Nothing (3)
“If Abna came, we would have to make time that wouldn’t be there. Come on in.”
As Choi Ki-seok joked, a faint smile appeared on her lips.
She sat down on the chair he pointed to and prayed.
“I’m not feeling very well these days. “I have a slight fever and I can’t seem to sleep these days…”
Choi Ki-seok used the eyes of Hippocrates to see her trailing off. The moment the diagnosis came to mind, pimples appeared on my skin and my hair stood up on end.
Why does this nightmare come to Abna?
“Abna. “After listening to the story, it seems like you have some idea… right?”
“…yes.”
“Let’s start with the inspection right away. “Seolhwa is taking a short break here.”
Ki-Seok Choi went down to Abna’s clinic, drew her blood, and conducted a blood test.
At the same time, spinal fluid samples were obtained through spinal tap.
Neither of them said anything while waiting for the test results.
Choi Ki-seok, who knew about her illness, did not know what to say, and Abna could only hope that it was not her only illness.
How much time has passed?
Ki-Seok Choi lowered his head after checking the test results on the monitor.
“Is that really the case?”
“…yes. Abna has sleeping sickness.”
sleeping sickness.
This is a disease transmitted through tsetse flies and attacks the central nervous system, causing serious neurological diseases.
Stage 1 sleeping sickness is easy to treat but difficult to diagnose, but Abna has stage 2 sleeping sickness.
Stage 2, unlike stage 1, is difficult to treat and easy to diagnose.
When sleeping sickness progresses to stage 2, physical condition deteriorates, the central nervous system is damaged, and sleep increases. There was a reason why Abna appeared tired and dozed off often these days.
“I’ll tell the hospital director, so you can be admitted right away. “I can’t work in that body.”
“Dr. Choi would have a hard time without me….”
“It’s okay. Anyway, I came to NSF to suffer. And now is the time to worry about Abna herself, not me.”
Choi Ki-seok frowned while encouraging her and looking through the prescription medication.
“Is Melasopro the only treatment for sleeping sickness?”
“Because the government-designated treatment for sleeping sickness is Melasopro.”
“oh my god.”
His expression was distorted like a sheet of paper.
Melasopro is a type of sleeping sickness treatment, and there is a risk of severe pain and brain damage when administered to patients.
The toxicity is also strong, and there have been quite a few cases reported in which patients died after starting treatment with this drug.
“So, does this mean that when patients with sleeping sickness come to our hospital, we continue to treat them with Melasopro?”
“that’s right. So things weren’t going very well. “The government must have decided to use Melasopro as the official treatment because it is the cheapest.”
“It only sounds like they are trying to beat up the people at a low price. From my perspective.”
Choi Ki-seok searched for treatments for sleeping sickness through an Internet search.
Because it was impossible that Melaspro was the only treatment for sleeping sickness.
Crash.
While the conversation was interrupted, the sound of typing on the keyboard was unusually loud.
The longer he searched, the more wrinkles formed on his forehead, and he ended up slamming the table.
“Is this real?”
Abna looked at the data he pointed to and nodded slightly.
“Isn’t this really too much?”
“That’s reality.”
“Whoa… this is a reality I really don’t want to admit.”
Choi Ki-seok looked up at the ceiling with a dejected expression.
Until two years ago, the treatments for sleeping sickness were melassopro and DFMO. Among them, DFMO received attention as a treatment for sleeping sickness with fewer side effects than Melasopro.
The terrible thing here is that DFMO is now an obsolete drug.
Each African government chose Melasopro as the official treatment for sleeping sickness, and pharmaceutical companies stopped producing DFMO because they judged that DFMO was too unprofitable.
That means that currently, the only treatment for sleeping sickness is Melasopro.
“I cannot administer Melasop to Abna.”
“But there is no other treatment. Even Red Cross hospitals use Melasopro.”
“We have to find a way somehow. First of all, Abna should be hospitalized immediately. “I will take responsibility for the rest.”
“…yes.”
Choi Ki-seok hospitalized Abna and remained in the clinic.
Is there any way to change this unreasonable situation?
As the rain intensified, my headache became increasingly worse.
* * *
The next morning.
The rain that seemed like it would fall forever stopped.
Ki-Seok Choi visited hospital director Neymar’s office before attending the morning treatment.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
When I knocked, I heard a voice telling me to come in.
“Mr. Choi. “What’s going on?”
“I came because I have something to tell you.”
“Sit down first.”
The two sat on the sofa and stared at each other.
“Yesterday, my nurse Abna came to the dormitory saying she wasn’t feeling well. “I thought the symptoms were strange, so I underwent a medical examination and examination, and was diagnosed with sleeping sickness.”
“Sleeping sickness?”
Neymar frowned.
“yes. While placing the order, I looked at the treatment options and found that the only one available was Melasopro. “Is there no way to get another treatment for sleeping sickness at our hospital?”
“no. “I’m sorry for being so blunt.”
“….”
“Now that pharmaceutical companies have stopped producing DFMO, there is no way for there to be any other treatment. Moreover, the majority of sleeping sickness patients live in Africa. These are people who have no money and a poor medical environment. “Once they slip into DFMO, pharmaceutical companies will never make a drug for sleeping sickness again.”
It’s not that I didn’t expect his answer, but I was confused when I was faced with cold reality again.
I couldn’t leave it alone.
The fact that a treatment that could actually be poisonous to the patient is being used as an official national treatment.
“I have a clever idea. “How do we get pharmaceutical companies to produce DFMO again?”
“Are you sure?”
“yes. But to use this method, I need the help of the hospital director.”
Neymar perked up his ears as he continued his explanation.
Perhaps because of his reputation as a triple board thoracic surgeon, his plan sounded quite sweet.
I thought it would be worth a try.
“great. Let’s proceed as Dr. Choi thinks. “I will help in both material and spiritual ways.”
“thank you. “We will definitely achieve good results.”
After finishing his conversation with the hospital director, he went to the hospital room on the second floor.
The place where his steps stopped was the hospital room where Abna, who had changed from a nurse to a patient, was located. My heart ached as I looked at her sleeping soundly while receiving IV fluid.
If I had the right treatment, I would have started treatment yesterday.
I would have been able to shake off the pain after a few weeks without worrying about the progress.
What negative effects does a poor medical environment have on people?
Choi Ki-seok could see it with his own eyes and feel it with his whole body.
plod along.
After leaving the hospital room, he returned to the treatment room and prepared for the morning treatment.
Because treatment was impossible without an interpreter, a local nurse, who was off, stepped in as Abna’s replacement.
“I’m sorry, Ephia.”
“Doctor Choi has something to be sorry about. “The situation is unavoidable.”
Efia, who came as a pinch hitter, spoke with a calm expression.
“Please take better care of Abna than that. I am a friend who lost family members to illness at an early age and has lived only caring for patients. “Life would be so pitiful if Abna were to leave in vain.”
“Abna will definitely come back healthy. “Trust me.”
“yes.”
The two people looked at each other and exchanged warm smiles.
Soon the treatment started.
In the aftermath of the festival that took place a few months ago, 30 percent of patients were still pregnant.
Choi Ki-seok, who focused on studying obstetrics, was able to treat obstetric patients more skillfully than before.
As the time approached noon, Choi Ki-seok glanced at the wall clock.
I asked Neymar to do a special treatment in the morning today. In the remaining time, we planned to go to the Red Cross Hospital and work on a cure for sleeping sickness.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
As I was getting ready to leave, there was a knock on the door and a patient came in. The man looked to be in his 20s and sat on the treatment chair, limping to one side.
“What makes you uncomfortable?”
“My thighs hurt so much. “It’s hard to walk.”
“Do you want to take off your pants for a moment?”
Choi Ki-seok checked his affected left thigh and bit his lip.
There was a large dark red spot on his thigh, from which a stinging odor and pus oozed.
Even if I wasn’t a dermatologist, I could immediately tell that his condition was unusual.
“What happens to me?”
Choi Ki-seok smiled bitterly as he looked at the patient, Arif, asking with deer-like, simple eyes. When I used the Eye of Hippocrates, the diagnosis gas gangrene came to mind.
Gas gangrene.
It is a disease infected with Clostrida bacteria, a gas-producing bacterium in trauma wounds.
If you suffer from gas gangrene, harmful toxins are produced in the wound, which can cause fatal damage to organs throughout the body.
“Arif. “From now on, listen to me carefully.”
When Choi Ki-seok explained about gas gangrene, Efia stepped in to interpret, and Arif, who listened, kept shrugging his shoulders as if he didn’t know anything.
“I’m not sure because it’s a difficult story. So what happens to me?”
“That…”
My mouth froze the moment I met his pure eyes.
Even though I didn’t hurt him, I felt a sense of guilt.
Because he knew very well how big an impact his words would have in the future.
“Your leg needs to be amputated.”
“That cut? No!”
Arif’s voice rose.
“How can you live without one leg? I’m only twenty years old. “Please save me, teacher.”
“….”
“Please… save me.”
Arif limped over and grabbed the gown.
Before I knew it, my big white eyes were wet with tears.
“I’m sorry, but… there is no other way now. Any doctor would give the same answer, not me.”
“….”
“And the cutting needs to be done quickly. Arif’s temperature is not normal right now. “This is evidence that the infection from the thigh wound is spreading throughout the body.”
“Ah…” As
Arif sat down in shock, Choi Ki-seok knelt down and made eye contact with him.
“I know it’s so cruel, but there’s really no other way.”
“….”
“And if we don’t amputate now, not only will you lose your leg, you may lose your life.”
After Choi Ki-seok’s repeated persuasion, Arif eventually nodded.
When he decided to have surgery, preparations for the surgery proceeded smoothly.
Arif lay on the operating table and waited, while Choi Ki-seok and first assistant anesthetist Harlent, a disinfection nurse, took their seats and discussed the surgical plan.
“Is this Mr. Choi’s first amputation?”
“yes.”
“Don’t worry too much about the patient and just do it calmly. There are many patients here who have had their ankles amputated after stepping on land mines. Mr. Choi’s spirit would not be able to withstand if he cared about each and every patient.”
The anesthesiologist gave me some advice and started general anesthesia. Arif, who was frightened by this, fell asleep like a lie.
When he woke up from a deep sleep, he would never see his left leg again.
“Amputation surgery begins.”
Choi Ki-seok sterilized the surgical area, covered it with a bladder, and drew a line on the lower part of the buttocks with a pen.
The cutting area is marked in advance.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
The gangrene area was incised with a scalpel, the muscles and blood vessels were separated, and the blood vessels were clamped with vascular forceps to prevent bleeding. Then Harlent handed him a saw to cut the bone.
“Shall I?”
Seeing him hesitating, Harlent asked.
“You’re my patient… I’ll do it.”
Choi Ki-seok took a deep breath and picked up the saw.
Puddeuddeuk.Puddeuddeuk.
The bones were torn apart by the movements of his hands.
