A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 290

Chief scoffed at Jun-hoo’s remark.

‘Is he spouting nonsense? If he’s scared of a myelogram [an X-ray or CT scan of the spinal cord after injecting contrast dye], he should just say so. Why is he suddenly bringing up the patient?’

Chief found Jun-hoo’s attitude absurd.

“Hey, do you even know what you’re saying right now?”

“Yes, I know very well.”

“And you’re shamelessly going to act like this even knowing that? Professor Hong ordered the myelogram for this patient. Are you saying the professor is wrong?”

Chief glared at Jun-hoo.

Jun-hoo’s brazen attitude made it impossible to speak nicely.

“Professors are human too. They can make mistakes.”

“Mistakes? What mistakes?”

“Please check the chart.”

Jun-hoo moved to the work computer in the corner of the CT room.

He pulled up the chart of the patient waiting for the myelogram on the monitor.

The patient’s name was Seo Yong-man.

He was 56 years old.

He had a history of spinal fixation surgery after injuring his back in a fall at a construction site a year ago.

“What’s wrong with the chart?”

“Look at this part.”

Jun-hoo’s index finger pointed to a section of the patient’s outpatient record.

It was a record that a lumbar puncture [spinal tap] had been performed urgently ten days ago due to suspected myelitis [inflammation of the spinal cord].

Chief’s face turned pale in an instant.

Jun-hoo was right.

-Myelography is prohibited in patients who have undergone lumbar puncture within the last 2 weeks. Contrast agents can increase inflammation or pressure in the spinal cord.

This was written in the neurosurgery textbook.

Damn it!

Such a rookie mistake!

Chief put his hand on his forehead.

This was a complete disaster.

He should have looked at the patient’s history in more detail….

He blindly trusted the professor’s order.

What would have happened if Jun-hoo hadn’t pointed it out?

The patient’s back would have worsened, and he would have had to bear the heavy responsibility.

“Do you still think I’m avoiding the myelogram?”

“No, well, it’s not that.”

Chief turned his head, avoiding Jun-hoo’s spirited gaze.

Chief’s face was now as red as a beet from shame.

This was not the picture he had hoped for.

“You’re quite thorough, aren’t you? Checking the patient’s outpatient records before the procedure? Usually, people just follow the professor’s orders.”

“If you think of the patient as your family, you look at it one more time.”

“Oh, a famous doctor has appeared. A famous doctor has appeared.”

Drrr.

Just then, a patient in a hospital gown entered the CT room.

“Seriously. You guys make people wait forever while doing nothing. Hey, let’s get this test done quickly. Your time is important, but mine isn’t?”

Chief sighed deeply as he looked at the grumbling patient.

The patient seemed to have a fiery temper.

First of all, his speech was straightforward and rough. His build was like a wrestler, and the tip of his nose was red.

In short, he looked like a hot-tempered person who was strong and drank well.

The problem was that he had to tell that patient that the hospital had made a mistake and that he had to go back today.

Just imagining what would happen when he explained it made Chief feel terrible and hopeless.

But right then!

Jun-hoo approached the patient with a friendly smile.

“Hello, patient.”

“Well, I’m not feeling well.”

“You’ve been waiting a long time for the test. Please, have a seat.”

“Should I? It’s hard for me to even stand these days.”

The patient sat on a backless chair, and Jun-hoo stood behind him.

“Your neck and shoulder muscles seem very tight.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’m a doctor, so I know.”

“Does that really work?”

“I’ll give you a simple massage before the test.”

“Huh? A massage? Let’s get the test done quickly. I’m a busy man.”

“It’ll only take a moment. Just try it and see.”

Jun-hoo started the massage with skillful hands.

He massaged the patient’s neck and shoulders, rubbed the tight muscles in circles with his fingers.

He also pressed acupoints [specific points on the body used in traditional Chinese medicine] on the patient with the knuckles of his folded middle finger.

He was providing a service to avoid sending the patient away empty-handed.

‘Tsk. What a pathetic guy. Will that lousy massage calm the patient down? I’ll be lucky if I don’t get hit.’

Chief clicked his tongue inwardly.

But surprisingly, Jun-hoo’s massage was very effective.

“Patient, I actually have something to tell you. I’m sorry, but we made a mistake.”

“……”

“The test you were supposed to have today was actually supposed to be a week from now.”

“So?”

“Could you come back to the hospital in a week? I’ll take responsibility and massage you then too.”

Chief swallowed hard at Jun-hoo’s words.

Now that he had brought up the main point, all that was left was for the patient to explode like a volcano.

But what?

The patient, who seemed like a neighborhood thug, acted like a saint.

It was a reaction that Chief could never have imagined.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. People can make mistakes in life.”

The patient got up from his seat and circled his neck.

He also rotated his arms 360 degrees.

“This young man’s massage is amazing. I’ve been to all the famous massage shops, but I’ve never seen anyone as good as you.”

“……”

“My body feels so flexible and refreshed, it’s like I’ve been rejuvenated.”

“Hahaha. You flatter me.”

“You promised to give me a massage when I come next time, so I’ll leave quietly today.”

“Thank you. And I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

The patient pulled the IV stand and left the CT room.

It was as if a time bomb had been defused, and Chief felt relieved.

His tense arms and legs relaxed.

“Seo Jun-hoo, now that I see it, you have a great talent for winning over patients? You’re a top-notch people person.”

“You have to have at least one special skill to survive in the hospital.”

“But how good is your massage that the hot-tempered patient backed down so easily?”

“I’ll tell you when the myelogram is over.”

Jun-hoo replied with an indifferent expression.

Ten minutes later.

The second patient arrived at the CT room.

The patient lay on the examination table, bending his back like a shrimp.

Jun-hoo disinfected the patient’s back, covered it with a drape, and held the catheter in his hand.

“But are you sure you don’t want me to teach you the myelogram?”

Chief whispered to Jun-hoo.

The animosity towards Jun-hoo had long disappeared.

Chief felt it instinctively.

Jun-hoo was a pro at his job, and if he turned Jun-hoo into an enemy, he would only make things difficult for himself.

“Yes, I don’t need it.”

“Why are you so confident when you’ve never done it before?”

“I’ve done more difficult procedures. I’ll start the myelogram.”

Jun-hoo’s hand movements were lightning fast.

Poof!

The needle pierced between the patient’s 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae.

The angle of the needle was exactly perpendicular to the puncture surface.

Jun-hoo’s hand was steady as if it were a machine.

The length of the needle penetrating the skin was also fantastic, about 5 centimeters.

A perfect distance control that did not touch the nerves and blood vessels.

Even if Chief himself were to do the myelogram, he was not confident that he could do as well as Jun-hoo.

Jun-hoo’s myelogram was that perfect.

There was nothing to criticize.

He wanted to film it and use it as a textbook.

“Patient, now lie on your stomach. Your back will feel hot when I inject the contrast agent. Don’t worry, it’s not a problem.”

Jun-hoo removed the drape from the patient’s back.

Taking pictures of the back was the radiologist’s job, so the two came out of the filming room.

“Jun-hoo.”

Chief called Jun-hoo in a soft voice.

“Yes, Chief.”

“You can keep talking down to Hyuk-jae from now on. Well, Hyuk-jae deserves to be cursed at.”

Chief decided to stick with Jun-hoo.

* * *

Thump. Thump.

Jun-hoo, who had finished the myelogram, was walking down the 3rd floor hallway.

After being dispatched to Daejeon.

It was the first time he was going to assist in surgery.

‘The best politics is skill.’

Jun-hoo smiled as he repeated to himself.

It seemed that Chief wanted to discipline him, but it was impossible.

To discipline him, Chief had to know more and be able to do more than Jun-hoo.

But Jun-hoo had surpassed Chief’s level a long time ago.

Even now, he was looking at the level of fellows and new professors.

The fight between the two was not established from the beginning.

It was like the weight classes were completely different in martial arts.

It seemed that the order of the residents had been roughly sorted out. Now, is it the professors’ turn?

Deep wrinkles formed on Jun-hoo’s forehead.

For the Daejeon medical bureau to function properly, the problems of Chief Si-deok and Associate Professor Hun-shik had to be resolved urgently.

Even if the lower stream became clear.

If the upper stream was dirty, it was useless.

While heading to the operating room, Jun-hoo thought of Hun-shik, the surgeon in charge of this surgery.

And the story he heard from the nurses yesterday.

And the attitude of talking about surgery fees at the morning conference.

And ordering a myelogram for a patient who should not have had a myelogram, etc.

Hun-shik was like a rotten well.

No matter how much he scooped it out, he only heard dirty news.

So the person to deal with was not the chief, but Hun-shik.

However, the problem was…….

Jun-hoo’s status was still a resident.

To a resident, a professor was like the sky.

No one could fight the sky and win.

‘There’s plenty of time, so let’s think about it slowly.’

‘There must be a way.’

‘Since he’s a shady person, he must have a weakness.’

Jun-hoo, who arrived at the operating room, first went to the sink.

Scrub. Scrub. Scrub.

While rubbing his hands, fingers, and forearms with a brush soaked in disinfectant, Jun-hoo recalled the patient’s disease.

The patient was suffering from cervical myelopathy [spinal cord dysfunction due to compression in the neck].

This was a disease that was easy to confuse with a herniated disc.

If a herniated disc compresses the peripheral nerves, cervical myelopathy compresses the central nervous system.

In particular, the patient’s muscle strength was noticeably weakened.

In many cases, herniated discs are treated with medication and rest, but cervical myelopathy is usually treated with surgery.

Jun-hoo had relatively little experience assisting with cervical and lumbar spine surgery, so he braced himself and entered operating room 3.

The air in the operating room was cool as usual.

The pungent smell of alcohol stimulated his nose every time he inhaled.

Beep. Beep.

The patient monitoring device emitted regular beeping sounds.

Under the shadowless light, the patient was lying face down on the operating table.

He was in the prone position because he had to open the back of his neck.

“Is the surgery preparation all done? Is there anything I can help with?”

Jun-hoo asked the neurosurgery intern who was pulling a dressing cart out of the supply room.

“No. I just finished preparing the supplies and general anesthesia.”

“Okay. Thanks for your hard work.”

“You’ll be working harder, doctor.”

The intern looked at Jun-hoo with pitiful eyes.

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t think it’s good for you to know, so I won’t tell you. Anyway, there’s something like that.”

The intern left, leaving meaningful words behind.

Shortly after, the scrub nurse joined.

Now, all that was left was for Hun-shik, the attending professor, to come…….

Hun-shik was nowhere to be seen.

The surgery was supposed to start at 11 a.m., but even at 11:20 a.m., he couldn’t even be seen.

Jun-hoo was slowly getting impatient.

He was shaking his legs, unlike usual.

The wick in his heart was getting shorter and shorter.

“Doctor. Has something happened to Professor Hong? Shouldn’t we call him?”

At Jun-hoo’s question, the scrub nurse Hye-yeon replied with a smile.

“Ah…… This is your first time assisting Professor Hong’s surgery, isn’t it?”