Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 13

13. The Fifth Vital

“Long time no see, Senior.”

“Jung Eui-jin?”

“Are you that surprised?”

Seeing Eui-jin at the new hospital where he was working, Tae-kyung looked as if he’d seen his first love.

“Then, were you the anesthesiologist in the operating room earlier?”

“Yes. I recognized you as soon as I entered the operating room, but you didn’t notice.”

That was understandable. He hadn’t really looked at her face when preparing for anesthesia for the first time.

Besides, he had to concentrate more than usual because he was performing the surgery alone, so he didn’t even think about looking at anything other than the patient.

“Anyway, I can’t believe you came to our hospital as the head… I was quite surprised when I saw you earlier.”

Tae-kyung was also surprised. Eui-jin was a junior from the same medical school.

She was popular among her peers and juniors for her innocent face and lively, easy-going charm.

He got to know Eui-jin when they were in the same group during medical volunteer work.

She was a grateful junior who approached him, who didn’t have any close friends because he was an outsider.

‘To see Jung Eui-jin here….’

Eui-jin was someone he occasionally thought of whenever he remembered his medical school days. But to run into her like this was surprising.

He was so surprised that he momentarily forgot Lee Chan-hee’s fear of the operating room.

“It’s been a while. It’s nice to see you after so long.”

“Yeah, it’s nice to see you. You majored in anesthesia? How have you been?”

“I was in Africa and came back to Korea a while ago.”

“Africa?”

“Yes. I was with MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders).”

“That’s amazing. You must have had a hard time.”

“No. It was rewarding. More than that, are you okay, Senior?”

“Me…?”

“Actually, I have a friend at Shinhwa University Hospital, so I heard about you by chance.”

“Ah, you mean getting rejected for the professorship? It’s already in the past, and I’m fine now. By the way, how is working here?”

“It’s really fun here.”

Tae-kyung found her answer interesting. It was amazing that someone with more than 10 years of experience as a doctor found working fun.

“I can see patients carefully without rushing. I feel like I’m a real doctor when I’m here.”

Tae-kyung felt like he knew what Eui-jin meant. He often felt regret as a doctor when he was quickly seeing hundreds of patients without a break.

“I heard the hospital is in a difficult situation.”

“We’re just employees getting paid, so we’re still okay, but the director is worried.”

“Why is the director?”

“He renovated the interior with all his money and loans, but the number of patients is decreasing, so it’s not easy.”

“I didn’t know the director was in such a situation.”

Tae-kyung felt that Kim Cheol-gi, who always had a smile on his face despite having a sick wife recovering from cancer surgery and hospital problems, was amazing.

“Since a large hospital opened, there probably weren’t many people coming for interviews.”

“Not a single person. The director said that he would find a successor he could trust and leave it to them, so we shouldn’t worry.”

Usually, people don’t welcome working at a hospital that is not in good condition.

Especially a hospital without patients, which means it is not generating enough revenue.

However, Tae-kyung didn’t feel any resentment towards Kim Cheol-gi for not telling him about the internal situation.

Rather, he was grateful to him for paying off his debt despite the bad situation.

“Anyway, I feel reassured that you’re at our hospital, Senior.”

“Suddenly, I feel a great sense of responsibility?”

“That’s why I said that.”

“By the way, about Lee Chan-hee. I heard he has a fear of the operating room.”

“That’s right. Senior, do you know what a sunfish is?”

“Isn’t it a fish that gets easily startled?”

“That’s right. People who get easily startled are called sunfish. Dr. Lee is a ‘soobokchi’.”

“Soobokchi?”

“He gets easily startled whenever he enters the operating room.”

Only then did Tae-kyung understand the words ‘Lee Chan-hee is a soobokchi’ on the external hard drive that Kim Cheol-gi gave him.

“Then, can’t he come into the operating room at all?”

“It’s a bit strange, but he manages to handle pre-scheduled surgeries okay, even though he gets very nervous.”

“But?”

“He faints if he suddenly enters the operating room for an emergency like today.”

“But he’s in GS (General Surgery). Still, for a GS to be afraid of the operating room….”

“Isn’t it absurd?”

It was so absurd that he was dumbfounded and speechless.

“Ha!”

General surgery has many emergency surgeries, and the operating room is inseparable from it like a needle and thread. But for someone who chose general surgery to have a fear of the operating room.

“I thought so too at first.”

“How can a guy in GS….”

“And to be exact, should I say he’s like a GS but not a GS?”

It wasn’t a pun, and he couldn’t understand what that meant. Tae-kyung tilted his head at the words that he couldn’t understand even though they were in Korean.

“GS but not GS? What does that mean?”

“He got first place in the written exam but failed the practical exam.”

“What… what!”

It was a series of surprises following the fear of the operating room.

“What’s the reason?”

The specialist practical exam was different from actually performing surgery, so it didn’t make sense that he failed the practical exam.

“He was so nervous on the morning of the practical exam that he collapsed in front of the practical exam hall.”

‘Does that make sense? Seriously!’

Tae-kyung lost his words for a moment at the unheard-of story, and then a curse word came out without him realizing it.

“He’s crazy!”

“It seems like there’s a story behind it, but I don’t know the details. In my opinion, Dr. Lee has enough qualifications as a surgeon. He seems to be working hard, so it’s sometimes pitiful to see him.”

“Dr. Lee himself must be the most frustrated.”

“That’s right. Hello?”

Eui-jin, who was talking, quickly answered the phone that was ringing loudly in her pocket.

-Hey? Jung Eui-jin! What happened to you? You ran out after blowing out the birthday candles, so you should at least contact me. I’m worried.

“Senior. Just a moment.”

Eui-jin excused herself for a moment to take her friend’s call and returned.

“Is it your birthday today?”

“It’s not today since it’s past 12, it was yesterday.”

“The patient’s surgery went well, so go ahead and go.”

“Then, I’ll go first.”

Tae-kyung, who was watching Eui-jin turning around after saying goodbye, called out to her.

“Dr. Jung Eui-jin?”

“Yes?”

“Please take care of me in the future.”

“Me too. Senior. Please take care of me.”

* * *

After Eui-jin left, Tae-kyung, who was heading to the examination room, changed his direction. It was to check on the condition of Cho Mal-rye, the patient who had gallbladder surgery.

“……!”

But as he was walking towards the hospital room, he suddenly stopped. The patient, who should have been lying on the bed, was sitting on a chair in front of the hospital room with her head bowed.

“Doctor? I was about to go down anyway. Honey. The doctor is here.”

The guardian, who saw Tae-kyung, patted the patient and said.

“Are you feeling okay, patient? Why are you out instead of lying down….”

Tae-kyung, who was talking, couldn’t help but lose his words when he saw the patient suddenly raise her head.

“Doctor. Sob!”

The patient opened her mouth with a distorted expression and tears in her eyes.

“My, my… collarbone feels like it’s being cut off.”

The patient’s eyes, pointing to her collarbone with the hand with the IV needle inserted, looked quite anxious.

“This person has been complaining that her collarbone and the area around it hurt ever since she woke up from anesthesia.”

“It’s true. It feels like being pressed down by a brick, and it even feels like something sharp is poking around.”

The patient tried to explain her pain.

“Doctor, could my surgery have gone wrong?”

“Hey! This person is talking nonsense again. I told you. The doctor said your surgery went well.”

“You know how it is. I was supposed to just have the stone removed from my gallbladder, but what if there’s something wrong with other organs?”

“Hooni’s mom, are you writing a drama? What are you talking about?”

“Ugh, just stay still.”

“I’m sorry. Doctor. This person watches dramas from morning till night, so she’s saying all sorts of things.”

People have all sorts of thoughts even with a little pain. Tae-kyung showed the patient something he took out of his pocket.

“Oh my, oh my! What is this? Could this be a tumor….”

“It’s definitely not cancer. This is the stone that was in your gallbladder.”

“This was the stone in my body? There was something this big?”

“I know, it’s huge.”

The patient and guardian looked surprised as they looked at the 2cm gallstone.

“To be exact, it was in your gallbladder. This is why you’ve been in so much pain.”

“Wow, it makes sense that it hurt so much with something like that in a healthy organ.”

“And the surgery went very well, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Then why does my collarbone and the area around it hurt so much?”

“It’s because of the gas.”

“Gas?”

That’s right. The cause of the pain that was bothering the patient’s collarbone was the medical gas used during the surgery.

“When performing a laparoscopic surgery, gas is injected into the abdomen to get a good view of the surgical area.”

Tae-kyung added a detailed explanation of the pain. Explaining it wouldn’t make the pain disappear right away, but it would relieve the patient’s anxiety.

“After the surgery, the gas is removed from the patient’s body, but some of the remaining gas travels around the body and escapes.”

“So, is it because the gas is escaping from my body?”

“Yes, the area where the gas escapes and the pain felt varies from person to person. Some people don’t feel it, some feel a little pain, and some people, like you, feel severe pain.”

“I hope the gas goes away quickly.”

“Walking will help the gas escape. But don’t overdo it.”

“Yes, I’ll walk slowly. I’m relieved that it’s not something bad.”

The patient and guardian’s expressions were much brighter after confirming that it wasn’t something bad, even though the pain was still there.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen that expression.’

It’s the expression of patients that Tae-kyung likes as a doctor. He doesn’t know how long it’s been since he’s faced those expressions of patients slowly.

The patient believes in and trusts the existence of a doctor. Patients cry and laugh at the words of a doctor.

Tae-kyung knew that, so he thought that patients should not worry about anxiety as much as possible in the hospital.

“Thank you, doctor.”

“You’re welcome. Then, rest well.”

Tae-kyung, who was checking on the patient’s condition and walking down the hallway, stopped.

“That’s right! The smell.”

It was because the terrible smell of feces coming from the patient had disappeared.

“Wait, when did the smell disappear?”

Originally, he was going to check whether there was a smell as soon as the surgery was over. But he couldn’t focus on the smell from then on because he was super focused on the surgery due to Lee Chan-hee’s unexpected escape.

“Wait… did it not smell from the moment the surgery was over?”

Cho Mal-rye, who was standing like a stone statue, approached Tae-kyung, who was worried.

“Excuse me, doctor? I have something to tell you.”

“Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”

Tae-kyung, who answered quickly, took a deep breath towards the patient. As expected, there was no smell coming from the patient.

“Could you give me that stone? I want to keep it as a souvenir.”

“Sure.”

“Thank you.”

* * *

Tae-kyung, who handed over the gallstone, returned to the examination room and began to write down what he had learned about the smell so far.

“First, let’s sort out the smells I’ve smelled.”

-Types of smells-

Patient Kim Deok-soo Diagnosis: Anaphylaxis / (The ammonia smell changed to a formalin smell.)

Patient Cho Mal-rye Diagnosis: cholecystitis (inflammation of the gallbladder, fecal smell.)

Local inpatients (Most had a sour smell and an ammonia smell.)

Tae-kyung went to the local hospital to check his condition after being hit by a truck and surviving.

After that, he went to the hospital ward to check the smell coming from sick people. And the only smells he smelled there for several hours were sour and ammonia smells.

The patients hospitalized there couldn’t all have the same diagnosis.

“That means the smell isn’t different for each diagnosis….”

Then, he could see that the types of smells were fixed, and the smell was determined by the intensity of the pain.

“Next, let’s determine the stages of the smell.”

-Ammonia, formalin, feces, sour.

“If I sort them in order from the weakest, it would be the sour smell.”

If he set the stages by the patient’s diagnosis and the concentration of the smell, it would be as follows.

Stage 1: Sour (Weak vinegar smell)

Stage 2: Ammonia

Stage 3: Feces

Stage 4: Formalin (Golden Time)

Stages 1 and 2 would be smells from relatively simple diagnoses. And he thought that the higher the stage, the more fatal the disease was to the patient.

“Is there a smell worse than formalin? For now, let’s not forget that if a stage 4 smell occurs, it means the patient is seriously ill.”

Kim Deok-soo, who suddenly collapsed in the rooftop room, was diagnosed with anaphylaxis. It is an allergy that causes a hypersensitive reaction to antigens and antibodies.

It is so dangerous that it can be life-threatening, and a quick response is important.

The reason why Kim Deok-soo initially smelled of ammonia was probably because he was not in a severe condition.

After that, when he went into shock and became life-threatening, the smell changed to formalin.

“One more thing, let’s remember that the smell changes when the patient’s condition worsens.”

Tae-kyung plans to add the smell of pain each time he treats a patient.

He was convinced that if he organized this well, it would help him save patients in the future.

“This is about the level of the fifth vital.”

Vital.

It refers to the four things that are essential to see when looking at a patient: blood pressure, pulse, body temperature, and respiratory rate.

The smell coming from a sick person is the fifth vital that only Tae-kyung can feel.