Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 189

“Yes, I’ll go right away.”

It seems they need help with harvesting the great saphenous vein in the leg during the surgery.

I hung up the phone and tried to move my feet.

Oh, right, I have to do what I need to do before that.

Busy, busy!

I put the pile of coffee in the operating room lounge and stuck a sticky note on it.

Then, after scribbling in rough letters, I headed straight to the operating room.

‘To think I’d be called to the same operating room twice for different reasons…’

I felt strange for some reason.

Was it because of my past experiences?

When I get involved with the same patient multiple times, things usually don’t go well.

‘It’s probably just unnecessary worry.’

Beep―

I entered room 16 once again.

The operating room was so different from before.

There was a sense of gravity in the field where Professor Kim Seong-tak was, and the classical music echoing in the silence was even clearer.

I could feel that the anesthesia staff and the extracorporeal circulation technician were all focused on the surgery.

‘As expected, the atmosphere in the operating room is different for heart surgery.’

Professor Kim Seong-tak, Teacher Ma Dong-seop, and the SA (surgical assistant nurse) were immersed in the surgery on the heart side.

‘Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik is…’

At that time, Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik slightly raised his hand from the front.

While the professor and Teacher Ma Dong-seop were operating on the chest, Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik was focused on the patient’s leg.

‘The great saphenous vein is in the leg, so he’s standing at the bottom.’

Why are you doing something on the leg when you’re doing heart surgery?

[a procedure to improve blood flow to the heart] is a surgery to create a bypass because the coronary arteries in the heart are narrowed.

The internal thoracic artery in the chest is mainly used to create a bypass, but…

Another frequently used blood vessel is the great saphenous vein (GSV) in the leg.

‘Among the veins that we don’t need in our body, this blood vessel is straight and relatively easy to access.’

In patient Kim Deok-sang’s surgery, the great saphenous vein on the leg was also scheduled to be used as a bypass connecting the aorta and the coronary artery.

Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik was brought into the operating room to remove this vein.

And because it was not easy to secure a field of vision alone, he tried to call me to play the role of pulling the retractor [a surgical instrument used to hold back tissue].

In this way, situations where multiple hands are needed in one surgery frequently occurred in thoracic surgery.

‘Are you here?’

Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik only communicated with his eyes.

He couldn’t dare to raise his voice because the professor was operating.

Perhaps because he was chewed out by the professor in the morning, his shoulders looked narrower than usual.

‘Hello.’

‘Go wash your hands quickly.’

Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik sent me a sign with only gestures.

I washed my hands at the sink and entered the surgical field.

As I put on the clothes that the nurse was handing me and went to the patient’s leg, Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik carefully said to the professor.

“Professor, this is Shin Seon-han, a first-year resident. I called him to help with the GSV harvest.”

“Hello, I’m Shin Seon-han!”

“Oh, really? You’re our intern. I see you every day during rounds.”

Professor Kim Seong-tak did not turn his gaze to this side because he was focused on the surgery.

However, I could clearly feel him paying attention to me.

“I’ve heard a lot about you. Come to the company dinner later, Seon-han, okay?”

Even though he was in the middle of surgery, he greeted me warmly.

It was a calm tone, like the Vivaldi music flowing in the operating room.

‘He seems like a good person.’

Or maybe he’s just in a good mood right now.

As the atmosphere was pretty good, Ma Dong-seop looked around and opened his mouth quietly.

“Dr. Shin Seon-han also did this patient’s sternotomy [surgical incision in the breastbone].”

Then the professor showed a little more interest.

“Oh, really? Already before becoming a first-year?”

“Yes, he wanted to do it so much, and he often came into the operating room to observe. I helped him and let him do it.”

“Oh, really?”

The professor glanced up at me and said.

“I like the passion. Keep learning a lot from Dong-seop in the future. We’ll be working as one team all the time.”

.

I was now hearing those words from the professors.

After the short conversation, the professor and Teacher Ma Dong-seop began to focus on the surgical field.

And in line with that, Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik and I stood side by side on the patient’s left leg.

“Hold this and pull where I tell you to pull, okay?”

“Yes.”

It was my first time seeing a great saphenous vein harvest (GSV harvest).

I held the retractor and created a field of vision as Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik told me to.

.

As the name suggests, it is the process of removing the vein that passes through the patient’s lower extremity.

For this operation, the vein must be carefully dissected around the vein to expose it, and the branches extending to the left and right must be trimmed.

It can be performed by making a long incision, but a method of minimizing the patient’s wounds by making small, spaced incisions was used in this surgery.

Therefore, someone had to secure the field of vision through the retractor, and that role was my main task today.

The vein harvesting, which started from the ankle, seemed to be going smoothly.

But…

“Gyeong-sik, how much have you done? Are you still working on it?”

Professor Kim Seong-tak asked Ahn Gyeong-sik.

“Yes, I’m almost done.”

The professor glanced at the leg.

A disapproving look.

Even to me, it seemed like only about half of it had been done.

“Gyeong-sik, how much longer is this going to take? Tell me exactly.”

“If you give me just 15 more minutes…”

As Ahn Gyeong-sik stammered, the professor’s tone suddenly turned harsh.

“Hey, you punk. Everyone else here is almost done, what are you doing still working on it?”

He flinched!

Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik’s shoulders slumped.

The Vivaldi melody in the operating room had somehow changed to a heavy Beethoven.

“Are you going to pull yourself together?”

“I’m sorry.”

“You frustrating punk, you’re in your second year now. There’s even a first-year resident here who you’re supposed to be teaching. And you’re still like this after two years…”

The professor was about to say more but glanced at me and sighed under his mask.

“Hurry up.”

“…Yes.”

Ahn Gyeong-sik replied in a pitiful voice.

It seemed like things weren’t going the way he wanted.

Rather, the professor’s words seemed to make him even more anxious.

The process of harvesting the great saphenous vein from the leg was slower compared to the progress on the heart side.

‘I need to help him more.’

Was it thanks to my experience finding blood vessels during the sternotomy [surgical incision in the midline of the chest] earlier?

The branches coming out of the great saphenous vein were easily visible.

I pulled and suctioned, illuminating the path for Ahn Gyeong-sik to follow.

As my assistance became more skillful, Ahn Gyeong-sik’s speed also increased.

Was I being helpful, even a little?

His hands, which had been flustered and losing composure, gradually regained stability with my assistance.

“…….”

About ten minutes later.

Ahn Gyeong-sik was able to successfully complete the great saphenous vein harvesting.

“Thank you for your hard work… You can go now.”

Ahn Gyeong-sik’s voice, whispering to me like that, was almost about to disappear into the ground.

I greeted the professor and left the operating room.

“Ahn Gyeong-sik. You know what I’m going to say, right?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Look at what you’ve taken out. See how it’s leaking all over the sides? How can we use this like this, huh?”

Whirr―

The operating room door closed behind me.

Even as I was leaving, Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik was being scolded by the professor about the harvested great saphenous vein.

‘One team…….’

When I first heard those words, I only felt vaguely positive emotions.

It felt like I had become part of the thoracic surgery family.

But that word didn’t necessarily have only a warm temperature.

The duty as a team member.

Responsibility.

Burden.

It also meant being aware of all of that.

Unlike my time as an intern, I would be under a completely different kind of pressure, and if I was even slightly lacking, relentless criticism would follow.

‘This is no joke.’

I braced myself.

On the other hand, I was also a little worried about Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik.

At least General Surgery’s Doctor Byun Gyu-nam had a strong mentality.

Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik seemed to be someone with delicate sensibilities, like glass…….

‘I wonder if he’s going to be okay?’

* * *

After leaving the operating room, I headed back to the ward.

Because more work had piled up while I was working in the operating room.

‘I’m skipping lunch today!’

After working like that for several hours.

It was 7 PM when I had almost finished my work.

At that moment, my phone vibrated.

[Gyeong-sik] Are the patients in the ward okay? If there’s nothing going on, come to the ICU and have some jokbal (pig’s trotters) [a Korean dish of braised pig’s feet].

Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik was calling me to give me a briefing on the ICU patients while having dinner.

‘Since I’ll be the attending physician for the patients who are coming to the ward from the ICU tomorrow anyway…….’

Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik’s patient handover as the ICU attending was important.

I sent a reply.

[Seon-han] Okay, I’ll finish what I’m doing and go right away.

[Gyeong-sik] I’m paying for the jokbal.

[Seon-han] Oh, thank you!

[Gyeong-sik] Thanks for helping me earlier, haha.

He’s definitely a good person when it comes to personality.

I don’t know what his mental state is like, though.

I quickly finished my ward duties and got on the elevator heading to the ICU [Intensive Care Unit].

‘This is going to be my territory from now on, too.’

Thoracic Surgery, Cardiovascular Surgery ICU (03H).

The first patient I saw was Kim Deok-sang, who had finished his surgery.

‘My first sternotomy patient. I hope everything’s okay…….’

Before going to the conference room where Teacher Ahn Gyeong-sik was waiting, I checked on Kim Deok-sang first.

Shh― Shh―

He was still relying on a ventilator, with his eyes closed.

His vital signs were normal.

I looked at the various vital signs of Kim Deok-sang displayed on the monitor.

‘Professor Kim Seong-tak said during rounds this morning that it’s important for him to urinate well.’

Yunyo Musah [a saying meaning “urine is life”].

Professor Kim Seong-tak had said that .

‘Of course, that applies to patients who are on the verge of life and death…….’

I bent down slightly and looked at each drop of urine falling from Kim Deok-sang’s urine bag.

Drip― Drip―

Urine of moderate concentration was accumulating in the urine bag.

‘Kim Deok-sang’s 담당 (in charge) [Korean term for assigned] nurse must be diligently watching over the patient, too, right?’

At that moment, someone tapped me on the back.

“Seon-han ssaem [Korean honorific for teacher/doctor], it’s been a while!”

Who is it?

There shouldn’t be a nurse here who would talk to me so familiarly…….

“You ended up becoming a surgeon at Yeon-guk University Hospital after all?”

It was a familiar voice.

I could feel an energetic and confident aura that was quite different from the atmosphere of the ICU.

A welcoming smile spread across my face as I turned my head.

“Cha Yu-ri ssaem, why are you here?”

Last May.

It was the very nurse I had become close with when we were discussing the life or death of patient Attack-jung, who was suffering from delirium in the ICU.