Golden Time
Page 99Chapter 99
Han Myungjin looked Suhyuk in the face, saying something with glittering eyes:
‘Yes, just go ahead without hesitation. You need to stop the excessive bleeding first…’
Though Han thought of the same thing, he was so glad when Suhyuk mentioned it first.
Suhyuk was quick in judgement and without hesitation.
“Get ready for aortic arches replacement.”
At the professor’s direction, the medical staff moved in unison.
An extracorporeal cardiopulmonary valve was pulled in place of the heart to make blood circulate throughout the body, and other fluids were hung up.
Suhyuk said to Han,
“As for aortic arch replacement, I have done anastomosis before.”
Han’s eyes became wider.
A resident in the first year has done such an emergency surgery?
“I’ve done it under the guidance of Prof. Kim Jinwook.”
Still Han did not understand it a bit, but felt it was possible.
He knew Prof. Kim was very much anxious to have Suhyuk as his disciple.
Han now turned to Kang Mingyu who was looking into the slippery organs here and there.
Kang was searching for other sources of bleeding other than the main artery.
Though Kang was a.s.signed to the cardiothoracic surgery, Han had to force him to come over here for the surgery. Other medical staff that he wanted were all too busy. They were either taking care of emergency patients or already in the operating rooms.
“This kind of main artery surgery is the first time for you, right?”
“Yes, but I’ve observed it several times.”
Han opened his mouth, looking at Suhyuk.
“Well, I’ve done aortic arch replacement surgery only 20 or so times. That’s why I need some more knowledgeable a.s.sistants.”
Kang nodded his head, looking at Suhyuk.
He did not feel envious or jealous just because Suhyuk was younger or lower in t.i.tle than he.
Suhyuk had partic.i.p.ated in the surgery before, but he had not.
That was enough for him to step aside.
“You might need this,” Kang handed a loupe to Suhyuk, stepping back.
“Thank you, sir.”
Now Suhyuk was set to perform the surgery as the next important surgeon after Han.
“I’m ready, sir.”
At the perfusionists’ words, Han looked at Suhyuk on the other side.
He alternately looked at the patient’s face and his opened belly.
“We’re going to start now. I can’t tolerate any mistakes.”
Suhyuk nodded his head, saying, “Absolutely, sir.”
“Huuuuuuuh… Let’s start then. Heparin!”
At the professor’s direction, the nurse repeated after him and injected coagulant into the IV line.
“I’m injecting heparin now.”
“Lower the body temperature so as not to damage the organs, and heart arrest procedure starts now.”
The machine signaled a scary warning sound that the heart stopped, and at the same time a cardiopulmonary device started running.
At that moment Suhyuk put his hand into the belly without using the surgery tools.
Whenever he moved his hands, the organs were oozing. It did not last long.
“This is the source of bleeding. Please cut it.”
Suhyuk lifted up the main artery with a damaged membrane gently with his fingers.
The main artery hung over his index finger was dark red, and blood came from out of the damaged membrane.
Shaking his head, Han moved the scissors.
Is there another doctor who dared hold the main artery recklessly like that? Han could not do anything about it, though. Now the surgery was urgent.
The incisized main artery dropped onto the metal tray. Blood spread around it slowly.
“Let me sew it,” said Han.
“Don’t you think it’s better we share the task, sir?”
Han agonized a bit, because it would take a lot of time to anastomose a main artery because it was very complicated to do.
“Are you confident?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Do it well then.”
When Han held out his hand, one a.s.sistant handed a needle holder and threads.
It was the same for Suhyuk.
Handed over an artificial blood vessel, he put it into the cut main artery.
Han went ahead with the anastomosis first.
When the artificial blood vessel was fixed at the stem of the cut main artery, Suhyuk fixed a thread to a needle holder as small as a pincette.
And both of them started doing anastomosis.
Prof. Han was doing it from the lower part while Suhyuk was sewing the upper part.
They were controlling the four needle holders inside the belly.
How long did it last?
It was already more than two hours since they opened up the patient’s belly.
After he was done with the anastomosis, Suhyuk waited for Han to finish as well.
Then Han raised his head, and the nurse wiped off the sweat from his forehead.
“Done!”
Breathing out a long breath, Han looked at Suhyuk as if he was a wonder boy.
He neatly connected the artificial blood vessel, and besides that, he did it faster than him.
Precise and quick.
“Looks like we need to revive his heart.”
At his words, Han nodded his head.
Although the heart-lung machine was running, the function of the heart would be weakened if it was forced to stop any longer.
Han immediately applied electric shock to the patient’s heart.
But it did not beat.
He did it once more, but the heart did not beat.
Breathing out a long breath, Han reapplied the electric shock.
At the same time, Suhyuk’s rigid eyes went back to normal.
The heart was beating again.
“Nice job. Keep listening to us well.”
Suhyuk was murmuring to the patient.
Now he opened his mouth, turning to Han,
“Looks like we need to remove the spleen first.”
The spleen was crushed completely. To secure a wider view, it was necessary to take it out.
Catching his breath, Han was shaking his head.
Suhyuk did not give him any chance to take a break.
So, they began removing the spleen. Besides, it was necessary to incise the liver partially.
The more they moved, the more their gowns were stained with blood.
Three hours, four hours…
They cut the damaged organs and reconnected the cut blood vessels and nerves.
Then Suhyuk, who was connecting the blood vessels, said,
“Please take a break, sir.”
He saw Han’s hands trembling subtly, which was natural as he was a human being.
The surgery was already continuing for over five hours.
“Let me take over, sir.”
Kang, who was watching nearby, came to Han.
Stopping for a moment, Han agonized for a moment.
“Okay, let me pause a bit then. Thanks.”
Han stepped back and took a seat in the back.
Kang, who took his place, was confident of doing anastomosis.
He did it several times, but he was not sure how long it would take.
“You’re doing great, man!” Kang said to Suhyuk.
Then he grabbed a surgical thread.
—–
A black and white picture uploaded on SNS was generating a huge response on the internet.
It was a picture of the operating room, with the floor covered with blood.
Was it to prevent any slipping on the floor? Here and there were placed mats stained with blood.
On the operating bed was a patient whose face was covered, and a doctor sitting next to him.
The doctor was drooping his shoulders, but his eyes looking at the patient seemed to form a smile. The netizens’ comments on the picture were as follows:
Thousands of replies were posted on this comment.
—–
Suhyuk slowly opened his eyes. It was still dark. There was no light coming through the window.
‘How long did I sleep for?’
Getting up from the bed suddenly, he wore a gown and went out.
He headed straight for the intensive care unit.
“Is patient Kim Jinsu okay?”
At Suhyuk’s asking, the nurse smiled, nodding her head.
“Yes, his vital signs are good, and he is mentally stable. You did really nice work, doctor.”
Suhyuk let out a long breath.
After the surgery, he confirmed that the patient opened his eyes.
He could breathe a sigh of relief after checking his face grimacing with pain.
He could save his life, after all. He fell into sleep next to the patient.
He woke up to find himself at the lodging.
Did someone carry him on the stretcher to his lodging?
When Suhyuk was thinking about it, the nurse was touching her cell phone.
Actually it was the nurse who took the picture of him in the operating room as well as his posture in the recovery room, and uploaded it on her SNS. Back then she did not expect the picture would generate such an overwhelming response.
Suhyuk moved quickly to look for the patient. He could easily find him.
“Oh my G.o.d! Doctor Lee Suhyuk!”
A woman, who was touching his face, stood up. She was his mother.
She held Suhyuk’s both hands, saying,
“Thanks a million, sir. How can I repay you…”
Suhyuk said, with a smile, “Well it’s just my duty.”
Then, he checked the patient’s condition. All vital signs were normal.
But he would feel a lot of pain.
Suhyuk asked the patient who had half-opened eyes,
“How do you feel?”
The patient said, making a smile with the utmost effort,
“Thanks for saving my life, sir…”
He heard many times from those doctors and nurses who came and checked on him:
A doctor by the name of Lee Suhyuk saved him.
Smiling without saying anything, Suhyuk grabbed his hands.
“Please hold my hands with your utmost strength.”
With a frown he held his hands with strength.
“That’s fine.”
Someone was looking at him from the back.
Han Myungjin and Kang Mingyu.
“He woke up early, sir,” said Kang to Prof. Han.
Han murmured to Kang who was shaking his head,
“He’s THE true doctor…”