The observation room in the middle of the D-rosette was filled with people since the morning.
Around 10 professors from the VIP ward as well as the chiefs from different departments had arrived out of curiosity when they heard Choi Hoo was going to stand as the assistant. Since they were all gathered together, there was a hubbub in the room.
“How many minutes do you think it will be before Choi Hoo starts swearing up a storm?”
“They said the surgery will be performed by a 4th year. I think it will take less than 7 minutes.”
“Doesn’t he want to become a professor? Why is he going at full throttle? I think 5 minutes.”
Chief Ha sat in the front of the room and frowned when he heard everyone tease his beloved student and the most-skilled professor of the neurosurgery department.
“He still has some manners. Don’t you think he’ll at least stay silent for 10 minutes?”
“Do you think the guy crazy about surgery will leave someone with 4-year experience alone? I think 3 minutes.”
Grind.
Grinding his teeth and unable to keep his calm, Chief Ha suddenly stood up.
“₩100,000 that Choi Hoo will praise him.”
“Woah, Chief Ha. Isn’t that too much? Have you ever seen Prof. Choi praise anyone?”
“If you can’t take it, keep your mouth shut.”
“You’re giving money away so of course, I agree.”
“Me, too.”
“Me as well.”
The bets came in an instant.
Chief Ha was a bit sad about losing the ₩100,000, but he comforted himself by thinking that he was doing it for the face of the neurosurgery department.
Drrrk.
Entering the surgery room with both his hands in the air, Dowook looked toward the observation room, then his breath got caught in his throat.
A large group of professors known for their surgical skills in the hospital were gathered there. Seated between the chief of the thoracic department and the chief of the neuro-oncology center, Ha Sang Joong sent him a gesture that he shouldn’t be too surprised.
“How can I keep calm in this situation? Phew.”
“Senior. What about Prof. Choi?”
At the query from the 2nd assistant, Dowook turned to look at the clock in the surgery room. 7:58. He had the feeling the professor would be there soon.
“Keep your position.”
“Yes.”
After putting on a gown with a nurse’s help, Dowook carefully checked the surgery position of the patient lying on her stomach.
That moment, the surgery room’s door opened.
Prof. Choi’s entrance could be sensed right away by how the observation room suddenly became quiet.
Wearing a gown, he stood beside Dowook. He was standing to the right, but the pressure seemed to surge in from all directions.
“Let’s start.”
“Yes, professor.”
The suddenly silent room.
Everyone’s eyes turned to Dowook.
“The resection of the patient Lim So Yool’s neurenteric cyst will now begin!”
After calling out in confidence, Dowook used Choi Hoo’s sense.
Tingle.
Following the nerves on his fingers, both his hands received stimulus.
“Scalpel.”
Instead of the scrub nurse, Choi Hoo passed the scalpel himself. Witnessing the unexpected kindness, most of the observers displayed a look of surprise.
-I thought he would just stand there with his arms crossed.
-I know. It wasn’t that bad I guess.
Dowook gently placed his left hand on the affected area.
The minimum diameter of the incision which the surgical tools could travel was approximately 2.3cm. He could measure that size with just a touch.
Ssssk.
The blade drew a red line on the skin. 1mm more than the 2.3.
-It’s small. If the incision has no room for extra movement, he might touch the nerve cluster.
-Does he have a good foundation? Who taught him?
The murmurs from the observation room were grating on his nerves. But just because he had a similar sense to Choi Hoo, his personality became the same.
“Attention-!”
As he was thinking, Choi Hoo’s order rang in the operating room. Of course everyone flinched together.
“Although it’s not a surgery where someone can die, anyone who wants to see it happen can keep on talking. Thoughtlessly.”
When the 185cm-tall muscular man threatened with a rough voice, a few professors avoided eye contact.
Standing across from Choi Hoo, Nam Hana hiccuped in surprise at the shock and held her breath.
Beep. Beep.
Ha Sang Joong frowned severely and pressed the button on the observation room’s mic.
-Hey, Prof. Choi!
Choi Hoo looked sharply at the glass door of the observation room. When they made eye contact, Ha Sang Joong relaxed his expression.
-Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they keep their mouths shut. Let’s start the surgery. Our Choi Hoo isn’t one to say empty words. Everyone knows he doesn’t care about the position.
-My god. How savage is that….
As expected, Choi Hoo was hysterical from the start, but Dowook’s eyes continued to stay on Lim So Yool’s neck. When using this sense he tended to be bolder.
“I will continue.”
After speaking calmly, he stretched out his hand.
“Clip.”
Tap.
Choi Hoo passed it over this time as well.
He fixed the skin tissue in place using 4 more in succession. Choi Hoo chose an appropriate suction and retractor to assist without a pause in order to keep the operation going.
The 2nd assistant Nam Hana didn’t have any way to squeeze in for help.
-Just look at Choi Hoo. He keeps handing over the tools so quickly. What kind of assistant is that?
-But it’s being received pretty well. Their rhythm seems well-matched, right?
The professors’ conversation in low voices didn’t reach the inside of the operating room.
The lights brightly illuminating the incision were turned off and the microscope on top was turned on instead.
At the same time the microscope zoomed into focus, the screen in the observation room showed the blood vessels thinner than a strand of hair.
“I will skip the endoscopy.”
Choi Hoo, who was about to pass the endoscopy tools, fixed his gaze on Dowook.
“The basis of the omission?”
“I have checked the video several times and my hands know the location. The normal nerve bundles are strong but the area the cyst is located in is soft.”
There was a stir in the viewing room.
-What did he say? I mean, how can he just go in when there are so many nerve bundles to check?
However, the negative comments in the viewing room halted before it could be discussed. Because Choi Hoo passed Dowook the tools as he’d asked.
“Then proceed.”
“Yes.”
Dowook pushed the muscle fiber slightly with forceps as thin as thread. The hard and thin steel slid into the tissue like a mollusk.
A shocking entry.
The observing Choi Hoo’s eyebrow slightly wobbled.
There between the lymph node and spinal artery, the cyst found in the MRI was subsequently exposed.
-Huh, he secured visibility.
-Already? He must have prepared a lot.
“Micro…..”
Before he finished speaking, microscissors were placed on his hand. Once he experienced it, this was a very comfortable assist.
Carefully passing the muscle fiber, the microscissors moved. Checking every 0.5mm to see if he’d touched the cyst, he moved. While assisting, Choi Hoo’s hand movement also became more elaborate to match him.
-What harmony they have here!
-Keep quiet, Prof. Kim. Let me watch the surgery.
Dowook checked the end of the scissors through the magnified view of the microscope.
Even if it didn’t seem to be shaking to the naked eye, it was different through the microscope. It looked like it was shaking terribly.
‘Come on, keep still. Please.’
In that area filled with nerves that shouldn’t be touched, the slightest mistake could present an unpredictable aftereffect to the patient.
As it became more and more difficult, Dowook’s forehead was covered in sweat.
“Nurse. My forehead.”
The assistant nurse quickly wiped Dowook’s forehead.
At that point, Dowook realized the fundamental difference between him and Choi Hoo. Even though the sense was similar, the experience trained into one’s muscles could not be the same.
“Please secure a clear view.”
At Dowook’s request, Choi Hoo sprayed some water around the affected area.
‘Just a bit more.’
After struggling to move the scissors to the part where the suction was finished, he finally reached the cyst. The moment he cut it out with extreme concentration, he forcefully stopped the trembling.
Snip. Snip.
Locking the scissors in place with his left hand, a new forceps was placed on the hand he’d stretched out without saying a word. Grabbing the separated cyst, he slowly pulled it out from between the nerves and blood vessels.
That was how the problematic tumor parted from the patient’s body.
Illuminated under the lights, he checked and saw that it was exactly 5mm cyst as diagnosed by the MRI.
-He managed to remove that in one try?
-He barely even looked through the navigator.
Having watched it from the side, Nam Hana let out an exclamation of admiration and startled at Dowook and Prof. Choi’s pace as they were already suturing the incision.
Surgical tools came and went from the area the cyst was resected. Within the limited space and countless risk factors, the needle danced delicately while avoiding blood vessels.
Soon after, Dowook finished the inner sutures and removed his hands.
