacuation, glanced at the patient with an anxious expression.
“I understand your concerns, but it’s not that easy to get infected.”
To become infected with HIV, the blood or saliva of an infected person must come into direct contact with the blood of a contact.
Infection does not occur simply by hugging or shaking hands.
Even kissing an infected person does not necessarily mean you will contract HIV.
Saliva has a fairly low concentration of the HIV virus.
Unless there is a wound in the mouth, there is little chance of infection even if kissed.
It is inevitable to feel fear of the possibility of infection through contact. However, surprisingly, it is also true that the probability of acquiring HIV through an HIV patient is not very high.
“If Dr. Choi says so, then…”
Nareka paused before continuing.
“No matter how much of a doctor you are, don’t you feel uncomfortable when someone calls you an AIDS patient?”
“Honestly, I can’t say no.”
A bitter smile appeared on Choi Ki-seok’s lips.
There were quite a few doctors who refused to treat AIDS patients. There were cases where dentists did not even perform scaling, let alone general surgery.
Therefore, the human rights issue of AIDS patients is also emerging.
“Well, since you decided to take care of the patients at the Red Cross, you must be good.”
“yes. “For now, I have to trust that side.”
“I will go soon.”
After the evacuation vehicle carrying Nareka and Erban left the hospital, Ki-Seok Choi returned to the treatment room.
The gray sky continued to pour rain, and it was difficult to even look at the patients’ faces.
Tiririririn.
When the sound of the phone suddenly ringing broke the silence, he tilted his head and answered the phone.
“This is Ki-seok Choi from Obeid Hospital.”
[….]
“Yes. yes.”
[….]
“It means we’ll arrive in 30 minutes. All right.”
Choi Ki-seok put down the phone and waited for the patient. After a while, a middle-aged man dressed in a suit and an attendant entered the treatment room.
“Nice to meet you, Dr. Choi.”
“hello. “Let’s sit down first.”
After shaking hands with the middle-aged man, he pointed to a chair.
The middle-aged man’s name was Abudi, and he was Sudan’s Minister of Health.
What on earth brought the Minister of Health here?
Thought after thought.
“You seem surprised by my visit.”
Abudi looked at Choi Ki-seok’s expression and smiled faintly.
“It has to be that way. “I cannot understand the connection between Sudan’s Minister of Health and Obeid Hospital.”
“ha ha ha. Actually, I didn’t come to Obeid Hospital, but to see Dr. Choi.”
After speaking, Abudi held out a document envelope.
Choi Ki-seok’s expression became increasingly dark as he examined the various test data contained in the envelope.
“You have coronary artery stenosis.”
“yes. you’re right. Because my chest pain was unusual, I went to Alav Hospital in the capital and was diagnosed with the disease you just mentioned. “At this point, you fully understand why we visited Dr. Choi, right?”
Choi Ki-seok nodded slightly at Abudi’s words.
He is currently the only triple board thoracic surgeon in the world, and every thoracic surgery patient wants to have him performed.
The Sudanese minister was no exception.
“I’m sorry, but surgery is not possible.”
“Why… why?”
Abudi opened his mouth in surprise at his refusal.
“As you can see from the hospital facilities, this place is not equipped to perform heart surgery.”
“I’m really sorry, but can’t Dr. Choi come to Capital Hospital and just take care of the surgery?”
“If I’m away, the remaining doctors will have a hard time…”
Choi Ki-seok stroked his chin as if he was troubled.
“Honestly, I don’t think CABG would be possible in a hospital in the capital. Wouldn’t it be better to get surgery at that hospital?”
“The human mind is not like that. “I wouldn’t know if Dr. Choi wasn’t in Sudan, but since he is in Sudan, I really want to have surgery from him.”
Abudi gave an intense look as if he would not back down.
“I completely understand the minister’s position, but I also have my own circumstances.”
“….”
“However, if you meet my conditions, I will perform the surgery myself.”
“What are those conditions?”
“I would like you to bring the surgical tools necessary for coronary artery bypass surgery. “If surgery is to be performed, it must be done at our hospital.”
“That’s a bit…”
“You can borrow simple tools from the capital hospital, but isn’t something like a heart-lung machine not only difficult to transport, but there’s a risk of it breaking down during transport?”
As Abudi trailed off, the attendant next to him added a word. As he talked about heart-lung machines, he seemed like a person with considerable medical knowledge.
“There is no need for a heart-lung machine.”
“yes?”
“If I were to perform the surgery, Minister, I would proceed with OPCAB (Offering Cardiopulmonary bypass).”
Ki-Seok Choi explained OPCAB and wrote down the tools needed for surgery on a notepad.
This includes epicardial fixators, sutures and drugs needed for heart surgery.
“Minister. “At this level, you can probably borrow it from the capital hospital.”
Abudi was delighted at the words of the attendant who looked at his notes.
“Good. Then Dr. Choi. “If I just bring these tools and go back to the hospital, will I be able to have the surgery on you?”
“of course.”
“I will contact you again as soon as I prepare treatment.”
Abudi stood up and shook hands again.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve had major surgery.’
Choi Ki-seok muttered to himself as he watched Abudi leave happily.
* * *
That afternoon.
Choi Ki-seok visited the operating room with fellow doctor Harlent Abna, who assisted in the surgery. This is to perform a cesarean section on Aisha, who suffers from pre-eclampsia.
Jiiiing.
As I entered the operating room, I saw Aisha lying on the operating table.
“Are you nervous?”
“ah. yes.”
Aisha nodded weakly at his words.
“teacher. Should I get general anesthesia right now?”
“The choice of anesthesia is Aisha’s freedom. However, recovery will be faster with lower body anesthesia than with general anesthesia.”
“Then I have no choice.”
After a short conversation, anesthesia for the lower body and preparation for surgery continued.
Although it was his first obstetric surgery, Ki-Seok Choi was not very nervous. Yesterday morning, I successfully completed wrist fusion surgery and studied hard for cesarean section surgery.
“From now on, we will begin performing cesarean sections on mothers with pre-eclampsia.”
At his words, Harlent disinfected the surgical area and covered it with a cloth.
“Meth.”
Choi Ki-seok made a horizontal incision in Aisha’s lower abdomen with the scalpel he was given.
The uterus is revealed when the incision is widened by pulling it with forceps.
Without hesitation, he made a horizontal incision in the lower part of the uterus. Then, she put both hands into the incision in the uterus and carefully held the fetus’s head.
In that state, appropriate force was applied and the child’s head was pulled up through the incision.
However, unlike the head, which was easily removed, the shoulder area got caught in the incision, making it difficult to completely remove the child.
‘are you okay. Calmly.’
After taking a deep breath, Ki-Seok Choi succeeded in completely removing the child from the womb with the help of his colleagues.
The moment I made eye contact with the child in my hands along the way, I was filled with unknown emotions.
Chii Iik. Chii Iik.
While he was holding the child, Abna used a suction device to remove foreign substances from the child’s nose and mouth, and Choi Ki-seok lightly patted the child’s buttocks when he was not crying.
“Aaaah!”
The staff and Aisha were relieved to hear loud cries spreading through the operating room.
click!
The umbilical cord was cut and additional treatment began.
Choi Ki-seok put his hand into the uterus, removed the placenta, and examined whether there were any remaining foreign substances inside the uterus.
Since there was some umbilical cord, vernix, and blood clots, they were sifted by hand and transferred to the grain tray.
“Abna. Please inject a uterotonic drug. “I’ll be giving a massage.”
After giving instructions, he changed his gloves and massaged the uterine body.
This is an action to prevent bleeding and uterine atony.
However, during the massage, bleeding occurred inside the uterus. Bleeding is an inevitable occurrence during surgery, but the amount began to increase to an alarming degree.
“Dr. Choi. “This…”
Hallent stared at Choi Ki-seok with a worried expression.
“I think it’s postpartum hemorrhage.”
“Harlent, please put the crystalline solution into the infusion channel first. Since the mother’s breathing is declining, an oxygen respirator is put on her. The atmospheric pressure is 8 liters/min.”
Ki-Seok Choi, who gave the order, calmly used the Eye of Hippocrates on the patient.
Indeed, as Harlent expected, Aisha was suffering from postpartum hemorrhage.
Of course, there are variables in the obstetric surgery that I am doing for the first time
.
While suctioning the blood accumulating in the uterus, he stared at the pack filling the suction tube.
The amount of blood loss has already exceeded 700ml.
If proper treatment is not provided, the mother is at risk.
‘think. ‘I’m thinking of it.’
Choi Ki-seok furrowed his brows and recalled what he had studied. However, Hallent, who was stamping his feet, quickly poured out words as if his patience had reached its limit.
“Dr. Choi. I will bring the hospital director with me. Among us, the hospital director is the one who performed the most delivery surgeries. I need the hospital director’s help right now…”
“Wait a minute!”
Ki-Seok Choi extended one hand and stopped Hallent from leaving the operating room.
“There is one way.”
