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#004. The Successful Surgery
The moment he picked up the scalpel to hand it to Professor Seo, text appeared before his eyes.
It was the kind of text Han Seo-jun had only ever seen in online games back when he was still preparing to enter medical
school.
It lasted only a few seconds, from the moment he picked it up until he handed it to the professor, but he had definitely
seen the text clearly.
‘Huh! What is this?’
Startled, he almost dropped the scalpel, wondering if something was wrong with his eyes, but Han Seo-jun somehow managed
to hide his surprise immediately.
Fortunately, the professor did not notice that anything strange had happened to him.
‘Thank goodness.’
It seemed he had managed to cover it up somehow.
Thump, thump.
Faced with this strange situation unlike anything he had experienced before, Han Seo-jun’s heart began to pound.
Ever since the strange dream he had the previous night, he had been feeling that something was unusual.
Just as Han Seo-jun was wondering about this strange feeling, the professor asked before placing the scalpel against the
patient’s skin.
“Come to think of it, I heard you were the one who saved this patient?”
“Yes.”
The patient lying before Han Seo-jun had not actually been brought to the hospital as a patient.
He had been the guardian of another patient visiting the hospital.
Han Seo-jun had found him collapsed in the hospital café, clutching his chest, and immediately performed emergency
treatment that brought his heart back.
Of course, that had only been emergency treatment. The examinations revealed that his heart was dying because of
arteriosclerosis.
If the hospital’s only thoracic surgery resident had not happened to be in the café, the patient might have suffered
much more severe heart damage.
In that case, he might not even have been in a condition to undergo surgery here.
“If everything goes well, it’ll be thanks to you.”
At the professor’s words, Han Seo-jun felt a sense of responsibility wash over him.
In any case, he had saved the man and brought him to the operating room.
Then naturally, wasn’t it his duty to send him back into society alive and well?
However, Han Seo-jun was not in a position to promise that he would definitely save the patient.
All he could say was that he would do his best.
“I’ll do my best.”
“That’s what you should do. Let’s do our best.”
“Yes.”
Professor Seo Jeong-won was about to begin the surgery with the scalpel Han Seo-jun had handed him.
He turned his head toward everyone in the operating room and gave them a firm warning.
“Today’s surgery is going to be difficult, so everyone stay focused. If anything happens, I’ll tell you immediately, so
move accordingly.”
Everyone answered carefully.
“Yes!”
“As I said, we’re going to do this without stopping the heart. Understood?”
It was not a common surgical method.
Han Seo-jun instinctively began to concentrate.
The strange incident that had occurred in his mind moments earlier had already disappeared from his thoughts.
The professor’s scalpel cut precisely through the designated location, followed by the electric saw in Han Seo-jun’s
hands cutting through the sternum.
The patient’s chest opened, and as Professor Seo Jeong-won carefully moved his hands, the heart that was still beating
appeared before them.
But the heart that should have been beating strongly and showing its vitality did not look good even at a glance.
“How does it look? Pretty bad, right?”
“Yes.”
They already knew from the examination results, but degeneration had occurred in several areas.
The key to today’s surgery was to cut into those areas, suture them, and quickly connect them to other vessels.
It was expected to be an extremely difficult operation, but Professor Seo Jeong-won’s expression remained remarkably
calm as he watched from beside him.
Anyone would consider this a highly challenging surgery, but to him, it was no different from any other day.
“Seo-jun, it’s manageable. Don’t worry.”
“I wasn’t worried, Professor.”
“Good.”
This was where the real operation began.
As soon as the professor finished speaking, Han Seo-jun immediately inserted the cardiac stabilization device.
Normally, the heart would be stopped and a heart-lung machine would be used, so the device was unnecessary.
But today was different.
When operating while allowing the heart to continue beating, the damaged areas were easier to see, making this device
necessary.
The machine that stabilized the heartbeat was essential for today’s surgery.
“Retractor.”
“Yes.”
He immediately used the retractor to open the rib cage and secure it in place.
Previously, someone had to keep the chest open by hand, but modern instruments had greatly reduced the amount of manual
work required.
And that meant fewer doctors were needed.
‘It can’t really be helped.’
With the number of thoracic surgeons steadily decreasing, the development of such equipment was inevitable.
It was a sad reality.
Moreover, today’s surgery was not originally supposed to have a second-year resident assisting.
At least a fellow or another professor should have been there to provide assistance.
But there was no one available.
Everyone who could have helped Professor Seo Jeong-won was already occupied with other patients in other operating
rooms.
That was why the professor felt even more desperately that Han Seo-jun needed to improve.
And because Han Seo-jun understood how the professor felt, he felt sorry.
He needed to become better so that one day he could stand shoulder to shoulder with the professor.
Right now, he was little more than a burden.
That made Han Seo-jun feel miserable.
But contrary to his thoughts, the surgery was progressing successfully.
It was proceeding much more smoothly than initially expected.
The elderly patient’s heart was in better condition than anticipated.
If the blood vessels had been damaged in numerous scattered areas, controlling the bleeding would have been difficult,
but fortunately, the blockage was concentrated in one area.
However, the moment Han Seo-jun feared was gradually approaching.
“Seo-jun, harvest the vein.”
“Yes.”
It was time to harvest the blood vessel.
A new, healthy vein was essential for performing the coronary artery bypass.
Gulp.
The problem was that this was one of the procedures Han Seo-jun normally struggled with.
No matter how many times he practiced, harvesting a usable blood vessel cleanly in one attempt was extremely difficult.
There was a limit to the number of healthy vessels that could be harvested, and he absolutely could not make a mistake.
It was a procedure that required him to carefully work with a scalpel in one hand and forceps in the other.
But he had to do it somehow.
There was nowhere left for him to run.
Suddenly, the face of his older brother, Nak-yoon, from his dream flashed through his mind.
His brother’s words gave confidence to Han Seo-jun, who was anxious at that moment.
‘Yeah. Somehow, it’ll work out.’
It was time to believe in himself.
Han Seo-jun picked up the scalpel the professor had used earlier and set down.
‘Huh?’
His head felt dizzy.
The strange phenomenon happened again.
He could now be certain that what had happened to him earlier had not been an illusion.
‘What is this?’
Floating above the scalpel in his left hand was something that unmistakably looked like a status window from a game.
[Scalpel of an Advanced Specialist
* Concentration increases. You become completely immersed in surgery.
* Manual dexterity increases. You can perform precise movements.
* Reflexes increase. It becomes easier to respond to emergencies.
* Mental strength increases. You do not give up on the patient.
* Stability. Reduces anxiety during surgery.
Proficiency 0/100
Once proficiency is filled through a certain amount of surgery, the user’s abilities will increase.]
“What are you doing?”
“Ah. Nothing.”
He had almost been caught spacing out and nearly gotten scolded.
Of course, it had only been about two seconds, but during surgery, even that could be a long time.
‘Now isn’t the time for this.’
In heart surgery, time was crucial.
He had to finish the procedure as quickly and precisely as possible.
As soon as he thought that, the anxiety in Han Seo-jun’s mind disappeared.
‘Huh?’
Following the professor’s instructions, he moved to the lower body to harvest the great saphenous vein that would be
used for the heart.
But somehow, it felt different from usual.
There was no anxiety in the movement of his hands.
Normally, his fingertips would have trembled, causing him to accidentally damage the clean end of the vein with the
scalpel, forcing him to harvest it several times.
But today was different.
While Professor Seo Jeong-won prepared the remaining arterial bypass, Han Seo-jun completed the harvest in an instant
and even finished the closure.
‘Huh?’
Han Seo-jun himself was surprised by his strange condition.
He had successfully harvested the great saphenous vein perfectly on his first attempt without making a single mistake.
He was never like this normally, but today, for some reason, everything seemed to be going smoothly.
‘Was that thing I saw earlier really real?’
Holding the professor’s scalpel made him feel as though his skills were performing better than usual.
And Professor Seo Jeong-won noticed the difference as well as he watched Han Seo-jun bring over the harvested vein.
‘What’s gotten into this kid today?’
He was surprised.
Normally, Han Seo-jun had to harvest more vessels than necessary several times just to obtain a few usable ones.
But today, he was different.
Every vessel he brought over was in excellent condition, and his skill was comparable to that of a decent fellow or even
a professor.
Using vessels of this quality would undoubtedly improve the patient’s chances of recovery.
“Seo-jun.”
“Yes?”
“You must have been practicing. Your skills have improved a lot.”
“Ah, yes. I guess so.”
It was true that Han Seo-jun had practiced.
But it was also true that his skills had not improved nearly that much.
Yet the Han Seo-jun standing before the professor today had clearly improved tremendously.
As Professor Seo Jeong-won prepared to connect the bypass vessel, he raised his assessment of Han Seo-jun by another
level.
‘So I was mistaken all this time. His skills really were improving.’
The professor felt sorry for Seo-jun.
He had always felt deeply disappointed because there were few people as suited to being a doctor as Han Seo-jun.
The fact that he had applied for a residency in thoracic surgery alone proved how strongly he wanted to save lives.
And the only thing he lacked as a doctor had been surgical dexterity.
But now, even that was a thing of the past.
At this level, he judged that it was time to move on to the next stage.
There was nothing holding him back anymore.
They began racing toward the end of the surgery.
It was now time to create the bypass vessel.
Professor Seo Jeong-won carefully secured an unobstructed portion of the beating heart with forceps, stabilizing the
area where he would work.
He intended to create a new path through which blood could flow.
He carefully made a small incision on the surface of the heart and prepared to connect the blood vessel.
Precisely connecting a vessel on a beating heart required an extremely high level of skill.
It was something Han Seo-jun could not do yet.
“Seo-jun, hold the end of the vessel. I’m starting the sutures.”
“Yes.”
Following his instructions, he firmly secured the end.
Normally, his fingertips would have been trembling with anxiety, but his left hand held the forceps perfectly steady.
‘Is it really because of the scalpel?’
The words floating above the scalpel no longer seemed strange to him.
He now knew that they were not an illusion but reality.
The surgery proceeded smoothly from there.
Professor Seo Jeong-won’s hands did not tremble at all. Using forceps and sutures, he quickly connected the harvested
great saphenous vein to the aorta and the coronary artery below the blockage.
The nurse wiped away the sweat pouring down his face.
It was an extremely important moment.
Only one of the most critical steps remained.
The moment that would determine whether the patient would survive.
But the professor was not worried.
The surgery had gone extremely well with Han Seo-jun’s help, and for some reason, he had no feeling that the patient
would die.
“Good, Seo-jun. Check the blood flow.”
Han Seo-jun checked the blood flow using the Doppler ultrasound connected to the chest.
His tense expression gradually relaxed.
“The blood flow is normal, Professor.”
“Good. Then let’s start the second one.”
The professor proceeded to connect the bypass vessel to the second blood vessel.
The same checks were repeated, and once again, everything passed without any problems.
When the examination was complete, Han Seo-jun could feel the tension that had filled the operating room finally begin
to disappear.
Only about three hours had passed, but it felt as though he had been working for twelve.
But the final steps were important.
Han Seo-jun counted the gauze that had been used.
“The gauze count is correct.”
“Do you see any bleeding?”
“No. There’s none. All the connection sites are stable.”
He had checked everything with his eyes wide open, so there should be no problems.
The surgery was perfect.
After washing and disinfecting the area, they secured the sternum with wires and completed the skin sutures, bringing
the operation to a complete end.
Han Seo-jun’s heart was filled with joy.
Unlike usual, he knew that he had genuinely been of great help to the professor today.
The strange text was no longer visible because he had put down the scalpel, but he now believed that it truly existed.
Yet the thought that the professor’s scalpel had temporarily increased his abilities left his mind complicated.
Before he could think about it any further, however, the professor was waiting for him when he returned from the
intensive care unit to the thoracic surgery operating room.
“Professor.”
“Come talk with me for a moment.”
But seeing the bright expression on the professor’s face, Han Seo-jun knew that there was no problem.
Professor Seo Jeong-won turned and headed toward his office, and Han Seo-jun carefully followed behind him.