A Surgeon Who Uses Martial Arts [EN]: Chapter 530

Chapter 104: Parents’ Hearts (1)

During the morning conference.

Jun-hoo’s body was in the conference room, but his mind was elsewhere.

How to perform brain surgery on a fetus.

His entire focus was on that.

At first, he only thought it was impossible.

He scolded himself for even considering fetal brain surgery, thinking it was absurd, especially when he barely knew about pediatric cases.

But what do you know?

In the places where his thoughts branched out in all directions, there were surprisingly valuable insights to be found.

Effectiveness aside.

The morning conference ended quickly.

“I’ll leave the rounds to Professor Choi.”

“Oh, leave it to me.”

Choi Jin-gu smiled brightly at Jun-hoo’s request.

“But do you have something urgent this morning? It doesn’t seem like there was an emergency call?”

“I’ll tell you later. If I say it now, I think Professor Choi will nag me.”

Jun-hoo left the neurosurgery ward and headed to the obstetrics and gynecology ward with brisk steps.

The obstetrics and gynecology department seemed to have already finished their rounds.

The professors and residents were scattering.

“Long time no see.”

Jun-hoo spotted a familiar face and waved his hand. The other person recognized Jun-hoo and waved back.

“What brings a superstar to our humble obstetrics and gynecology ward?”

Shin Hyun-jung asked jokingly.

Shin Hyun-jung was Jun-hoo’s classmate from medical school and an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology. They were close enough to exchange occasional greetings.

“Actually, I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a red carpet.”

“Your wit is still as sharp as ever. By the way, you haven’t changed much since the old days?”

“I’ve been too busy seeing patients and performing surgeries to get old. Do you have some time?”

“Sure.”

The two went down to the cafe on the first basement floor. They picked up their ordered coffees and took a seat near the entrance.

Before getting to the point.

Jun-hoo listened to Shin Hyun-jung’s story first.

Shin Hyun-jung had a lot on her mind.

She talked non-stop for 20 minutes.

The main topic was the gradually declining state of obstetrics and gynecology.

The difficulties of obstetrics and gynecology were slightly different from those of neurosurgery.

Neurosurgery had a severe shortage of doctors compared to patients, while.

Obstetrics and gynecology was experiencing a sharp decline in both patients and the number of doctors.

“People aren’t getting married or having kids anymore. The impact is really being felt now.”

“…….”

“Right now, our number of inpatients is plummeting. There are countless cases of obstetrics and gynecology clinics going bankrupt.”

“I see. Obstetrics and gynecology has taken a direct hit.”

Jun-hoo nodded in agreement.

Among the surgical specialties, only plastic surgery and orthopedics were thriving.

The remaining specialties were struggling in their own way.

He wanted to help other specialties if he could, but even Jun-hoo, who had mastered martial arts, couldn’t handle neurosurgery alone.

Clearly, there was a limit to reforming the world with one person’s strength.

“But what brings you here?”

“Looks like you finally have some time to listen to my story?”

“Yeah. Barely.”

Shin Hyun-jung sipped her coffee through the straw.

“First, take a look at this.”

Jun-hoo accessed the PACS [Picture Archiving and Communication System] app on his phone and displayed Seo Bo-young’s fetal images on the screen.

Shin Hyun-jung took the phone and examined the images.

It only took 5 seconds for her brow to furrow and wrinkles to appear on her forehead.

“Wow… this is a Vein of Galen malformation [a rare congenital vascular malformation in the brain]. And the severity is quite high?”

Shin Hyun-jung shuddered.

“How does obstetrics and gynecology treat fetal cerebrovascular malformations?”

“There’s only one treatment.”

“Really? What is it?”

Jun-hoo raised his voice.

He couldn’t believe he was finding a clue so quickly. His whole body was heating up, and his heart was pounding.

“Pray hard.”

“Pray? You mean that prayer with hands together?”

“That’s right. That prayer.”

Jun-hoo suddenly felt deflated.

If there’s no treatment, just say there isn’t. Why get people’s hopes up like that?

Regardless of Jun-hoo’s reaction, Shin Hyun-jung began to explain.

If there was a problem with the fetal heart vessels, fetal cardiovascular surgery could be performed in collaboration with thoracic surgery.

But that was impossible for brain vessels.

“Fetal cardiovascular surgery is possible, but why not brain vessel surgery?”

“Think about it a little more. You’ll figure it out soon.”

Jun-hoo stroked his chin with one hand and bit his lower lip with his upper teeth.

He had an idea.

“It’s because brain vessels have thinner walls and more complex structures than heart vessels.”

“Exactly. If cardiovascular vessels are highways, then brain vessels are like national roads winding around mountains.”

“So, praying means there’s no treatment.”

“That’s right. There’s a slim chance of the malformation healing naturally. We just hope for that because there is no other way.”

Only after listening to Shin Hyun-jung’s story did Jun-hoo realize.

Why he had never encountered a case like Seo Bo-young’s before.

The obstetrics and gynecology department had already determined that treatment was impossible, so they hadn’t requested a consultation with neurosurgery.

This was probably not just a domestic problem.

The same would be true overseas.

Even at Mayo, Jun-hoo had never performed fetal brain surgery.

“What are the chances of this child healing naturally?”

“To be honest, none. It’s already the 32nd week, and the arteriovenous malformation is already very swollen and twisted. We can only hope it doesn’t get worse, let alone be cured.”

After speaking, Shin Hyun-jung scanned Jun-hoo up and down. The corners of her eyes narrowed like threads.

She had sensed something strange in Jun-hoo’s attitude.

“You… you’re not going to operate on this child, are you?”

“Yeah. I will.”

“Don’t. It’s dangerous for the fetus and the mother. Are you thinking of tarnishing your reputation when you’re doing so well?”

Shin Hyun-jung was agitated as if it were her own problem and tried to dissuade Jun-hoo.

She knew that Jun-hoo was a respectable surgeon who cared for his patients and their families. She also knew that his surgical skills were monstrous.

Still, there was a need to distinguish between what should be done and what shouldn’t be done.

She couldn’t turn a blind eye to her classmate pouring oil on himself and jumping into the flames [knowingly ruining himself].

“If this could be covered by surgery, the obstetrics and gynecology department would have consulted neurosurgery a long time ago. Right?”

“Why don’t you look for reasons why it can be done instead of reasons why it can’t?”

“No, I’m telling you, what can’t be done can’t be done!”

She was frustrated because he didn’t understand. Shin Hyun-jung immediately downed half of her iced coffee.

“Seo Jun-hoo, get your head straight. Do you know how harsh the world is?”

“…….”

“Right now, you’re doing well, so people are praising you, but if you make one mistake, there will be people everywhere who will pounce on you like hyenas and tear you apart.”

“I can’t operate if I worry about that.”

Jun-hoo chuckled.

“And I’m going to be a dad now.”

“Dad?”

“Ah-young is pregnant. 7 weeks. If our child had a Vein of Galen malformation, would I just stand by and watch my child be born with a malformation?”

“There’s nothing you can do. It doesn’t matter if it’s not your child, even if it were my child.”

“I have to at least try.”

Jun-hoo’s voice was full of determination.

Jun-hoo had learned in the Murim [martial arts world] that nothing would change if he sat down powerlessly.

Powerlessness only breeds powerlessness.

If you want to achieve something, you have to struggle and fight.

“Fetal cardiovascular procedures, are they done with a catheter?”

“Yeah. There’s no other way.”

“Then I’ll have to access the fetal brain vessels with a catheter too.”

“Fetal brain vessels are so fragile… you’ll end up killing the baby.”

“I’ll take responsibility, so don’t worry. Before that, let me ask you a favor.”

“What favor?”

“Later, when work is over…”

Jun-hoo said in a whisper.

* * *

That evening.

Jun-hoo, who had finished his regular schedule, visited the obstetrics and gynecology ward again.

When he arrived at the station, a nurse recognized him.

“I heard about it from Professor Shin. Director.”

“Yes. Thank you for your help.”

“This way.”

Jun-hoo went to a nearby room with the nurse.

Perhaps because they saw an unfamiliar face, the mothers were half curious and half wary.

“Patient. This person is the director of neurosurgery. He said he has some research to do regarding fetal care.”

The nurse spoke kindly.

“Could you spare some time?”

“What kind of research are you doing?”

“Fetal cerebrovascular malformation procedure. Just 10 minutes, please.”

Perhaps Jun-hoo looked pitiful, the mother hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

Jun-hoo bowed politely.

From now on, Jun-hoo planned to explore the fetal brain vessels with his internal energy.

There was a reason for going through the cumbersome procedure.

The patient he ultimately wanted to treat was Seo Bo-young’s fetus, but Seo Bo-young had claustrophobia in previous hospitals and couldn’t undergo MRI scans.

Contrast-enhanced CT scans were also not possible.

Injecting contrast agents into the mother could be fatal to the fetus.

In that case, the only test to examine the fetus before surgery was ultrasound….

It was impossible to examine the fetal brain vessels in detail with ultrasound alone.

Then he had no choice but to get help from internal energy.

“Then, excuse me for a moment.”

Jun-hoo asked for the mother’s understanding and rolled up her top only to above her navel.

He placed the stethoscope on the mother’s bulging belly and placed his right palm on her belly.

In fact, the stethoscope was just for show.

The real thing was his palm.

Jun-hoo sent the internal energy he had drawn from his dantian [energy center in the body] into the mother’s abdomen.

Whoo-oong.

Whoo-oong.

Using the technique of Naegae Internal Energy, he transformed the internal energy into the form of sound waves and passed it through the abdomen.

Up to this point, it was as usual.

The problem was from this point on.

‘It’s not going to be easy.’

Jun-hoo’s face crumpled.

The internal energy was not properly transmitted due to the amniotic fluid. It scattered like waves and did not exert any force.

Jun-hoo tried again in the same way.

The result was the same.

The internal energy made the amniotic fluid ripple and disappeared helplessly.

He was in a dilemma.

Increasing the pouring internal energy would put a burden on the fetus.

Sticking to the same method seemed like repeating meaningless actions.

Even if he adjusted the output of internal energy somehow, the fetus’s wiggling was also a variable.

The internal energy had to pass exactly through the fetus’s head.

It had to pass through the scalp and skull, thoroughly scan the brain vessels, and bring that map back to Jun-hoo.

So, in this examination, Jun-hoo had to control the internal energy as delicately as handling a baby.

If this task is successful.

I’ll be the strongest among the masters of Harmony Realm.

Jun-hoo rather switched his mindset to a positive one.

But this could not be seen as mere mental victory.

In fact, Jun-hoo had matured and grown each time he overcame hardships and adversities.

Jun-hoo gradually increased the amount flowing into the mother’s abdomen.

He accurately grasped the fetus’s posture and position.

He also proceeded with the work of giving shape back to the internal energy in the form of sound waves.

He had done a lot of work emitting internal energy as sound waves, but the work of converging into a shape was the first time.

So it was even more painful.

It felt like creepy bugs were crawling all over his body. Jun-hoo’s face was already covered in sweat.

The right arm resting on the mother’s belly trembled.

“Hoo. Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Doctor. Are you okay? You look very tired.”

“Where is there an easy job in the world? We all endure it.”

Jun-hoo wiped his face with the sleeve of his gown and tried to look as bright as possible.

The research continued.

With the help of the mothers, Jun-hoo continued to create a map of the fetal brain vessels with internal energy.

The progress was slow, but that didn’t mean there were no results.

Jun-hoo was steadily growing.

That’s how a week passed.