20 | Fainting
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I had to face these unpleasant situations for the first time with an already shaken mental state, but my body wouldn't cooperate. Perhaps due to stress, I experienced excruciating pain in my solar plexus that felt like my internal organs were being squeezed.
Enduring the pain while caring for patients, basic hemostasis and shock management were fundamental. I also had to perform arterial punctures and chest tube insertions. I even had to master procedures that required supervision.
Arterial puncture: Drawing arterial blood from the radial artery, brachial artery, femoral artery, etc., using a syringe for arterial blood gas analysis.
*Chest tube insertion: A procedure in which a tube is inserted into the chest to drain air, accumulated bodily fluids, blood, etc.
However, it seems treating sick patients in that physical condition was too much for me. How could I even attempt to treat patients when I didn't even know my own health? After treating patients for several hours while clutching my aching stomach and pretending not to be in pain, I reached a point where I could no longer endure it.
Cold sweat poured down like crazy, and the pain intensified; before I knew it, I couldn't even control my facial expression, to the point where patients were asking if I was in pain. I endured as long as I could, but eventually, I felt dizzy and couldn't see clearly. Barely managing to lean against the wall beside me, just as I thought I might collapse, I saw the professor.
“Yunseo, what’s wrong with you?”
"professor."
“Why are you like this? Are you sick?”
“… It’s nothing, it doesn’t hurt.”
He's breaking out in a cold sweat... and turned pale.
Lean on me, I'll take you to the lounge.
“… No, I have to take care of the patients.”
“Your condition is serious enough, so how can you say you’re going to take care of patients?”
If you are sick, patients won't trust you either. Your health comes first, so look at yourself first before speaking.
The professor's angry tone made me feel bad too. He is clearly worried about me, so why am I getting so angry?
“…Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of my own body.”
I shook off the professor who offered to support me, let go of the wall, and walked forward. I had been leaning my entire body against the wall, but with the sudden loss of support, I felt dizzy and couldn't see clearly. Along with the dizziness, my stomach started hurting like crazy, and I eventually collapsed right there.