Chapter 22: This is Confusing (2)

"Radiology... It's in the one published in May 2014, right?"

Suhyeok muttered to himself as he turned on the computer at the ward station. However, he couldn't start the search right away because patient Park Sang-a had arrived at the ward. As he had been told by Professor Jo Tae-jin, she was a woman in her 40s and didn't look as emaciated as he had expected.

'She even looks healthy... Her gait is strong.'

She was wearing a hat, possibly due to hair loss, but otherwise, she didn't give off a distinct sickly appearance.

'Of course, this is just a subjective impression, but in chronic patients, such things can be quite important.'

A doctor not only treats cancer but also cares for the patient who has cancer, regardless of the circumstances.

[It also appears that there has been no weight loss. I think she might even be heavier than when she was admitted three months ago.]

Baruda seemed to agree with his assessment.

"Is this Ms. Park Sang-a? I'll show you to your room."

While Suhyeok and Baruda were discussing the patient's visible information, the nurse led her to the ward. As expected of Tae-hwa Medical Center, where the wards are always full, she was assigned to a two-bed room.

'Is it really not metastasis?'

[If metastasis had occurred, it would have to show symptoms based on that metastasis. Currently, the patient doesn't seem to have any significant symptoms. Of course, it's not a certainty, but there's enough reason to suspect that it might not be metastasis.]

'What about the outpatient records?'

[Professor Jo Tae-jin didn't leave any additional records.]

It seemed that the decision to admit her was made based solely on the imaging results. This was understandable, given that metastasis is the most critical and most terrifying aspect of cancer treatment.

It's a problem that must be confirmed, no matter what. It's also a moment that most hematologists and oncologists find the most frustrating.

'Let me look through some papers before I go out.'

[Please do. If I had hands, I would have done it myself. It's really a shame.]

'Don't be so annoying.'

Suhyeok shook his head and accessed a paper site using the ward station computer. The nurses didn't pay much attention to him muttering to himself; they just thought their quirky first-year resident was starting another strange habit.

Meanwhile, Suhyeok logged into the journal he wanted.

Radiology.

As the largest journal in the field of radiology, the site contained a vast number of papers. Among them, he needed to find the issue published in May 2014.

'Oh, there are so many... How am I going to finish this...'

He easily found the issue, but it contained dozens of papers published that month.

[You should have stayed awake the first time.]

'You could have set an alarm or something.'

[Wow... Didn't you say you would remove me from your head? How can you act like this?]

'But if it's knowledge I really need, you should have alerted me.'

[Wow, this... Understood. I will make sure to internalize this statement as a guideline for my actions.]

'No, it's not that serious...'

While saying this, Suhyeok scanned the numerous titles on the screen. Fortunately, Tae-hwa Medical Center, being the top hospital in the country, had access to all the papers, so there was no need to request them individually.

"Nurse, Mr. Suhyeok. The patient is here."

Before he could even click on the first paper, the nurse called him. He looked up to see Ms. Park Sang-a standing behind him.

Even from a distance, she didn't look particularly ill, and up close, she looked even healthier.

'Is it really not metastasis?'

[It's too early to conclude. Consider the characteristics of cancer.]

'You're right.'

Cancer can be more terrifying when it doesn't show symptoms. In other words, "I wasn't sick, I didn't have anything else" is meaningless when it comes to cancer.

"Yes, hello. Ms. Park Sang-a, I'm Dr. Suhyeok, your attending physician."

"Ah... Hello."

"Professor Jo Tae-jin will visit during the morning rounds tomorrow. Why don't you take a seat for now?"

"Ah... Yes, I understand."

The patient seemed a bit uneasy with a young doctor instead of her attending professor and kept looking around before reluctantly sitting down. Suhyeok quickly moved his cane, which he had left nearby, to the other side. He still wasn't used to using it, so such incidents were frequent.

"Have you heard about the tests you'll have tomorrow from the professor? Is that correct?"

"Um... Yes, roughly. But why are we doing them?"

"Um."

Suhyeok recalled Professor Jo Tae-jin's words.

- Don't mention metastasis.

It meant not to make the patient anxious prematurely, even though a definitive diagnosis hadn't been made. Of course, the patient was already likely to be anxious given the decision to admit her.

"I was told it's just for confirmation. The professor will explain it to you tomorrow."

[You're slipping out of it like a slippery eel.]

Fortunately, during the past month of internal medicine residency, Suhyeok had learned more than just about diseases. He had also picked up on the patient management skills of various residents and professors.

"I understand... Thank you."

Fortunately, the patient seemed to accept it, even if reluctantly. Perhaps she didn't want to discuss her condition further with a young doctor like Suhyeok.

In any case, having successfully navigated the difficult question, Suhyeok spoke again.

"Let me ask you a few questions. Is that okay?"

"Yes, sure."

"Have you experienced any abdominal pain in the past month?"

"Um... No, not really. Oh, I did feel some heartburn occasionally."

"Was it severe enough to require medication?"

"No, it wasn't that bad."

Pain is a crucial indicator, even though many cancers don't show symptoms until they reach a certain size.

Still, it was essential to check for pain, as what seemed minor could be a significant issue.

[No significant pain.]

But in this patient, there was no pain.

"Have you experienced any nausea?"

"Um... Once or twice?"

"Did it lead to vomiting?"

"No."

The subsequent questions also yielded no significant findings.

"Have you felt unusually fatigued or slept more than half the day?"

"No. If anything, I feel better now than a month ago."

If there was metastasis in the liver, it could cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and fatigue. Of course, weight loss and jaundice could also occur, but those were evident without asking.

"Yes, thank you. Today, we only have a blood test planned, so please rest well."

"Understood. Thank you."

He asked a few more questions, but there were no significant findings.

[It's not that there were no findings, but that there were no symptoms.]

'I know that.'

[Then why do you look so disappointed?]

'Nam.'

[Can we be called 'Nam'? I can feel Suhyeok's expression.]

'Go to hell. It's creepy.'

As soon as the patient left, Suhyeok muttered to himself and turned back to the monitor. No one had touched the computer he had been using, so the list of papers was still there.

'I guess I need to look at the abdominal imaging papers.'

[I think so. It was something like 'hepatitis'.]

'Are you, an AI, supposed to have a poor memory?'

Suhyeok's provocation was met with a counter from Baruda.

[Do you finally understand my frustration at using your brain as storage?]

'I'm not that bad... I graduated fourth in my class.'

[So you know three people with better brains. Can I really make Suhyeok the best internal medicine doctor in the world? I'm scared.]

'It's because I come from a poor family... Ah, forget it. Just find the paper.'

Suhyeok shook his head, deciding not to explain his circumstances. It felt too pitiful, and if he didn't find evidence that it wasn't metastasis before Professor Jo Tae-jin's rounds tomorrow, all his efforts would be in vain. So, he needed to hurry.

'Abdomen, abdomen...'

[The third one is about the abdomen.]

With Baruda's help, Suhyeok started reading the papers one by one. Despite having an AI, his English skills didn't improve dramatically, so he wasn't reading at a crazy speed. However, he was faster than others because he read in a storage format rather than memorizing.

'This one's a dud...'

[This one is also a dud.]

By the time he had skimmed through about ten papers, two hours had already passed. Suhyeok, looking exhausted, muttered to himself.

'Are you sure? May 2014?'

[Absolutely. Baruda is the world's best AI.]

'Isn't it embarrassing to say that?'

[If you mean the feeling of embarrassment, like when Suhyeok used to boast about becoming a wealthy doctor, I don't feel that.]

'Bastard.'

Suhyeok cursed, seemingly tired of Baruda's relentless responses.

'Oh.'

Then his eyes caught a paper.

'Local liver lesions due to chemotherapy in gastrointestinal cancer. Is this it?'

[Based on my incomplete memory, there's a 99% chance it's this one.]

'Great. Let's read it.'

[Yes.]

Suhyeok looked at the paper for a while. The more he read, the more certain he became that this was the paper Baruda had mentioned.

[Do you understand now? When Baruda says something, it's true.]

Baruda, sounding very proud, started shouting in his head, which was quite annoying. Despite this, Suhyeok finished reading the paper. Not only was the content interesting, but the case described in the paper matched the patient's situation perfectly.

'The professor is really going to be surprised tomorrow.'

Just a moment ago, he wished time would pass slowly, but now he couldn't wait for the next morning.