Chapter 127

“I would start surgery with the incision of the patient’s stomach.”

What Suhyuk meant was that he would not care about the patient’s ascites.

Han nodded his head.

“If the liver and spleen of a patient are damaged, they are an emergency patient. As the time lags, bleeding becomes worse and a heart arrest is accompanied. Before that happens, doctors should cope flexibly with the situation by starting with the incision…”

Phillip knitted his brows. Does Han take sides with Suhyuk because they’re both Asians?

He instantly turned his head to the window.

Han’s lecture was extended by one more hour.

The medical faculty gathered there said goodbye to Han before leaving the room.

Suhyuk approached Han who was sorting out his lecture material.

“How was it?” asked Han.

“It was great, sir,” said Suhyuk with a smile.

“That’s good to hear. Let’s go out to eat.”

The two went to the cafeteria in the hospital, where Suhyuk was surprised once more.

Almost half of the foods there were different from those served yesterday.

He felt that the hospital management was taking care of the doctors very well.

After eating for about 30 minutes, Han asked Suhyuk, rising from the seat,

“Do you want coffee?”

Though Suhyuk did not have coffee usually, it was okay for him to have it anytime if he could have coffee with Han during a break.

Prof. Han looked tired everyday back in Korea, but he was much more relaxed here, which Suhyuk liked.

They bought coffee at the cafe in the lobby and went out of the building.

They sat on a bench.

Taking a sip of coffee, Han suddenly said, “You want to see the patients soon, right?”

At his remarks, Suhyuk made an awkward smile and nodded his head.

However, there were many other doctors who could see the patients even if he were not available.

When Suhyuk was thinking of that, Han rose from the seat.

“Shall we go back?”

Arriving at the general surgery department, Han met Daman.

“Can I make the rounds of your patients?”

Daman nodded his head, thinking Han’s suggestion was more than welcome.

Han did not come here just to teach the doctors at Hopkins’.

During his one year of stay here, he was also supposed to work as a doctor.

“Thanks.”

Han and Suhyuk began visiting the patient’s rooms.

Whenever Suhyuk looked at patients, his eyes were glittering.

Suhyuk actively checked their condition, while Han was looking on in the back.

They cast strange eyes at Suhyuk because he was an Asian.

But Suhyuk did not show any emotional reaction despite that.

‘I’m a doctor, nothing more, nothing less.’

Even though they made the rounds for three hours, they could only see half of the patients here.

When Han was walking through the hallway in a leisurely way, he heard a bell ringing in his middle pocket. It was a call from Daman.

“It’s me, Dr. Han.”

“Can I ask you a favor? I was going to see a patient just taken into the emergency room, but I’m afraid I have to take care of a patient I’ve been treating, who got worse just now. Can you see the emergency patient instead of me? Let me contact them about this.”

“What kind of patient is he?”

“He’s complaining about vomiting and abdominal pain.”

“Got it.”

“Let me send over Phillip too, so teach him something, please.”

After the call, Han and Suhyuk visited the surgery desk, where Phillip was waiting for them.

“Let’s go.”

Nodding his head, Phillip followed him. Walking ahead, he pressed the b.u.t.tons on the elevator.

Phillip held the elevator until Han and Suhyuk got on.

“Thanks.”

When they stepped out of the elevator while Phillip was pressing the open b.u.t.ton, he looked at their appearance from behind with a frown.

They soon arrived at the emergency room in no time at all.

Some sort of moaning was heard from the room. Phillip, pa.s.sing by the patients in beds, stopped before one patient. The white patient, who looked to be in his 50s, was lying in bed with a frown.

Then an intern approached Phillip.

“The patient’s pulse and blood pressure are normal.”

Nodding his head, Phillip asked the patient, “My name is Phillip. May I have your name?”

“Jason. I have so much pain in my stomach…”

Phillip said, checking his stomach, “What did you have for dinner yesterday?”

“Spaghetti only…”

Jason knitted his brows all the more, and he felt a pressure and ache at Phillip’s touching.

“It may be food poisoning or appendicitis…”

Then Han said suddenly, “I don’t think so. Wait a moment…”

Han, looking at Phillip quietly from behind, approached the patient and touched his forehead.

“It seems you don’t have fever. Are you feeling very much uncomfortable?”

The patient nodded, with a frown, and looked at Phillip.

It seemed as if the patient was asking if this Asian man was a doctor.

At that moment Phillip told Han, “Can I treat this patient, sir?”

With a smile, Han nodded and stepped back.

Then Suhyuk approached the patient first. He already put on surgical gloves from the cart nearby.

“These are disinfected and sterilized gloves. Can I touch your stomach for a moment?”

When Suhyuk gently pressed the right side of his stomach, the patient made a moan.

At the same time Suhyuk could think of one disease, because he felt something like a lump at his fingertip.

“This one…”

Phillip cut in his own remarks, with a frown,

“I’m sorry, Jason. I think you need a blood test first for an accurate diagnosis.”

“Rather than that I think he needs a CT shot first.”

Left untreated like this, the patient’s pain will grow more.

Phillip made a curious look when Suhyuk said that.

“Looks like he’s got intussusceptions.”

“How could you prove it?”

“Well, from his lower stomach…”

“Why don’t you have the patient go through a blood test and CT simultaneously?” said Han.

Han looked at both Phillip and Suhyuk. Who could be right?

The shot was done immediately, and the three were monitoring the screen.

They noticed some sort of dark area under the right side of the patient’s stomach.

It looked like a target with multi-layered circles.

Phillip made a frown, which disappeared instantly.

“You’re right, intussusceptions.”

Suhyuk cautiously opened his mouth so as not to offend Phillip’s feelings.

“Fortunately I could recall the name of the illness.”

Phillip said, while looking at the monitor, “I think the patient does not have to be admitted.”

That kind of symptom could go away while the patient fasted for a couple of days.

But Suhyuk thought differently.

Looking at Phillip, he hesitated a bit at first, but then opened his mouth,

“I think he needs to have this intussusceptions cured right away. As you see, it won’t naturally go back to normal as there are many layers of intussusceptions.”

Phillip nodded his head slowly, saying, “Let me reserve an operating room for him.”

He left the imaging room, and murmured, “What a terrific guy…”

***

In the operating room the medical staff were moving busily.

Phillip, who was monitoring the patient under anesthesia, turned his head to Suhyuk and said,

“Looks like we have to incise his belly.”

“Don’t you think it’s going to be a big burden on the patient? What do you think about laparoscopic surgery?”

Suhyuk completely ignored Phillip’s opinion. Han agreed with Suhyuk.

Phillip could not refute because he was a guest doctor here.

When the patient went into deep sleep, the medial staff gathered at the operating bed.

And they alternately looked at Han and the monitor installed on the side.

It was a good opportunity for them to learn from the guest doctor’s surgical skill.

“Let’s wait for ten minutes like this.”

Suhyuk nodded his head at Han’s words.

When the patient falls asleep under anesthesia, the body loosens. The same is true for the large and small intestine.

It could be possible that the intussusceptions could go back to normal naturally.

When Suhyuk was making a bitter smile, 10 minutes pa.s.sed already.

They took another CT of the patient’s belly right away and looked at the images.

“We need to incize it.”

As Han said, the intussusceptions were still there.

Approaching the patient, Han said, putting on the surgical gloves,

“Scalpel.”

A black nurse handed him a sharp scalpel.

“I’m going to incise the side of the belly only, so that the laparoscope can enter.”

As soon as the scalpel touched it, there was a line of blood on it.

“I’m putting in gas.”

At Han’s words, the nurse gave him a thin and long hose.

He was going to blow in some carbon dioxide gas through the hose to protect the organs and secure some s.p.a.ce for surgery.

As soon as the carbon dioxide gas was put in the belly, the visceral peritoneum widened.

Even with the naked eye, the patient’s belly bulging up was clearly seen.

Taking out the hose, Han said, “Give me the laparoscope now.”

An intern gave it to him.

Han turned his head, while putting in the laparoscope.

He could see the images of the red large and small intestines.

The large intestine, which should have been stretched in a straight line, was swollen as if it had eaten up the small intestine.

Han looked at Phillip, saying “Can you make some room to allow for the use of forceps?”

Han wanted to teach him how to do that, at Daman’s request.

Han did not know how many times Phillip had done this before, but the more experience he had, the more it would help him later.

Nodding his head, Phillip took the scalpel to the patient’s belly.

Red blood spilled down the bulging belly, and Phillip moved the scalpel twice.

“Thanks,” said Han.

Phillip made the incision exactly as big as was needed for forceps to enter.

Then he hesitated a moment.

As he was in his first year of residency, he had never done it before.

Though he entered the operating room with Daman many times, had touched the heart of a patient, and even done the incision of the liver, he had never done any laparoscopic surgery before.

If he made any mistakes, he would have to take all the responsibility, and his present label as a promising doctor would disappear in a moment.

Though it would hurt his pride, he felt it would be better to reject Han’s suggestion.

Though he would not not completely feel that way, because he was a resident while Han a professor.

And the medical staff here would not blame him for that.

When Phillip shook his head, Han looked at Suhyuk.

“Do you want to try?”

Handed a forceps, Suhyuk put it in the patient’s belly slowly, carefully watching the monitor.

When it was put in deeply, Suhyuk took it out again.

It was less than 20 seconds that Suhyuk did that for.

“All done. Thanks for the work, everybody.

The medical staff watching him blinked their eyes.