Chapter 18, Section 3: I Am a National School Student (6)

'Ignorance is bliss.' Is this the kind of situation where that saying applies?

What if I hadn't been reincarnated?

What if I hadn't known about Brugada Syndrome?

I would have laughed and walked home happily with the three of them.

Despite the commotion, I would have felt a sense of pride as a doctor for saving the child with CPR.

But I, who have regressed in time, know that the misfortunes to come are greater than those I have overcome.

And I realized that knowing this in advance is not a blessing at all.

The future that has been twisted and changed unexpectedly because of me.

A future that I might not be able to change even if I take the lead.

A future that only I know.

Living a regressed life means struggling to overcome these three futures.

After regressing, for the first time, I felt that my situation was lonely and pitiful.

I might be able to be a solid support for others, but there is nowhere for me to lean on.

Who could I explain my knowledge to, being in the body of a national school student?

The frustration made my chest tighten.

"Faith, what are you doing? We need to go home."

My homeroom teacher gestured to hurry me along.

"Yes, teacher."

Nodding, I walked toward the teacher, trying to clear the dark cloud in my heart.

Giving up is important.

If you stubbornly stick to the wrong path in the mountains, you will inevitably fall off a cliff.

But I thought that in medicine, giving up is not allowed.

If a doctor gives up on a patient, the patient and their guardian have nowhere to turn.

'There is a way. If I use my wisdom one more time...'

In early March 1992, Brugada Syndrome, which causes sudden death in patients with irregular heart rhythms, had not yet been announced to the world.

Cardiologists and thoracic surgeons naturally did not know about Brugada Syndrome.

But there was someone who could recognize that this condition was serious, even if they didn't know what Brugada Syndrome was.

Kang Dong-wook, the deputy director of the cardiology department at Hansun University.

Kang Dong-wook, the deputy director, was a renowned cardiologist in Korea.

Of course, he would be a junior professor now.

With his sharp analytical skills, he might be able to see through Brugada Syndrome.

I clung to this faint hope with all my might.

"Excuse me. I have a question."

Having made my decision, I turned the conversation to the three people.

I will make Kim Yo-han see Professor Kang Dong-wook. That is my immediate goal.

"Why, Faith?"

"My mom said that when someone is very sick, it's best to go to a big hospital. I think it would be good for Yo-han to go to a big hospital."

"That kid, you really care about your friend. But the doctor here is also very skilled. If he says it's okay, it should be fine."

The teacher immediately countered.

Indeed, I had no allies in this situation.

"Faith, I'm fine now. My chest just hurts a little."

"Are you really okay, Yo-han?"

"Yes."

"Are you just pretending to be okay? If Yo-han is fine, then my mom is fine too."

"Really, I'm fine."

As Kim Yo-han and his mother conversed, they subtly supported the teacher's opinion.

In a 3:1 battle, I felt a deep loneliness.

Knowing something that no one else knows is truly a lonely thing.

"Yo-han, are you really okay? Does your chest feel tight or anxious? I think it would."

"..."

"Focus on your heartbeat."

I deliberately guided Kim Yo-han to feel symptoms he didn't have.

Everyone has had this experience.

You feel fine, but if someone keeps asking if you're sick, you start to feel sick.

This experience happens more often to children than adults, so I decided to use it to instill anxiety in Kim Yo-han.

It wasn't a good method, but it was better than living with untreated Brugada Syndrome.

Would my plan work?

Kim Yo-han's expression darkened as he placed his hand on his chest.

"All of a sudden, my heart is beating fast. Why is this happening?"

Indeed, it was working as planned.

Once you become aware of your heartbeat, it's natural to feel that the rhythm is abnormal.

Why?

Depending on the person, the heart beats 60 to 100 times per minute.

So, if you focus on your heart, you can feel the 60 to 100 beats per minute.

This strong heartbeat can make people feel anxious, as if there's a problem.

As anxiety spread across Kim Yo-han's face, his mother and the teacher's faces also darkened.

"Since we've come this far, wouldn't it be okay to go to a big hospital?"

I tried to guide their reactions again, carefully observing their expressions.

It definitely felt different from before.

I could clearly see my words landing on their shoulders with the right weight.

"If the mother is okay with it, going to a big hospital doesn't seem bad. If a big hospital says he's healthy, then he really is."

"...Let's do that. We can't do business anyway, so it's fine."

"Yo-han, are you okay with going to a big hospital?"

"Yes."

I watched contentedly as the three of them came to an agreement.

Now, all that's left is to pray that Deputy Director Kang Dong-wook, or rather, Assistant Professor Kang Dong-wook, will see through Brugada Syndrome.

"Teacher, I want to go too."

"Faith, you can go home. You've worked hard all day."

"Yo-han has worked harder than me. I want to take care of him until the end."

"You're a good kid. Now, it wouldn't be safe to send you back to school alone, so let's all go together."

"Thank you. My mom is a nurse, so I'll ask her which big hospital is good."

I pretended to make a call at a payphone and then returned to the three of them with a bright smile.

"Professor Kang Dong-wook at Hansun University is a very good doctor."

* * *

It took only an hour from arriving at Hansun University Hospital to seeing the doctor.

Considering we came without an appointment and had to undergo all the necessary tests before the consultation, it was an incredibly fast process.

It seemed that at this time, Professor Kang had only recently started outpatient clinics and wasn't very popular among patients.

The three of them, who had never been to a university hospital, seemed to find the whole process tedious and frustrating.

'Professor Kang Dong-wook is worth putting my hopes on.'

While waiting for the consultation, I clasped my hands and prayed to the god of medicine.

Kim Yo-han's only lifeline was Professor Kang Dong-wook.

Please help him notice Brugada Syndrome.

I had also prepared some hints to subtly guide Professor Kang, in case of an emergency.

"Patient Kim Yo-han, please come in."

The call from the outpatient nurse sounded like a divine revelation.

The four of us, who had been sitting in the waiting room, stood up and headed to the consultation room.

"Four people? What's your relationship with the patient?"

The nurse asked, wide-eyed.

"I'm the patient's homeroom teacher, and this child is the patient's friend."

"Then the two of you will have to wait outside. The consultation room might get too crowded..."

"It's fine. Teacher Yang, let them all come in."

A clear voice came from inside the consultation room.

It was the same voice I had heard at the Hansun University cardiology conference in my previous life.

Thanks to Professor Kang's help, the four of us entered the consultation room together.

'Wow, he was really a handsome man back then.'

I couldn't help but marvel at the sight of Professor Kang Dong-wook sitting in the consultation room.

The Kang Dong-wook I remembered was an elderly man with a solid, well-defined face.

But the Kang Dong-wook in front of me was a middle-aged doctor with a sharp jawline and an intellectual charm.

Professor, you don't know me, but please take good care of me.

Please save Yo-han.

"Please have a seat, patient and guardian. The other two will have to stand. We don't have enough chairs."

"We're fine."

The teacher waved his hand, seemingly embarrassed by Professor Kang's words.

He seemed slightly intimidated by Professor Kang's commanding presence.

"Where does it hurt?"

Professor Kang began the consultation.

His eyes were sharp, his questions thorough, and his hands busy writing on the chart.

"The blood test, chest X-ray, and urine test were all normal, and the echocardiogram was fine too?"

"Yes, we went to a nearby hospital before coming here, and they said there was nothing serious."

"Still, it's good that you came. It's rare for a national school student to have a heart attack."

Finally, Professor Kang held the ECG results.

Depending on how Professor Kang interpreted the ECG, our journey so far could either be in vain or end successfully.

I held my breath and watched Professor Kang closely.

"Guardian."

"Yes, doctor."

"I don't like beating around the bush, so I'll be straightforward."

The moment Professor Kang paused felt like several minutes to me.

What would the ECG interpretation of the future's renowned cardiologist, Kang Dong-wook, be?

"Your son needs surgery."

The words I had been waiting to hear came from Professor Kang's mouth.

I almost raised my hands to the ceiling and shouted in joy.

I wasn't alone, even after being reincarnated.

Indeed, Professor Kang was different.

"What? What do you mean by that?"

Kim Yo-han's mother opened her eyes wide in disbelief.

The teacher also seemed greatly shaken.

It was a natural reaction from their perspective.

"The previous hospital said Yo-han was fine. Why does he need surgery?"

"Cases like your son's are very rare, so there might be an issue with interpretation. The question is whether to dismiss the abnormal ECG as insignificant or to take it seriously."

Professor Kang continued his explanation.

The heart has a place that sends electrical signals.

The heart beats when it receives these signals.

But in Kim Yo-han's case, there's a problem with the place that sends the electrical signals, causing them to be transmitted irregularly.

If surgery is not performed, the electrical signals will continue to be irregular, and a heart attack like today's could naturally occur.

"I'm still confused. I don't understand what's going on, and I don't know which doctor to believe."

Kim Yo-han's mother looked bewildered.

Professor Kang nodded, as if understanding her confusion.

"To put it simply, it's a difference in how the ECG results are interpreted. The disease your son has doesn't have a name yet."

"..."

"There are only a few claims that patients with such ECG graphs are at high risk of sudden death from heart attacks."

"..."

"The previous doctor's opinion isn't entirely wrong. Your son might not have any problems in the future."

"..."

"But think about it. There's a big difference between having no problem and having a problem that doesn't occur."

"..."

"If you want to consider your child's future, surgery is necessary. It's not possible to live with the anxiety of having a heart attack at any time. If you're okay with it, we can admit him today. There's room in the pediatric ward."

It was a decisive decision, typical of Professor Kang, known for his boldness.

The way he decided to admit the patient immediately after the consultation showed his decisiveness.

That's why people sometimes joked that he should have gone into surgery instead of internal medicine.

'I should learn from that.'

I learned a lot from Professor Kang's bold attitude.

What I lacked in my previous life was that boldness and decisiveness.

Thinking about the patients I lost due to a lack of confidence in my previous life, I felt only regret and sorrow.

"Doctor, but isn't surgery done by a thoracic surgeon?"

The teacher, who had been silent, spoke up for the first time.

"PCI, which involves dilating narrowed blood vessels with a balloon and inserting a pacemaker, is done by an internist."

Professor Kang also explained in detail the pacemaker insertion surgery that Kim Yo-han would need.

In simple terms, the surgery involves installing a device in Kim Yo-han's heart to regulate the irregular heartbeat.

The teacher, Kim Yo-han, and his mother were all tense at the mention of surgery.

But I knew that pacemaker insertion surgery was not difficult or dangerous.

"..."

"..."

After listening to Professor Kang's explanation, Kim Yo-han's mother remained silent for a long time.

Now, everything depended on her decision.

If she refused the surgery, our journey so far would be in vain.

I met her eyes, which were filled with fear and indecision, and nodded gently.

Although my body was that of a national school student, my eyes were those of a mature thoracic surgeon.

"I don't want my child to live in fear. It seems we should have the surgery... How much will it cost?"

Kim Yo-han's mother asked, her face filled with worry.

She seemed inclined to agree to the surgery but was concerned about the financial burden.

"Roughly 2 to 3 million won. It's a significant amount. However, you can seek help from the social services team. You can also pay the surgery fees gradually through the administrative office."

"..."

"Will you be admitted, then?"

"Yes, since the doctor has explained it so thoroughly... We should admit him for his sake."

"Excellent decision. Teacher Yang, please help with the admission process and inform the patient about the social services team."

"Yes, Professor."

After the consultation, I left the consultation room with the three of them, feeling relieved.

I was grateful to Professor Kang, who had put a perfect period at the end of my long and arduous journey.

With the pacemaker surgery, Kim Yo-han would be able to return to a normal life, albeit with some inconvenience.

After leaving the consultation room, I bowed deeply toward it.

Thank you, Professor Kang.

I wasn't alone.