Taesu, who had been listening all along, thought with a serious expression.
It seemed as though none of the other words remained in his ears.
Taesu was not particularly interested in what achievements some doctor had made.
That was especially true when it came to matters related to thoracic surgery.
The accomplishments of Caprene and James had greatly influenced modern medicine.
A doctor on par with them?
‘Maybe Dr. Smith?’
When he thought of doctors acknowledged by Caprene and James, that name popped into his mind.
He was also one of the pillars of Johns Hopkins Hospital, known as the best hospital in the world.
Unless it was someone of that caliber.
It might have been only natural for him to feel indifferent toward anyone else.
An hour later.
Taesu arrived at the medical tent.
But his expression was not very bright.
“He’s not easy to meet.”
“Sounds like he’s not someone you’d be glad to meet.”
Jeong Minsu, who said that, didn’t look particularly refreshed either.
Nurse Casey approached the two of them.
“It’s morning, but neither of you looks very happy.”
“The thing is……”
As Taesu explained everything, Nurse Casey shrugged.
“Is that really so important?”
“I know it isn’t, but I’d like to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings.”
“Who would sulk over something like that these days? And it was during treatment hours, too.”
Nurse Casey spoke as if it were nothing.
Hearing that, Taesu’s mind also drifted slightly in that direction.
“If we meet him, we’ll talk about it then.”
“Right. Let’s get ready first.”
“We’re already done. You can bring in the patients right away.”
Taesu said, broadening his shoulders, and Jeong Minsu joined in.
“We set everything up.”
“Oh my, how wonderful.”
“Our doctors are the best.”
Nurse Ellen and Nurse Casey expressed their joy at having less work to do with bright smiles.
Not long after treatment began.
They had helped several patients and were waiting for the next one.
Jose, the interpreter, approached while supporting a woman in her fifties.
The patient’s complexion was quite pale.
“Huu, huu. Cough.”
Her breathing was uneven, accompanied by coughing.
The moment Taesu took that in, his expression hardened.
When meeting a patient for the first time, taking a history came first. But this was not the time to leisurely ask her name and exchange pleasantries.
This was one hundred percent a thoracic surgical condition.
Zing.
Strength filled Taesu’s eyes.
As someone carrying on Caprene’s will, Taesu could not help but be sensitive to it.
This was not the time to sit and watch her approach.
Taesu sprang from his seat, pushed aside the examination chair, and closed the distance to the patient.
Scrape.
“Jose, this way.”
“I’ll help.”
Whoosh.
Nurse Casey passed Taesu like lightning.
The proactive Casey and Jose supported the patient together and seated her in the chair.
Before anyone knew it, Taesu had put on his stethoscope and held out the chest piece.
“Jose, explain the stethoscope first.”
“Understood. @#$^%#$%……”
Jose immediately pointed to the stethoscope and explained it to the patient.
At first, he had found it unfamiliar, but now he could explain the basics skillfully.
The patient’s condition did not look good enough to wait through the explanation.
Taesu glanced at Nurse Casey.
“Casey.”
“Got it.”
The two of them were perfectly in sync.
At the single word of her name, Nurse Casey immediately picked up the automatic blood pressure monitor.
She swiftly attached it to the patient’s arm and checked her vitals first.
Beep.
“Dr. Choi, starting with the pulse, the numbers are……”
“Quite high.”
“She’s breathing frequently, but her oxygen saturation is a little low too.”
Nurse Casey added heavily.
“Huu, huu.”
The sound of the patient breathing as she listened to Jose’s explanation was, as expected, unstable.
Taesu counted her respiratory rate inwardly.
‘One, two……’
The number rose at quite a fast pace.
Then.
Scrape.
Jose nodded.
He then turned the patient around one hundred eighty degrees and looked at Nurse Casey.
Nurse Casey quickly lifted the patient’s upper garment.
Slide.
The patient’s back was spread out before Taesu.
Taesu placed the stethoscope in the middle of her back while continuing to count her breaths.
‘……Thirty?’
Thirty breaths per minute was quite fast.
Before he could show any puzzlement, the sound of her heartbeat came through the stethoscope.
Thud-thud, thud-thud.
Just as the high pulse reading indicated, the beating sounded urgent.
That was not what he was trying to confirm.
This was the process of determining what kind of sound the heart made when it moved.
Thud-thud, thud-thud.
The rapid pulse confused his ears.
But the heart sounds felt loud.
They had a volume and resonance similar to when his concentration was at its best.
Taesu narrowed his brow even further.
‘Condition? So-so.’
Then that could only mean the pulse itself was truly loud.
The volume of heart sounds also varied depending on its size.
Assuming that was the case, the patient’s heart was likely larger than average.
But that alone was only a fragment.
Since nothing was easy to grasp, Taesu’s brow furrowed as well.
“Cough. Huu.”
Because her breathing was accompanied by coughing, it was even harder to determine.
Even so, Taesu focused every nerve in his ears.
Soon, Taesu’s ears began to break down the sound of the pulse.
Shhh, click, grrk, shhh……
‘Opening, closing…… grrk? Opening again……’
As Taesu analyzed inwardly, his brow tightened sharply.
Grrk.
It was because of that sound.
The sound of the valves opening and closing was natural. But the foreign sound wedged between them indicated a problem with the heart.
It was difficult to infer the disease name from that one sound alone.
Whoosh.
Taesu freed one ear from the stethoscope and gave Nurse Casey an order.
“First, an antiarrhythmic and an antihypertensive, please.”
“I’ll prepare them right away.”
Clatter.
Nurse Casey moved her hands swiftly.
While continuing to listen to the heart sounds with one ear, Taesu asked Jose,
“What is the patient’s name and age?”
“Her name is Vanessa. She’s fifty-one.”
Scratch, scratch.
Taesu quickly wrote the medical chart with one hand as he asked another question.
“Has she had chest pain normally?”
“@#$%#…… She says it’s been about fifteen days.”
“And the coughing?”
“@#%##…… About two or three days.”
“Then……”
Taesu asked several questions in succession.
Scratch, scratch, scratch.
And he wrote down the answers Jose relayed as quickly and in as much detail as possible.
Meanwhile, Nurse Casey handed him a syringe.
“The antiarrhythmic.”
“Nurse Casey, you administer it.”
“I will.”
Nurse Casey headed for the patient’s wrist without hesitation.
With a doctor present and permission given, a nurse could administer injections as much as needed.
To be honest, nurses gave injections far better than doctors.
Press.
The contents of the prepared syringes emptied quickly.
Not long after.
Thud-thud, thud.
Through the stethoscope hanging from one ear, the change in sound was vividly transmitted.
First, the sound of the heartbeat gradually slowed.
Then the intervals between breaths also slowly lengthened.
“Huuu. Huuu……”
Seeing the patient’s hunched back straighten, the pain must have eased as well.
In the case of heart problems, improving circulation could sometimes be more effective than painkillers.
This was exactly such a case.
“Haaah.”
A long sigh escaped the patient’s mouth.
As the medicine took effect, she seemed to have stabilized to some degree.
It seemed obvious even to Jose that she was much better.
“@@#$%@#.”
Slide.
Quick-wittedly, he said a few words to the patient and spun the chair around.
Only then could Taesu face the patient again.
“Patient Vanessa, allow me to greet you properly now. I’m Dr. Choi Taesu.”
“..@%#$…… She says it doesn’t hurt anymore and that she’s very grateful.”
It was not just Jose’s words.
Tap.
Vanessa suddenly took Taesu’s hand.
Even with her slightly exhausted face, she was forcing herself to smile.
It was filled with gratitude toward him for pushing away the pain that had tormented her until now.
To Taesu, it was a patient’s smile that gave him strength.
However, Taesu’s expression did not brighten much.
“I’m embarrassed to hear you say that just yet. We’ve only suppressed it temporarily with medication.”
“@#$%@#$%…… She says that’s more than enough. She also says she’s heard a lot about you, Dr. Choi.”
“Me?”
When Taesu looked puzzled, Vanessa nodded and spoke.
Jose immediately interpreted with a smiling face.
“@%#@$%…… She says there are rumors that you’re a doctor who takes careful care of people and even looks after them on their way home.”
“That’s only natural.”
“@#%@#$%…… Now that she’s been examined by you in person, she says the rumors are true.”
Swish.
Jose lightly wiped the bridge of his nose as if he had been the one praised.
Taesu also felt awkward, the praise both pleasant to hear and more than he deserved.
But now was not the time to get absorbed in it.
“Ahem.”
Taesu deliberately cleared his throat and broke up the warm atmosphere.
Only then did Vanessa’s expression change, as if she realized Taesu’s warning had not been for nothing.
Once the mood had settled somewhat, Taesu opened his mouth again.
“Based on what I’ve examined so far……”
“%$@#@#^$……”
When Taesu spoke first, Jose immediately followed with the interpretation.
As if the news was not very good, Vanessa’s eyes trembled faintly.
“Hm.”
Watching her reaction, Taesu stated the key point once more.
“Yes. This is a situation where we have to keep the possibility of surgery in mind.”
“@%$#%…… She asks what kind of illness it is.”
“What’s certain is that it’s left ventricular hypertrophy. If the heart is like this……”
Slide, whoosh whoosh.
Taesu showed his fist and pointed to specific parts, explaining through examples.
Vanessa seemed to understand a little more easily.
Taesu added one more thing.
“That’s as far as I’ve been able to determine. The details can be confirmed more precisely inside with tests like an ultrasound.”
“@#$%#$…… She’s asking if you won’t do everything yourself.”
“I’m truly sorry.”
Taesu bowed his head sincerely in apology.
If it were an emergency, that would be one thing.
But ordinary illnesses were the responsibility of the mid-level doctors waiting at the hospital.
They were skilled and had high success rates, so it was only natural.
Even with Taesu’s apology and explanation, Vanessa’s expression was not very bright.
“&@%$#…… She says there are other people too, so she won’t insist.”
“Thank you.”
Taesu bowed his head in gratitude to Vanessa for understanding.
Soon, Vanessa was transferred to thoracic surgery.
In Taesu’s hand was Vanessa’s chart.
It was the first chart he had written quickly in real time. At the hospital, there would be a neatly organized chart based on this.
The messy handwriting fully reflected how urgent he had felt at that moment.
left sided heart failure.
hypertension.
frequent pulse, tachycardia.
D.C. (Dilated cardiomyopathy). And so on.
It was filled with various medical terms.
There were also many complications caused by the underlying condition.
pulmonary edema.
dizziness.
idiopathic respiratory distress.
They were the representative complications.
All of them could be resolved if the causative symptom was operated on.