Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 154

‘It’s starting!’

I focused my senses.

I’m not as flustered as I used to be.

No, I’m actually glad.

If I can find a hint about the uncertain future, I might be able to change the flow with my own power.

‘Let’s focus. Important clues might appear.’

Whoosh—

Everything goes dark.

The sense of time blurs.

Even after experiencing it several times, I can’t get used to the strange feeling, and I’m transported somewhere.

‘……Where is this?’

A familiar operating room.

Today, unlike last time, I didn’t fall into a strange space, but immediately into a place I know.

However, I was startled by the unusual scene.

‘What’s going on? Why are there so many people in the operating room?’

To put it a bit exaggeratedly, it’s like a marketplace.

The anesthesiology area, located at the patient’s head.

Far more monitoring devices than usual are connected to the patient.

In the narrow space where monitoring lines pass by haphazardly, 5-6 people were bustling about, preparing for anesthesia.

And around the lying patient, a dozen or so people wearing caps and masks were standing.

‘……This is the first time I’ve seen so many people in the operating room.’

I could tell intuitively.

Among the hundreds of surgeries performed each day, an incredibly difficult one was taking place here.

The operating room was already cramped, but machines that I don’t usually see were also taking up space among the people.

‘Those machines are…….’

ECMO [Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation – a machine that oxygenates blood outside the body].

And even a neonatal incubator.

It’s a medical device used to care for premature babies or babies with abnormalities at birth.

I also saw three members of the pediatrics team who came in to receive the baby directly into the incubator.

‘Premature birth with ECMO. This is definitely No-eul Nuna’s surgery.’

Thinking that, I looked at the board on the wall.

Jeong No-eul

F/31

C-sec (PRN. ECMO insertion) [C-section as needed, with ECMO insertion].

As expected.

After checking the surgery information, I carefully approached the field.

The faces passing by are covered with masks, but I could roughly guess who they were.

Obstetrics team.

Scrub nurses in the operating room.

Thoracic surgery team, cardiology team who came to see the echocardiogram, etc…….

And in the middle.

No-eul Nuna [older sister/friend] was lying on the operating bed, wearing a mask, illuminated by the surgical light.

“…….”

Shhh―

Anesthetic gas is injected through the mask, and No-eul Nuna slowly falls asleep.

After the sky-blue drape (sterile cloth covering during surgery) is spread over the patient, the thoracic surgery team is the first to approach the field.

“Puncture needle first, please.”

A cool voice that seems to lower the temperature of the operating room even further.

It’s Teacher Song Yu-ju.

Even though her face is covered with a mask, I could quickly recognize her by her slender figure and eyes.

‘Are they trying to do the surgery with the ECMO inserted?’

Swish―

Song Yu-ju inserts a guide-wire (a wire that creates a path in the blood vessel before inserting the ECMO) into the blood vessel.

All the procedures are smooth.

However, the following situation was a little different from what I had expected.

Teacher Song Yu-ju only inserted the guide-wire into the artery and vein.

“I’ll put the guide-wire in and cover it with gauze and ioban here.”

“Yes, gauze and ioban here.”

Cover it?

Judging from the conversations, I could notice one fact.

‘……In the end, they decided to start the surgery without using ECMO!’

The in question.

Among them, the professors chose a conservative method.

Instead, they decided to prepare in advance so that they could quickly insert the ECMO, turning the direction at any time.

As expected of the professors at Yeonguk University Hospital, it could be seen as perhaps the most stable decision.

“Now, let’s start induction (anesthesia induction) and intubation (endotracheal intubation).”

This time, it’s the anesthesiology department’s turn.

As intubation begins, the patient’s vitals are still stable.

“NM blocker (anesthetic) going in.”

“Give me the e-tube.”

Tension fills the field.

Many people in the operating room watch silently, without opening their mouths.

However, as the depth of anesthesia increases and general anesthesia progresses, an alarm starts to sound on the patient’s monitor.

“Saturation (oxygen saturation) is dropping.”

At this moment, the anesthesiology department is holding the patient’s vitals (life).

Everyone is watching the patient monitor and the anesthesiologist with nervous eyes as the alarm sounds.

‘Wait a minute. At the last meeting, the anesthesiology professor said that a crisis could occur while going into general anesthesia…….’

The anesthesiology side adjusts the patient’s medication as if they had expected it.

Then, the anesthesiologist looks at the monitor with sharp eyes and connects a ventilator to the patient.

How many seconds have passed?

Suddenly, the alarm sounds even louder on the patient’s monitor.

Beep beep beep―

“Blood pressure drops to the 60s.”

Everyone’s eyes widen.

Blood pressure plummets.

Along with that, various monitoring figures such as pulmonary artery pressure also begin to fluctuate.

Oxygen levels are falling, and blood pressure has already fallen to the 50s.

The fetal heart rate also drops to 90.

“I think there’s severe fetal distress (fetal life red light)!”

“PAP [Pulmonary Artery Pressure] is too high…….”

Even while saying that, blood pressure drops to the 40s.

Eventually, it comes to a state just before arrest (cardiac arrest).

“We need to insert ECMO. Give me 16Fr.―24Fr.!”

“Let’s get epi [epinephrine] in!”

Many people shout and move busily, turning the operating room into chaos.

“Compression (chest compression)!”

“Yes!”

Someone moves quickly, brings a footstool, and climbs on it.

That’s…… me.

standing in the second assistant’s seat puts his hand on the center of the patient’s chest and begins to compress.

One.

Two.

Three.

Desperately trying to circulate blood by pressing No-eul Nuna’s chest.

Meanwhile, thoracic surgeons Professor Heo Jun-im and Song Yu-ju stand on either side of the patient.

While I am doing chest compressions, they start inserting ECMO with the guide-wire that was inserted in advance.

The alarm sound of the monitor, the anesthesiology department busily moving and injecting drugs, the scrub nurses inserting ECMO and helping with it…….

The operating room is chaos itself.

As an observer, I was anxiously watching all of this.

‘Will both the mother and babies be okay……?!’

In a situation where oxygen supply is already insufficient.

If the heart stops even for 1 minute and 1 second, it can cause fatal damage to the mother and baby.

No one can guarantee what the outcome of this event will be.

Soon, the chaotic operating room darkens and begins to distort.

* * *

The scene changes.

The hallway in front of the intensive care unit.

A quiet silence flows.

In the place where the shadows fall, the figures of two people are cast.

“Doctor, has my wife regained consciousness? The attending physician said that there may be brain damage…….”

The one asking is No-eul Nuna’s husband.

His already gaunt face is now as pale as a dead person.

Then, the obstetrics professor standing opposite him opens his mouth with a heavy expression.

“First of all, stabilizing vital signs is the priority. The professor of intensive care medicine will tell you more details, but…….”

“…….”

“Because her heart was already struggling before the surgery, it’s difficult to say that she will definitely get better.”

Hearing those words, the man took off his glasses.

His hands are trembling.

Tears streamed down his face, covering his face with both hands.

The man, who had been holding back his sobs for a long time, trembling all over, barely regained his composure and asked in a trembling voice.

“Doctor, we ended up sending our baby away like that…… If my wife does too, how am I supposed to live……?”

?

I doubted my ears.

Then, the professor opened his mouth with a heavy expression.

“I heard about the baby from the pediatrics department…… We did our best, but…… I’m sorry.”

The man couldn’t hear anymore.

He collapsed onto the cold hallway.

And he burst into tears, as if vomiting out the sadness he had barely been holding back.

It was a sad cry that seemed to empty your heart just by listening to it.

* * *

“Doctor, are you okay?”

Whoosh―

I came to my senses.

As my vision returned to normal, I could see the hospital hallway.

No-eul Nuna’s husband was sitting next to me, looking at me with a puzzled expression.

“Ah…….”

I tried to lower my voice.

But it didn’t work well.

Only then did I realize that I was crying.

Thud―

Tears fell down my cheeks.

My head was cold, but tears flowed uncontrollably as if my tear glands had broken down.

I raised my arm and quickly wiped my eyes and said.

“I’m sorry. She’s a patient I know, so I guess I got too emotional.”

“Yes…… Thank you for your concern.”

The man smiled at me as if he was grateful, even though he didn’t know what was going on.

“Don’t worry too much about the surgery. It will be fine.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

After lying like that, I headed to the emergency stairs alone.

Then, I sat on the stairs, squeezed out the remaining tears, and calmed my mind.

“Hoo.”

……Let’s calm down.

I organized the situation I had seen with my cold head.

The scene I saw in the dream was heartbreaking, but it was much easier to think about now that I knew the end.

‘I can’t let it go like this.’

The surgery is a failure.

Waiting at the end is the worst result.

‘Even in the CPR situation, it would have been okay if the ECMO had turned on quickly…… What happened in the meantime?’

I couldn’t figure out what the problem was with just the fragments of the future I saw.

But anyway, the result of the ECMO and childbirth performed in a desperate situation was disastrous.

Neither the mother nor the baby can be saved.

And if I stand by and do nothing, this catastrophe will soon become a reality.

‘Let’s think. It’s too early to give up!’

I recalled the meeting process from yesterday.

How can I intervene?

<32 weeks pregnant>.

Should I make her give birth later or sooner? This is not it.

.

Should I do a vaginal delivery with spinal anesthesia? This is even worse.

And …….

Then, a thought flashed through my mind.

‘What if we put in ECMO from the beginning and proceed with the delivery?’

Professor Heo Jun-im also pondered about ECMO until the end.

This is because there is a possibility of successfully giving birth without using ECMO, which can be dangerous for the mother.

But.

I saw the future.

In the end, ECMO will inevitably have to be used.

Then it’s much better to use it from the beginning.

If we put in ECMO in advance and proceed with the delivery, we can at least prevent CPR from happening!

Then we can also reduce the time the baby is not getting oxygen.

‘Yes, this is the best way!’

I have something to do.

My mind calmed down as the goal narrowed.

But how can I move the hearts of the professors who are already going in one direction?

‘Now is not the time to be picky about means and methods.’

I will find the answer.

Somehow.

Even by using everything I’ve built up during my internship, I will change this future!

Thinking that, I got up from my seat.

There are 36 hours left until No-eul Nuna’s surgery, where the future has not yet been decided.