Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 175

Tap—

The pace quickens.

Geun-wook hurried to the hospital room for Ina’s EKG [electrocardiogram] test.

The fact that an urgent test was needed at this late hour clearly indicated a bad situation.

‘Ugh, everything seemed fine until this afternoon… What happened?’

Whoosh—

He hastily pulled back the curtain.

Ina lying on the bed came into view.

The child, who would normally greet Geun-wook with playful banter, looked strangely exhausted.

Her complexion was poor, and she seemed to be sweating slightly.

‘Something’s different from usual? I don’t think she was this tired before…’

.

A typical childhood cancer that grows in the adrenal medulla or sympathetic ganglia in the abdomen.

By the time it’s discovered, it has often spread to various parts of the body.

Ina’s cancer had spread to her bone marrow, and she had undergone a bone marrow transplant after chemotherapy.

It was remarkable how Ina had endured it so maturely; it was by no means a disease to be taken lightly.

In other words, these symptoms could occur at any time.

“Doctor…”

The guardian beside her looked up with a worried expression.

She must have been surprised that her daughter’s condition suddenly worsened in the middle of the night.

“Ina has been saying her heart keeps beating strangely, and she’s having a hard time…”

“Yes, let’s start with an electrocardiogram.”

Whoosh—

Geun-wook closed the curtain and moved quickly.

He attached six leads to Ina’s chest and pressed the electrocardiogram button.

He had taken electrocardiograms over a hundred times during his internship, so his hands were now skilled.

“Okay, Ina. Let’s stay still for just 3 seconds.”

“No…”

The child whined.

But it was just a habitual refusal; she didn’t seem to have the strength to insist now.

Whirr—

The EKG machine spat out paper with the heart rhythm recorded.

But then.

Ina suddenly coughed severely and began to cough up phlegm mixed with blood.

“Cough— Cough—”

“……!”

What? What’s wrong with her?

Geun-wook was thrown into confusion.

Geun-wook froze upon seeing the child coughing up blood.

He wasn’t as strong-hearted as Seon-han, and it was difficult for him to assess the situation calmly.

“Oh my, Ina!”

The guardian also shouted in surprise.

The heart rate on the EKG paper was pointing to 140 beats per minute.

‘What was the normal heart rate for a 9-year-old…? Is this just tachycardia [abnormally rapid heart rate], or atrial flutter [a type of irregular heart rhythm]…?’

The normal heart rate varies with age.

For adults, it’s 60-100 beats per minute, but for a 9-year-old, it’s roughly 50-115 beats per minute.

In other words, since her heart rate had increased, it was time to differentiate whether it was an arrhythmia [irregular heartbeat].

‘Uh… what should I do?’

Geun-wook was in a state of confusion.

[coughing up blood] and .

The two abnormal findings that suddenly appeared before his eyes made him feel dizzy.

It felt like being ambushed with a right hook and an uppercut simultaneously.

It was a harsh situation for a novice boxer who could barely handle one attack properly.

‘Uh… so…’

He was flustered and stammering, and quite some time passed before he even thought to notify the senior medical staff.

At that moment, someone who happened to be passing by in the hallway noticed the commotion and entered the hospital room.

“What’s going on? What’s the situation?!”

Resident Ahn Jae-soo.

He had an angry expression.

He glared at Geun-wook once, then urgently checked Ina’s oxygen saturation and electrocardiogram.

Shortly after, Ina fortunately recovered to normal vital signs.

“Doctor… what happened?”

At the guardian’s question, Ahn Jae-soo answered cautiously.

“Various symptoms can appear after a bone marrow transplant, but don’t worry too much.”

“Then…?”

“First, we’ll take a chest X-ray and proceed with some tests.”

The attending physician’s opinion followed.

Next to him, Geun-wook quietly clasped his hands together.

Even though he was just an intern, he was ashamed and embarrassed that he hadn’t been able to handle it calmly a moment ago.

“Intern, look at me for a second.”

Soon, Geun-wook was facing Jae-soo’s scolding head-on at the station.

“Aren’t you going to get your act together?”

“I’m sorry.”

“What are you doing? You’re big, clumsy, and just standing there blankly! You can’t even take responsibility!”

“I panicked suddenly…”

“Is that what you’re saying?”

Thud!

Jae-soo pushed Geun-wook’s shoulder.

Of course, he didn’t budge. Because he was Kim Geun-wook.

Jae-soo was momentarily taken aback but didn’t stop scolding Geun-wook’s mistakes.

“If there’s a sudden hemoptysis, you should have notified quickly and checked the saturation first! Don’t you know that checking vitals is basic?”

“I’m sorry.”

“And heart rhythm problems are not something to be taken lightly. If they get dilated cardiomyopathy [a condition where the heart muscle becomes enlarged and weakened], 50% of them die or have to get a heart transplant!”

“I’m sorry.”

Geun-wook apologized repeatedly.

He had nothing to say even if he had ten mouths.

He was already intimidated, but hearing the terrifying mortality rate made his heart even more anxious.

“From now on, don’t try to make any judgments and just notify immediately!”

“Yes…”

After being thoroughly scolded, Geun-wook thought on his way back to the dorm.

‘I’m not the kind of guy who should be a doctor, really…’

Of course, a few seconds of delayed notification wouldn’t have had a big impact on the patient’s prognosis.

However, <50% mortality rate>.

For Geun-wook, who had never experienced heart problems in pediatric patients, only that number lingered in his mind.

‘I hope I didn’t harm Ina…?’

He, who was already in a rut, became even more discouraged.

.

That fact was too scary.

Of course, he was just an intern doing what he was told now, but from a year later, he would also bear that burden.

Could he really work under this pressure for the rest of his life?

“Hoo-oo.”

In the middle of the empty hallway, Geun-wook sighed and squatted against the wall.

Faint autumn moonlight came in through the window.

His shadow cast on the hospital floor looked insignificantly small, making him feel sad.

* * *

The next day.

Patient Yoon Ina got worse.

Another treatment side effect was observed.

Following mild pulmonary hemorrhage [bleeding in the lungs] last night, hemorrhagic cystitis [inflammation of the bladder with bleeding] was confirmed.

Hemorrhagic cystitis.

A situation where bleeding occurs in the bladder, and the urinary tract must be kept clear of blood clots caused by the bleeding.

The process of inserting and removing saline solution through a urinary catheter had to be repeated every hour.

“Ina, hello.”

“Gorilla Uncle, why do you keep coming?”

Ina greeted Geun-wook with a weaker voice than before.

“I think the doctor will be seeing Ina often for a while?”

Geun-wook said that and approached the urinary catheter.

He repeats the process of pushing and pulling saline solution into the urinary catheter.

Having a sense of guilt from the previous incident, he did his best even in simple tasks.

However, the irrigation work that had to be performed every hour was not easy.

In the end, he had no choice but to give up sleeping.

‘Ugh, I’m so sleepy…’

Nod—

Geun-wook dropped his head.

It’s an infinite loop of dozing off and waking up every hour.

Moreover, he had to go to work normally the next day, so his life rhythm was bound to be ruined.

It was a task only possible by grinding the energy of fresh 20s interns.

While spending several days like this, he was able to talk a lot with the guardian.

“Doctor, you’re going through so much trouble because of our Ina, right?”

The guardian offered Geun-wook a vitamin drink with an apologetic expression.

Next to her, Ina was sleeping soundly.

When she’s awake, she’s a little devil, but when she’s asleep, she looks like a pure angel.

“I’m sorry that our Ina is acting rude.”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Geun-wook shook his head with a dark circle-filled face.

The guardian carefully stroked Ina’s hair as she slept.

“Ina had a lot of time alone at home, and I couldn’t pay much attention to her education…”

It was a fact he learned belatedly, but the guardian was a single mother.

Since he visited every hour, he learned all the trivial family matters.

That’s how much time the guardian and the intern spent together.

“Seeing Ina struggling while receiving chemotherapy, I wondered if it was my fault she got cancer… I feel so sorry that I can’t bring myself to say harsh things.”

To summarize the chemotherapy Ina had received so far:

First. Extract the bone marrow in advance.

Second. Kill cancer cells with strong chemotherapy. At this time, the bone marrow cells in the body also succumb to the chemotherapy and die.

Third. Refill the extracted bone marrow.

She is now in the third stage.

The pain in the previous stage must have been indescribably great.

It is nearly impossible to selectively kill only cancer cells, so other cells in the body are bound to die as well.

Hair loss is basic, and the lining of the intestines collapses, making it impossible to eat.

That’s why chemotherapy is difficult even for adults to endure.

‘……How could she have endured that process with this small body?’

Geun-wook felt sorry for Ina anew.

“Oh dear, I’m telling you all sorts of things when you’re already tired. Anyway, I’m sorry for our Ina.”

As the guardian bowed her head, Geun-wook hurriedly waved his hand and said.

“Oh, don’t say that. Ina is fighting a big disease called cancer at a young age! That alone is really amazing. It’s okay to be a little mischievous when you’re young!”

The guardian seemed surprised by Geun-wook’s reaction.

Then, she wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

“Thank you so much for saying that, Doctor. I think our Ina is gaining a lot of strength thanks to you.”

Geun-wook’s heart was in turmoil.

What did I do?

I’m still an intern?

It was awkward to receive thanks from someone.

Still, being someone’s object of reliance wasn’t so bad.

‘Come to think of it, why did I want to become a doctor…’

Geun-wook suddenly recalled a memory from his childhood.

When he was 12 years old, he broke his arm and was hospitalized.

The doctor who treated him at that time stroked his head and said.

A small word.

That alone was enough.

The ideal doctor that Geun-wook had always wanted to be was just like that.

‘Right. There are patients who have endured such difficult chemotherapy at a young age… What if my body is a little tired?’

In Geun-wook’s heart, the very small embers that remained began to regain warmth.

Pooh pooh—

Geun-wook splashed water on his face in the bathroom.

He also thought that it was better to be able to do something for the patient than to not be able to do anything.

“Okay. Let’s wake up and suffer for a few days!”

6 AM the next day.

Ina opened her eyes.

Then, she saw a familiar face.

Just like before going to sleep, Geun-wook was silently doing irrigation.

In Ina’s eyes, it seemed as if Geun-wook had been watching over her all night.

“Good morning.”

“It’s Gorilla Uncle.”

Instead of answering, Geun-wook stretched his philtrum and made a funny face.

Ina giggled as if it was fun, then closed her eyes again as if she was sleepy and mumbled.

“…I wish I could see Gorilla Uncle every day.”

That one word was strangely ticklish and touching, and it remained in Geun-wook’s heart for a long time.

* * *

About 10 days passed like that.

During that time, Geun-wook and Seon-han took turns doing overnight irrigation every time they were on duty.

The time on the evening off the next day was repeated with passing out and only sleeping.

As the latter half of October approached, fortunately, Ina’s hemorrhagic tendency stopped.

Hemorrhagic cystitis had recovered.

“Thank goodness…”

Thud!

Tired Geun-wook and Seon-han collapsed on the sofa.

He thought he had fully adapted to the intern job, but this kind of work was a whole new world.

It wasn’t a big hit, but it felt like being hit with multiple jabs for a very long time.

The two had another new experience in pediatrics.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“You too.”

Seon-han and Geun-wook, who hadn’t slept well for several days, bumped fists with haggard faces.