Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 140

Perhaps that’s why she is creating a justification for me.

A natural reason to look inside the patient’s body again.

“…If Nurse Jung says so, I guess we should take another look.”

“Yes, just in case, I’ll count again too.”

The nurse gave a good-natured smile and pretended to count the gauze again.

“Scissors, please.”

Snip, snip.

Chun Sa-yeon began to re-open the peritoneum she had almost finished suturing.

“Hold this.”

Soon, Chun Sa-yeon handed me a surgical instrument.

“Yes.”

I held the Richardson retractor and opened the abdomen, securing Chun Sa-yeon’s view.

Meanwhile, Chun Sa-yeon carefully put her hand inside the abdominal cavity and examined the organs.

“……”

The abdominal cavity was clean after the irrigation.

Chun Sa-yeon would likely judge that ‘there is nothing wrong’.

But I know.

There is a significant bleeding site in this abdominal cavity that will cause a second surgery.

‘It must be there. Although it’s not easily visible, there’s a bleeding site somewhere….’

I focused my eyes.

Suddenly, what the White-Clad Deity said came to mind.

What a good surgeon needs is .

The reason why ‘eyes’ are included here is clear.

Surgeons must see sensitively even what others cannot see.

A single minor discovery can completely reverse the outcome of the surgery.

“There’s nothing on the vagina stump, of course nothing on the spleen, nothing between the bowels…”

Doctor Chun Sa-yeon looks all over the abdominal cavity to find the gauze.

At that moment, my eyes widened.

“Doctor!”

“……?!”

At the same time as my words, Chun Sa-yeon’s hand, which was examining every corner of the abdominal cavity, also stopped.

“What is it, suddenly? You startled me!”

“Here!”

I pointed to the area where the lymph node had been removed.

Chun Sa-yeon carefully lifted the intestines.

Below that.

There was a slight pool of blood.

“……!”

Chun Sa-yeon’s eyes widened.

In a closed space like the abdominal cavity, if there is bleeding somewhere, it will pool in the lowest place due to gravity.

Strangely enough, the area where the lymph node was removed was at the very bottom of the surgical field.

“Bleeding…”

Chun Sa-yeon’s voice began to tremble.

My heart also grew busy.

Where is the bleeding site?

It could be the lymph node, or it might not be.

Even when Chun Sa-yeon pressed it with gauze and removed it, blood continued to seep up.

“……”

It was an area that I thought would stop bleeding on its own as it was pressed by the surrounding tissues.

But this patient had taken an antiplatelet agent (clopidogrel)! [Clopidogrel is a medication used to prevent blood clots.]

Unlike normal patients, the rate at which the blood clots is significantly slower.

“Bovie, please.”

Chun Sa-yeon said quickly.

The Bovie is used to cut tissue, but it is also used for hemostasis (coagulation). [Hemostasis is the process of stopping bleeding.]

To be more precise, it is a form of cutting tissue while also stopping bleeding.

Sizzle—

Chun Sa-yeon burned the tissue.

But the blood still seeps up.

Only the blackened scabs were stuck to the end of the Bovie.

Chun Sa-yeon’s next words followed quickly.

“Bring me Tacocomb and glue.”

Tacocomb, glue.

Both are substances that help with hemostasis in the surgical field.

Press—

Chun Sa-yeon applied them and pressed with a wad of gauze.

Most bleeding from soft tissue is stopped through this method.

In other words, Chun Sa-yeon had used every method she could from her perspective.

“What are you looking at? Are you gloating because you found the bleeding site?”

“No. I was watching and learning how you were stopping the bleeding, Doctor.”

“……”

Chun Sa-yeon said nothing to my words.

She would usually have lashed out at me more, but she seemed flustered because the bleeding was not stopping well.

I could see sweat beading on her neck below her ears.

After a few seconds.

Chun Sa-yeon cautiously removed the gauze.

Still, bright red blood was rising from the bottom.

“……!”

Chun Sa-yeon’s pupils shook.

She seemed surprised, and also seemed to have hurt pride.

But because there was no time to hesitate, Chun Sa-yeon immediately turned her head and said.

“Contact the professor.”

“Yes!”

The circulating nurse picked up the phone on the operating room wall.

Chun Sa-yeon only brought her face to the receiver and said.

“Professor, this is Sa-yeon. The patient Jung Soon-rye who you just operated on…”

A few minutes later.

Beep—

The professor approached with quick steps.

And immediately put on the gown that the nurses were putting on him, saying.

“There’s a bleeding site? Where is it?”

The nurse put a headlight on the professor’s head.

Soon, the professor’s eyes widened as he looked inside the abdominal cavity.

“Did I miss this? I’m sure it wasn’t there earlier…”

The professor continued, flustered.

“…I thought the bleeding was sufficiently stopped during the surgery, but it seems it wasn’t. If I had missed it, she would have almost had a re-op (re-operation) [a second operation].”

The professor started looking for the bleeding site with a Bovie in one hand and gauze with forceps in the other.

After using the Bovie several times, the professor began to suture around the bleeding to stop it.

As expected, the professor was different.

As someone who had only done surgery his whole life, he was skilled at stopping bleeding.

He controlled all the bleeding from the soft tissue and the thin veins around it in the area where the lymph node was removed.

I carefully put the hemostasis processes I was watching into my head.

“It’s stopped now.”

After a while.

The professor stopped and said after the bleeding had stopped.

“……I think it’s time for me to retire now. I’ve never missed something like this before.”

Then he glanced at us and continued.

“As expected, our Sa-yeon is very reliable.”

“……No, I’m not.”

“What do you mean no? It’s bleeding that I almost missed, so you should be praised for catching it.”

The professor repeatedly praised her.

The more he did, the redder Chun Sa-yeon’s ears became.

The atmosphere among the surrounding nurses also became strange.

In the midst of it, I didn’t say anything and silently focused on my intern work.

* * *

Surgery ended.

The professor thoroughly checked the bleeding twice until the end.

And he rarely performed the final suture himself and left.

Once the specimen was delivered, my work was finally over.

“Hoo.”

I loosened the top string of the mask and lowered it below my neck.

Looking in the mirror, there was a mask mark across the center of my face.

It was a really long surgery.

It was already 2 PM.

As the previous surgery took a long time, the next surgery was bound to be delayed.

In other words, it meant that I couldn’t even predict what time I would get off work today.

‘Let’s get ready quickly!’

Tap—

I headed to the break room.

Even if I couldn’t eat, I had to drink a glass of water first.

I had been thirsty since earlier, as if there was a drought in my throat.

Gulp, gulp—

Ah.

Was water this delicious?

It was even sweet.

Even the alcohol that Guan Yu drank after beheading the enemy general wouldn’t be this sweet. [Guan Yu was a famous general during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history, known for his bravery and loyalty.]

Of course, what I had done was the opposite of that, saving a person’s life.

‘Good, this will at least prevent a second surgery, right?’

Crumple!

I clenched my fist with the paper cup.

This will definitely lower the probability of heart complications!

Of course, it was still too early to let my guard down.

The patient was still in a situation where anything could happen at any time.

I couldn’t be sure yet how I had changed the future.

‘From today, I have to pay close attention to Jung Soon-rye’s post-op (post-operative) [after surgery] process.’

At that time, I heard someone coming from the hallway.

It was Chun Sa-yeon.

She was standing at the entrance of the break room with her arms crossed, looking at me.

“Is it fun?”

“Yes?”

“Is it fun to give me a hard time in front of the nurses?”

What’s wrong with her.

Could it be that she took what happened just now as an insult?

She seemed to be a very twisted person.

“That’s not it.”

“Don’t lie!”

“Yes?”

“Perhaps, you found the bleeding when irrigating and just watched silently until I closed?”

What?

She really is a twisted person.

She must have hurt her pride as much as possible with what happened just now.

It would be normal to think it was fortunate that she prevented the patient’s reoperation.

“Doctor Chun Sa-yeon.”

Flinch.

Chun Sa-yeon unfolded her arms.

Then she shrugged her shoulders as if embarrassed and asked.

“……Why, why are you suddenly lowering your voice?”

I said calmly.

“Don’t misunderstand. I wasn’t sure either, so I told you late.”

“……”

“Are you saying that I noticed the patient’s problem on purpose and said it late? I’m not trash, and I have no reason to do that.”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

Chun Sa-yeon looked embarrassed.

She probably didn’t expect it.

That the intern would strongly resist like this.

I drove in the wedge.

“You can give me any intern job.”

“……”

“Even if you scold me for trivial things, I will take it as you are trying to teach me everything.”

“……”

“But, at least I hope you would say that I did a good job for what I did for the patient.”

I said that and waited for a moment.

Chun Sa-yeon crossed her arms, unfolded them, uncrossed her legs, touched her hair, looked at the wall once, and then said.

“Ah, well, yeah. Good job.”

“Thank you.”

Bow.

I politely greeted Chun Sa-yeon and left the break room, leaving her behind.

Shortly after.

I came out to the hallway and cooled my head, which had been heated up for a while.

……I argued with a 3rd year resident.

“Ah, damn it. My intern evaluation score.”

Did I argue too much?

Still, I acted for the patient, so I have no regrets.

Give me a C if you want to give me a C!

Let’s work.

Because I don’t want to beg for points while bending over to someone with such a twisted mind.

* * *

7:40 PM.

All of today’s surgeries are over.

Fortunately, there was no news of reoperation.

‘Is patient Jung Soon-rye okay?’

That’s all I can think about.

Of course, I’m also hungry.

I skipped lunch, and it’s already way past dinner time. I want to eat, wash, and rest quickly.

But, checking the patient’s condition comes first.

I went up to the ward in my surgical gown.

‘Huh?’

I stopped in front of patient Jung Soon-rye’s bed in the ward.

There was someone there.