Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 35

35. Is This Your First Time in the ER?

“Patient!?”

The nurse was startled by the mother’s sudden action and tried to stop her.

“You shouldn’t do that.”

Having heard the word ‘surgery,’ the mother suddenly tried to lift her head as if trying to raise her upper body.

“The surgery just finished. You shouldn’t lift your head like that.”

“My baby…”

The mother slowly raised her hand with the IV needle in it, touched her stomach, and asked about her baby.

“My Blessing? Is Blessing okay?”

“Of course. The surgery went very well.”

“Ah! Thank goodness. Thank you.”

“You’ll be moved to a ward soon. Are you cold?”

“I’m okay.”

“If you feel uncomfortable, just raise your hand slightly.”

“Thank you.”

The mother, having overcome the major hurdle of surgery, seemed to find peace of mind, her expression more relaxed than before the operation.

* * *

“You worked hard.”

Coming out of the operating room, Tae-kyung patted Lee Chan-hee on the shoulder, encouraging him.

“Was it tough today?”

“No, not at all. I have so much stamina.”

“Really? I thought you were crying because it was so hard, seeing tears in your eyes earlier.”

“Ah! That wasn’t because it was hard… Anyway, there’s a reason.”

“Shall I guess what that reason is?”

“Yes?”

“You were moved to tears, weren’t you?”

“How did you know that?”

“I was moved before too. It’s a different kind of emotion than seeing a baby born in the OB/GYN [Obstetrics and Gynecology] during my internship.”

“So, you’re saying you were so moved that you cried too…?”

“No.”

Unlike Lee Chan-hee, who felt a sense of camaraderie, Tae-kyung answered with a straight face.

“I didn’t cry. I can’t have a surgeon crying in the operating room, can I?”

“Oh, come on, Doctor. Stop teasing me.”

“Anyway, you were just holding the uterus as my assistant today, weren’t you disappointed?”

“Me? Not at all. Rather, it helped me forget the tension and concentrate.”

“I appreciate you thinking that way. Honestly, I was worried you might faint today, but you did really well. Let’s just keep doing this and developing step by step.”

Lee Chan-hee was genuinely pleased to hear such warm praise from Tae-kyung for the first time.

“Thank you, Doctor.”

Of course, he needed to improve and work harder. But he also felt proud that the training he had been doing so diligently wasn’t in vain.

“Go now.”

“Yes?”

“Why? Do you have something more to say?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Then stop being so emotional and go see patients. And about the homework…”

“I know. You’re about to tell me to review the Yappé surgery today, right?”

“Oh-ho. You’re getting good.”

“I can now tell what you want with just a look.”

“But there’s one more thing.”

“There’s more?”

“Yeah. The other one is to write about the surgery from your perspective.”

“Doctor, that’s a bit much. No offense, but two surgery reviews seem like a bit much.”

Having received praise for the first time in a while, Lee Chan-hee strongly expressed his opposition, feeling emboldened.

“It takes a lot of time to write by hand. Please reconsider.”

“Ha! You talk too much.”

“I know this.”

“Lee Chan-hee?”

Tae-kyung stopped walking and looked serious because Lee Chan-hee kept following him and chattering.

“Do you really think I’m going to reduce your homework?”

“Wouldn’t… you?”

“Would I?”

“Of course not.”

“Then stop being so noisy and get lost.”

“Yes, I will get lost with sincerity.”

“Oh, and when you draw the organs, add some colorful colors.”

At Tae-kyung’s threat, Lee Chan-hee quickened his pace, muttering to himself.

“Coloring? He’s so harsh.”

* * *

Knock knock-

“Yes.”

“It’s me, Doctor Jung.”

“Oh, Doctor Jung, come in.”

Ui-jin visited Tae-kyung’s office.

“Are you busy?”

“I have a moment. Would you like something to drink? Coffee?”

“No, I’ve had too much caffeine, so I’m trying to cut back today.”

“Good idea. I happen to have a delicious drink. Want some?”

“You have a special delicious drink?”

“Of course. Here! Take it.”

“Ha!”

Ui-jin chuckled as he looked at the small drink Tae-kyung took out.

“Choco Fondant Real Chocolate Milk. How does it look? Delicious, right?”

“I told you before that I’m allergic to chocolate… Are you teasing me right now?”

“Oh! You’re more perceptive than I thought.”

“Are you having fun?”

“You don’t look like you’re having fun. Sorry.”

“Only in words?”

“Alright. I’ll buy you a cup of coffee next time.”

“Not coffee, buy me a drink.”

“A drink? Okay, then. I was going to go to your office anyway.”

“Why? Do you have something to say to me?”

“I wanted to ask you something. Why did you come?”

“Ah, I heard that Lee Seon-i’s patient came out of the recovery room, so I went to the ward.”

Lee Seon-i’s patient was a pregnant woman who had surgery for appendicitis earlier.

“You went to see the sono [sonogram/ultrasound]?”

“Yes. When I went, the mother was waiting for me.”

“The fetus is okay, right?”

“Of course. There’s nothing wrong, and it’s doing well. It’s not that, but Doctor, you’re going to the ward later, right?”

“I have to go during rounds.”

“Then please strongly tell her to take Pasetamol [Acetaminophen/Tylenol].”

Pregnant patients do not use the same painkillers as other patients after surgery.

This is because of the fetus in the womb. Therefore, if the patient is pregnant, propacetamol, which has fewer side effects, is usually used.

This painkiller, called Pasetamol, is what people know as Tylenol.

The patient endures the pain with only antipyretic analgesics [pain relievers that also reduce fever] for the sake of the baby in her womb.

“Even if Pasetamol is administered after the anesthesia wears off, there will still be pain, but the patient is refusing it?”

“It’s not that, but because she cares so much about her baby, I thought it would be good if you emphasized it one more time.”

“Well, if it’s Lee Seon-i’s patient, she could definitely do that. Alright, I’ll talk to her.”

“Doctor, didn’t you say you had something to say to me?”

“What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“OBGY [Obstetrics and Gynecology], I mean.”

Tae-kyung was quite surprised that Ui-jin, an anesthesiologist, was in charge of OB/GYN.

“Actually, I got my OB/GYN board first.”

“So, your original goal was OB/GYN?”

“Yes, ever since I decided to become a doctor.”

“If I remember correctly, you had good grades.”

“My grades were okay.”

Ui-jin had never been pushed out of the top three, so ‘okay’ was an understatement.

“I actually thought you would go to Derma [Dermatology] or PS [Plastic Surgery].”

“Because of my grades?”

“That’s right.”

Usually, when interns rotate and choose their departments, people with high grades often choose popular departments such as Derma or PS.

“You avoided all the popular departments too, Doctor.”

“That’s true. Still, it’s a bit unexpected. Like GS [General Surgery], OB/GYN is also a department that people avoid.”

“You could say they are the two major departments that people avoid.”

The number of applicants for both surgery and OB/GYN is decreasing. In the case of surgery, the work is many times harder, but it doesn’t pay as much.

In OB/GYN, it is difficult for local hospitals to survive among chain-style large hospitals. The number of patients is decreasing due to the fact that the birth rate is not as high as it used to be.

There are many reasons, but the biggest problem is that the compensation is not commensurate with the risk of surgery.

“When my youngest aunt had her first child in middle school, I think that’s when I decided to become an OB/GYN doctor.”

“Did you see the delivery scene in person at that time?”

“I didn’t see the delivery scene, but my youngest aunt’s appearance because of the baby was somehow amazing.”

Ui-jin’s youngest aunt, who was an athlete, was usually tough and a woman of action.

After getting married, she suddenly had her first child and suffered from severe morning sickness and gestational diabetes.

“She was grabbing my uncle’s hair in the delivery room, saying harsh things, and saying she hated the baby because it hurt so much.”

“I actually understand those words from mothers. Why else would they describe it as the pain of a train passing over their stomach?”

“That’s right. They only force you to get married, but there is too little information about important things like pregnancy and childbirth.”

The saying that they risked their lives to give birth was not for nothing.

Childbirth is sacred, but the process is more dangerous than you think. In addition, the changes in the mother’s body and mind are also significant.

“Anyway, my cousin was born, and I was worried that the baby would be hated by my aunt because I was young. But that wasn’t the case.”

“Of course not. She became a mother.”

“That’s right. My aunt, who became a mother, was different.”

Ui-jin’s aunt, who overcame the pain that seemed like she was going to die, cried for hours, moved to tears.

In fact, the emotion that mothers who give birth feel at the moment they face their babies is beyond words.

“I still can’t forget what my aunt’s doctor said at that time.”

“What did they say?”

“When you face a baby born into the world, you feel the emotion of holding the universe in your arms.”

Although he had never received a baby directly, Tae-kyung, who had watched from the side, could understand the meaning of those words to some extent.

“That teacher said that it would be a special experience that only mothers and obstetricians feel.”

“That teacher spoke 멋지게 [meotjige – coolly/impressively].”

“That’s right. At the time, I was very sensitive, so I wanted to feel that emotion while thinking that the expression was 멋지면서 [meotjimeyonseo – cool/impressive].”

“So, was the ideal the same as reality?”

“Usually, if you have high expectations, you get disappointed, but I really liked it.”

Of course, there were stresses and difficulties in working in reality. But even so, Ui-jin had never regretted choosing OB/GYN.

Even now, he remembered all the moments of the children he had received with his own hands.

“Isn’t that your calling? Why did you switch to Anesth [Anesthesiology]?”

“I thought so too, but I think my capacity was lacking.”

“What happened?”

“I saw rape patients.”

“Ah…”

Rape was a word meaning victims of sexual assault.

“It was during my time at MSF [Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders].”

Knock knock-

“Doctor?”

Just as Ui-jin was about to start his story, a nurse announced a patient’s visit.

“Doctor? A patient has arrived.”

“Okay. Tell them to come in.”

“And a patient who received treatment from Doctor Ui-jin called about a prescription.”

“Okay. I’ll go. Let’s talk next time.”

“Okay, Doctor Jung, thank you for your hard work.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

* * *

“Mommy?”

“Yes? Why? Does Sol-i’s nose hurt?”

“No, Sol-i is hungry.”

“Sol-ah? Let’s go home and eat in a little bit.”

“Sol-ah, did you hear Daddy? The doctor will look at Sol-i’s nose just once, and then Mommy will make you something delicious at home.”

“Make me pork cutlet.”

“Okay. Mommy will make you pork cutlet later.”

The 38-month-old child’s attention was drawn back to the Pororo video that her mother had turned on.

The child’s mother seemed to be familiar with visiting the emergency room, skillfully easing her child’s tension.

“I can’t believe the person watching her didn’t even notice she put something in her nose!”

“It’s not the aunt’s fault.”

“Should we find someone else?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. It’s hard to find someone like her. And don’t you remember what the doctor said when we went to your mother’s house last time?”

“That kids often do that?”

“Yeah, this is already Sol-i’s second time.”

“The first time wasn’t her nose, it was a thorn in her hand.”

“No, I mean this is the second time in the emergency room. Especially kids with a lot of curiosity do that more.”

“Who did our Sol-i take after to be so curious?”

“Who else but you.”

“Ah! I don’t know. I don’t want even a single hair on my baby to get hurt.”

He was a daughter fool, reacting unusually sensitively to anything related to his child.

“But are the doctors here okay? You have to be careful when choosing a hospital these days.”

“Yesol’s mom said that the doctor here is on YouTube and is quite skilled. Kim Tae something.”

“You’re so naive. It’s all advertising.”

“No. She said it was a video of an accident scene? And she said that the doctors and staff here are all friendly.”

“Isn’t that obvious? They live off patients, so they have to be friendly.”

“What are you talking about? That’s not always the case these days.”

“Anyway, how long are we supposed to wait while our child is sick like that?”

The man, who had been talking to his wife, got up from his seat and looked around, frustrated with the wait.

“They’ll be here soon.”

“No, what if it goes down her throat? We need to get it out quickly.”

“Don’t say things like that. Sit down.”

“Wait a minute. Excuse me?”

The man called out to Choi Mona, who was passing through the emergency room while treating patients.

“Are you a doctor?”

“Yes, I am.”

“It’s not that, but I came to see a doctor for my daughter. How long do we have to wait?”

“Guardian?”

Choi Mona, who had just finished treating a second-degree burn patient, replied with her unique expressionless face.

“Is this your first time in the ER?”