One Hundred and One Nights (4)
“As I told you when I signed the consent form, it is not an easy surgery. But I will do my best.”
“I didn’t tell you before…”
Yoo Jae-yoon paused before continuing.
“Both my wife and I put in a lot of effort to have Seungchan. We underwent IVF treatment several times and when I was despairing about giving up on having a child, my wife became pregnant with Seungchan.”
“….”
“We may not have a second child.”
With the surgery just around the corner, Yoo Jae-yoon opened up about the situation, and Choi Ki-seok’s shoulders became even heavier.
The image of a couple who would be distressed if the surgery failed was vividly depicted.
“I can’t be sure, but Professor Kwon Il-soo, who is performing the surgery, has a reputation for pediatric surgery. Also, all the staff are praying for Seung-chan’s well-being. We will deliver good news.”
Choi Ki-seok did not hastily say that he would definitely save the patient as he did in the past.
Surgeons just do their best in the operating room.
It was believed that the realms of life and death were now in different places.
Even Song Myeong-jin, who is called a doctor, cannot save all patients.
“Sir, please do me a favor.”
Yoo Jae-yoon held one of Choi Ki-seok’s hands, and Choi Ki-seok covered his hand with his other hand.
“Okay then.”
I left the neonatal intensive care unit and went up to the ward.
Jiiiing.
My cell phone, which I had placed in my gown, trembled. The moment he checked the number, a smile appeared on his face.
“Yes, Professor. Are you well?”
Choi Ki-seok connected the call and greeted me brightly. The person making the call is Song Myeong-jin, who is stationed at Meijo Hospital.
[sure. You’ve been well, right. “You didn’t call me when you were busy, right?]
“No matter how busy you are, you have to answer the professor’s phone call.”
[How is resident life?]
“It’s hard, but it’s much better than being an intern. I can take care of patients myself.”
[I knew you would say that.]
Song Myeong-jin chuckled.
“How are you, Professor?”
[I’m so busy. I have to submit the manuscript for the heart valve section of a book published by the American College of Cardiology within this month. A live surgery has been scheduled for next week.]
“Live surgery?”
Choi Ki-seok was very surprised.
Live surgery literally means showing the surgery scene to outsiders as if broadcasting it. Because the burden on the surgeon is high, it is not done often.
[The staff said they really wanted to see my valve surgery.]
“Of course proper doctors would want to see it, Professor. I’m sorry, but can I call you back via video call?”
“Well, I do that.”
Choi Ki-seok hung up the call and connected the video call.
[Do you want to see my face that much?]
“Of course. I want to see you so much that the professor appears in my dreams these days.”
He joked and used the Eyes of Hippocrates on Song Myeong-jin.
His condition was, to say the least, good.
His current physical strength is 8.
This is a physical strength level never seen before at Uijin University.
In addition, his abilities did not drop due to poor physical condition.
‘You are happy.’
Choi Ki-seok muttered to himself.
Then, when he examined his condition with his mind’s eye, his heart took on a fresh green color like a pine tree. The dull gray color I had seen before was everywhere.
thank god.
Even though I was abroad, I was able to see my teacher happy.
Choi Ki-seok hung up the conversation and went up to the station.
There was still much to do.
* * *
Second operating room.
The staff, including Kwon Il-soo, were scrubbing.
The final surgery briefing has just ended. Now all that remains is to perform surgery on Yoo Seung-chan.
Just then, Youngho Lee entered the operating room, dragging a bed loaded with patients.
The patient and staff entered the C rosette at the same time.
‘Nothing will happen.’
Ki-Seok Choi chanted a spell in his mind and checked the status of the staff.
Kwon Il-soo, full-time surgeon.
1st Assistant (First) Fellow, 1st year Song Jeong-yul.
Second Assistant (Second) Resident Ki-Seok Choi.
Third Assistant (Third) Intern Youngho Lee.
Most of the players were in good condition, but I was concerned that Song Jeong-yul’s stamina had dropped to the bottom.
“Are you okay?”
Kwon Il-soo looked at Song Jeong-yul’s wide eyes and made an expression of disapproval.
“I had a bit of trouble sleeping yesterday while preparing my thesis. But this is okay.”
“No, not you, the patient. Do you think the patient will be okay?”
“….”
“A person’s life is in your hands.”
“I can’t help it.”
When Song Jeong-yul answered vigorously, Kwon Il-soo did not press further.
While the staff was finding their seats, Choi Ki-seok stared at Lee Young-ho.
It was a warning to take a time-out (patient confirmation procedure).
However, even though Lee Young-ho made eye contact with Choi Ki-seok, he just stared down at the patient blankly.
“Mr. Lee, we need to take a time-out.”
“Huh? I know this patient well. This is Seungchan Yoo, who suffers from aortic coarctation.”
Choi Ki-seok clicked his tongue at Lee Young-ho’s answer.
Originally, time-out was scheduled to take place before entering the operating room and again after entering the operating room. This is to prevent patients from coming up incorrectly.
“Are you crazy?”
Kwon Il-soo’s voice grew louder.
Suddenly, something happened.
Lee Young-ho answered that he understood, took a time-out, and earned himself a beating for quietly passing by.
“Don’t you know that people with the same name come up and the wrong person gets surgery?”
“…I know.”
“But why don’t you take a time-out?”
“…sorry.”
“You’re talking about interns and ignoring operating room procedures.”
Kwon Il-soo frowned.
Because of Lee Young-ho’s mistake, the atmosphere in the operating room became cold.
Afterwards, Lee Young-ho took a time-out and preparations for the surgery began in earnest.
First, the anesthesiologist administered general anesthesia, and Choi Ki-seok disinfected the patient’s chest and covered it with a cloth.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
Song Jeong-yul cut the patient’s delicate skin with a scalpel. Then the sternum shaped like a peach bone appeared.
Jiyiing. Phudduddduk.
Choi Ki-seok took a chainsaw and carefully cut the sternum in half.
Afterwards, cannulas were inserted into the ascending aorta and inferior vena cava respectively.
Drurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
The cardiopulmonary technician, who confirmed that Choi Ki-seok had inserted a catheter, began extracorporeal circulation.
“Retractor”
“Ah, yes!”
Following Choi Ki-seok’s instructions, Lee Young-ho handed over the retractor.
Choi Ki-seok attached a retractor to the incised area and pulled it together with Lee Young-ho.
This completes the preparation for surgery.
“you’re good?”
Song Jeong-yul, who was watching the process, said something.
Today is the first time he went into surgery with Choi Ki-seok. I didn’t have much expectations because it was my first year as a resident, but the entire process was flawless.
It is comparable to Han Min-woo, who became Chief.
“From now on, we will perform correction surgery for aortic coarctation and ventricular septal defect. Scalpel.”
Kwon Il-soo was handed a scalpel by a disinfection nurse.
The scalpel that reflected the light of the unknown people shed an unusually bright light.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.
Finally, the scalpel moved.
Aortic coarctation is literally a disease in which various parts of the aorta become narrowed and stuck together.
First, it was necessary to remove the small arterial ducts connected to the aorta.
Kwon Il-soo used a scalpel to peel off the narrowed areas little by little.
Chwii Iik.
Without fail, blood flowed from the spot where the scalpel passed, and Song Jeong-yul suctioned the blood with a suction device at the right time.
[Using the dragon’s eye provides an optimal surgical field of view. You can use zoom-in mode and zoom-out mode as needed.]
[Surgery is filmed in video mode.]
Choi Ki-seok started filming the surgery again today.
Although I was tired, almost the entire surgery was recorded once I entered the operating room. If there were overlapping surgeries, the surgeries performed by skilled surgeons were saved.
“silk.”
At Kwon Il-su’s words, the disinfection nurse handed him a 2-0 silk suture.
Kwon Il-soo tied the narrowed aorta with sutures and tied the beginning of the subclavian artery with a plate ring.
‘amazing.’
Choi Ki-seok couldn’t help but be impressed.
Today is the fifth time I have assisted Kwon Il-soo in surgery.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but admire the fantastic handwork every time.
It’s hard to compare him to Song Myung-jin, but he was at least more delicate than Jang Hyuk-pil.
The cost of pediatric heart surgery was different.
If things continue like this, today’s surgery will be completed without any problems.
As the surgery continued, Song Jeong-yul’s response began to gradually decline.
First of all, the suction timing was one beat late.
The surgeon had to hold the tissue firmly to suture comfortably, but his hands often trembled, making it difficult to do this well.
Choi Ki-seok was able to see things that a normal intern would not be able to see.
The flow of surgery is getting worse.
His experience as a surgical assistant and the experience of performing the surgery himself at the hideout made him stronger.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
When the stenosis was removed with a scalpel, blood flowed like a river.
Kwon Il-su twitched his eyebrows when he saw Song Jeong-yul not doing anything. However, the moment I was about to say something, Ki-Seok Choi quickly came forward.
“I will do it.”
Choi Ki-seok opened the retractor with one hand and sucked the blood with the suction device with the other hand.
Interns only had to open the retractor, but residents were able to use several tools, including a suction device.
“I’m tired?”
“Oh… no.”
Song Jeong-yul responded to Kwon Il-soo’s threatening voice with a commanding voice.
“…I guess you thought they would look at this since I prepared the thesis for you, right?”
“I… absolutely not!”
“If you want to finish your fellowship at our hospital, do it right.”
Kwon Il-soo growled and resumed the surgery.
The surgery seemed to be going smoothly, but after 30 minutes, Song Jeong-yul’s response slowed down again.
If this is the case, the surgery time will increase and Kwon Il-soo’s condition will deteriorate.
Of course, the patient’s surgical outcome also worsens.
The longer the extracorporeal circulation, the more burden it places on the patient.
‘I can’t help it.’
Choi Ki-seok opened the retractor with his left hand, while gradually taking over Song Jeong-yul’s role with his right hand.
Sometimes I used suction and sometimes I used forceps to hold the tissues in place to ensure good suturing.
Thanks to the ambidextrous skill, one-handed kills were no problem.
By the time the surgery was nearing its end, he was performing nearly half of the first assistant’s work.
However, Kwon Il-soo and Song Jeong-yul did not stop Choi Ki-seok.
As Choi Ki-seok joined the team in earnest, the speed of housework has become noticeably faster.
Not only that, Choi Ki-seok’s attitude when assisting was also wise.
“I will do it.”
He always said that before taking action.
So, I didn’t feel like I was going about the topic of residency carelessly. If Choi Ki-seok doesn’t want to do it, he can’t do it, and if it’s something he can do, all he has to do is nod his head and make him do it.
Choi Ki-seok watched the reactions of Kwon Il-soo and Song Jeong-yul and released the vascular forceps.
With this, the aortic coarctation surgery was completed.
Next ventricular septal defect surgery.
The surgery was completed without incident as Kwon Il-soo’s surgery and Song Jeong-yul and Choi Ki-seok’s assistance worked in harmony.
[You have succeeded in assisting with aortic coarctation surgery.]
[As a reward, 100 P.P.
and 3 reinforcement stones are provided.]
[You have recovered a significant amount of physical strength through the vitality effect of Patient Hope (+2).]
The alarm is going crazy . As a thought crossed his mind, a smile appeared on Choi Ki-seok’s lips.
But I wasn’t happy with the reward.
I was glad to see that the patient’s condition was good after examining it with the eyes of Hippocrates.
And another joy that feels different from the past.
It is the joy of a resident who can assist in surgery.
I left the cleanup to Lee Young-ho and left the operating room with Kwon Il-soo and Song Jeong-yul.
“Kiseok. Let me see for a moment.”
“yes!”
Ki-Seok Choi went down to the cafe on the first floor with Il-Soo Kwon. And after ordering coffee, I sat down facing Kwon Il-soo.
I was nervous because it was my first time meeting with Kwon Il-soo alone.
‘He’s a really unique guy.’
Kwon Il-soo looked Choi Ki-seok up and down.
Ki-Seok Choi’s assist today was excellent.
The assistant seemed to be reading the mind of the surgeon who seemed to be fully aware of the surgical process. Didn’t he even assist while pulling on the brace with one hand?
I couldn’t believe that I was an assistant to a first-year resident.
“Twiddling around doesn’t suit my personality, so I say it bluntly.”
“….”
“Did you know that once the heart clinic remodeling is over, professional surgery will begin in earnest?”
“yes.”
“I decided to have Norwood surgery.”
Norwood surgery.
This is a surgery to treat hypoplastic left heart syndrome and is a difficult surgery with a mortality rate of over 30 percent.
“I’m going to start forming a team now. I want you to join it.”
Kwon Il-soo said calmly.
But it is that moment.
Tiring!
[Do you want to join the Norwood team?]
[Once you join the Norwood team, you cannot join another team.]
[You can receive various rewards depending on your activities within the team. After ten days have passed since the party acceptance time, you cannot enter the party.]
‘What is this?’
Choi Ki-seok was embarrassed by the sudden notification.
