Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 226

Fifth Vital Sign – Episode 226 (226/502)

226. Delivery Accident

That time-

Kim Seong-hoon’s house was filled with delicious smells, even late into the night.

The kitchen was reminiscent of a holiday, with various dishes adorning the table one by one.

“Mom? Mom!”

The daughter, who was helping nearby, repeatedly called out to Lee Ae-sook, who was focused in front of the gas stove.

“Yes? Did you call me?”

“Take a break, Mom. You’ll get sick.”

“Sick? What sickness? It’s not hard at all.”

Lee Ae-sook shrugged, as if she were fine, continuing to stir the ladle in the pot despite her daughter’s concern.

“Mom, your back isn’t good. It’ll hurt more if you keep doing that. Go in and rest. I’ll watch over it.”

“It’s what I’ve been doing my whole life, so it’s not hard at all. And when I think about Seong-hoon eating it deliciously tomorrow, I get strength.”

“True! Seong-hoon eats well. Now that I think about it, he’s always eaten deliciously since he was little.”

“That’s right. He was small, but he ate so well…”

Lee Ae-sook, who was talking with her daughter while reminiscing about the old days, suddenly stopped, unable to continue her words.

“What! Mom, are you crying?”

The daughter, who was sitting at the table making pancakes, was flustered by her mother’s sudden tears and brought a tissue.

“Oh my! Why is our Ms. Lee crying at this late hour?”

“Oh dear! Why are you doing this, Mom? It’s a good day to see our son tomorrow… I’m getting old and acting foolish.”

“That’s not foolish. My mom is still a girl. Is it because of Seong-hoon?”

The ever-affectionate daughter understood why her mother was crying.

“It’s just… It’s the army that all other mothers send their sons to, but I’m so proud and grateful for our Seong-hoon.”

Others might say she was making a fuss, but ever since she sent her son to the army, she couldn’t feel the same as usual.

Lee Ae-sook had been fine until she sent her son to the army. But when her only son enlisted, she finally understood the feelings of parents who send their children to the military.

Whether he eats well.

Whether his superiors are good people.

Whether the training is difficult.

Whether the place he sleeps is uncomfortable.

Whether he has any pain.

Every moment, all she worried about was her son. Perhaps it was because he hadn’t come out for his first leave yet.

Sometimes, when she heard news of military accidents or soldiers struggling with bullying, she couldn’t fall asleep easily that day.

‘Will our Seong-hoon be okay?’

All her nerves were on edge, worried about her son. Especially because he was introverted and small, she was always anxious that he would be bullied.

She spent every day with a prayerful heart.

Fortunately, she was grateful that he had been safely serving in the military without any problems since being assigned to his unit.

And now that her son was finally coming out for his first leave tomorrow, tears flowed with a mixture of worry and pride.

“Mom, stop crying.”

“I’m just so proud of Seong-hoon.”

“Of course. Since there’s a gap between us [referring to the age difference], I think about Seong-hoon a lot and I’m proud of him, so how much more would Mom be.”

“How do families with two sons do this twice?”

“Right. We’re lucky we only have one son.”

“Seong-hoon is probably sleeping now, thinking about coming home tomorrow. So, Mom, stop crying.”

“I should. Let’s finish this and go to bed.”

“Yes.”

Lee Ae-sook wiped away her tears, happy that she would see her son tomorrow. The hand stirring the ladle in the pot was filled with more love than ever.

* * *

-He said he hasn’t been able to urinate or defecate for a little over a day.

“What?!”

Tae-kyung’s pupils dilated greatly at the sound, and he suddenly spoke loudly over the receiver.

“Did you just say he hasn’t been able to urinate?”

-Yes? Yes…

“I’m going there right now. Full lab for the patient right away.”

The voices over the receiver were getting louder, like a crescendo.

“Hartmann’s solution [a balanced electrolyte solution used for intravenous fluid replacement] Don’t limit it to 500cc, just pour it in. Full drip, and CT scan. I’ll be there right now.”

Sensing something unusual in Tae-kyung’s rapid-fire orders, the nurse asked.

-Yes, Doctor. Are there any other fluids or medications besides Hartmann’s?

“Give Nak1 [Sodium bicarbonate] at 80cc per hour first. Check the patient’s weight and order more fluids. Check past history and medications. I’m going there right now, but if you can do a CT scan, do it right away without waiting for me.”

-Should I put in the contrast agent now?

A firm answer came back to the nurse who urgently asked in the midst of the rapidly exchanged orders.

“No!!!”

-Ah! Yes, I understand. I’ll do a CT scan without contrast.

“Never! Never give contrast! Do a non-contrast CT.”

-Yes, I understand.

“Keep in mind. You must emphasize that it is non-contrast even while shooting.”

-Yes, Doctor.

There was a reason why Tae-kyung was so surprised and pouring out instructions.

Urine!!

It’s because no urine came out. Not being able to urinate is a very big sign in itself.

‘Why! I have a bad feeling…’

Tae-kyung had a bad feeling.

Of course, there may be various urological causes, but it is not easy for a young male patient to experience this. The fact that it has only been a day indicates an acute illness.

In addition, having abdominal pain for about 2 weeks may be due to inflammation in the abdomen that prevents urination.

If the inflammation is severe, it can spread throughout the body, and the blood vessels in our body all dilate as a result.

Then, blood cannot go to where it is supposed to go and leaks out between the vessels, which is easily explained as a delivery accident [a catastrophic failure of the body’s circulatory system].

That signal can be seen as a decrease in urine.

“It shouldn’t be sepsis [a life-threatening condition caused by the body’s response to an infection].”

The fact that he hasn’t seen any urine even once all day means that it was probably on a downward trend from the day before.

Perhaps the condition is already so severe that it is in the sepsis stage.

Whatever the cause, at this stage…

The patient can die!

It’s a real emergency. When he thought this far, Tae-kyung’s legs were already kicking the chair in the office as he ran towards the emergency room.

‘Ha! The smell! This shouldn’t be happening… Why this smell!’

As the emergency room got closer and he entered, it was as if the fifth vital sign [the overall sense of a patient’s condition perceived by a doctor] was waiting to greet him.

It was the smell of the patient’s pain that was never welcome and he didn’t want to get close to.

‘Stage 4 [a critical stage of illness].’

It was still too early to jump to conclusions, but the strong formalin smell seemed to represent the patient’s condition.

“Where is the 21-year-old male patient who came in with abdominal pain?”

Tae-kyung, who had sprinted to the emergency room, asked urgently as he entered.

“Bed number 3.”

Charyeok-

As the curtain quickly made a sound in the static bed area, Kim Seong-hoon, who had a complicated head, turned his head.

“……”

As Tae-kyung went to the patient’s side, he saw a soldier with a small build and a pale face.

Kim Seong-hoon still had a stomach ache.

Maybe it’s just a feeling, but it felt like it hurt a little more. But at this moment, he was just more confused.

In his head, he was thinking, can I desert? When should I do it? And if I go back to the unit as it is, I would have to live in constant bullying, so a terrible feeling washed over him.

“You’ve been through a lot. I am this soldier’s superior officer.”

Instead of Kim Seong-hoon, who was thinking all sorts of things, Choi Tae-shik greeted Tae-kyung and continued with a brief explanation.

“Our soldier has been having stomach pains for a while and it hasn’t gotten better even after going to the infirmary. The unit’s medical officer is currently on vacation. So…”

Detailed explanations followed, but none of what Choi Tae-shik said entered Tae-kyung’s ears.

He always greeted the patient and guardian when he saw them because of his kind personality, but in a situation where life could be lost at any moment, he couldn’t worry about such things.

“2 weeks? Has it been about 2 weeks?”

“Private Kim, you have to answer the doctor.”

“Private! Kim Seong-hoon. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Make the patient comfortable. Have you been feeling abdominal pain for 2 weeks?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

The voice coming out of Kim Seong-hoon’s lips was weaker than in the unit.

“Bend your knees, patient.”

“My knees?”

“Yes.”

When Tae-kyung pressed down on Kim Seong-hoon’s stomach, his stomach tensed and he showed rigidity.

“Damn it! Damn it!”

“Yes?!”

Choi Tae-shik said with a look of disbelief when a low curse came out of Tae-kyung’s mouth. But the answer that came back was an urgent order.

“Give him fluids right now! Quickly. And go to CT. Immediately!”

“Yes, I understand.”

There was a reason for giving orders in an urgent voice.

The fact that rigidity occurs even when the stomach is pressed weakly meant that the inflammation had already spread throughout the abdominal wall.

That meant that everything was going as feared.

“Excuse me, I think you’re a doctor, but what’s going on? Please explain…”

Tae-kyung, who didn’t hear Choi Tae-shik’s words, was lost in thought for a moment and hurriedly walked to the monitor without answering.

“When did the lab go out? Call them right away to get the test results.”

“I just called. They said it will be done within 5 minutes.”

After a short time, Tae-kyung opened the lab test and the results were coming up one by one.

“The white blood cell count is…”

Tae-kyung, who was looking at the results that kept coming up while pressing refresh, was surprised and couldn’t speak for a moment.

“White blood cells… 38,000! Inflammation level is 34! What the hell!”

His eyebrows narrowed on his serious face, and annoyance and curses came out of his mouth.

The normal white blood cell count is up to 10,500 and the inflammation level is up to 5.

So, Kim Seong-hoon’s condition was far from that normal range.

“Wait a minute! Doctor!”

Choi Tae-shik raised his voice as he watched Tae-kyung and the medical staff in a hurry.

“It’s a bit much to do this without saying anything. You have to explain what’s going on first and then do the test! You can’t just do the test like this without saying anything!”

“Yes, what the officer said is right. That’s not polite. Just… Just a moment!”

“Yes?!”

Choi Tae-shik looked dumbfounded at Tae-kyung’s attitude, who had no idea what was going on.

In fact, neither of them was in a strange situation.

Choi Tae-shik needed to know how the unit’s soldier was doing, and Tae-kyung’s priority was to recognize the seriousness of Kim Seong-hoon’s condition and give orders accordingly.

“Hey, doctor. Then you have to explain! Yes?”

Choi Tae-shik kept talking while Tae-kyung was staring at the computer screen. But no matter how much he talked next to him, all of Tae-kyung’s nerves were focused on Kim Seong-hoon’s results.

In particular, he was more focused on the numbers that indicate kidney function.

The eGFR [estimated glomerular filtration rate], which is that number, usually comes out above 90 for young men of that age. But the number that just appeared on the screen was 8.

“Look at this? Doctor!”

Choi Tae-shik raised his voice with an angry expression.

“Our unit’s soldier came because he was sick, but you haven’t explained anything so far…”

That was the moment when Choi Tae-shik, who was angry because he misunderstood that he was indifferent, was about to argue.

“Guardian, that patient may die tonight.”

The answer he never expected shut his mouth in an instant.