Doctor goes back to Joseon

“Then, can I lie down here?” Ryu Seongyong said with a tensed face.

“Yes, your lordship. Face down, please.”

In the room, Ganghyuk, Dolseok, Yeoju, and Yeoni were present along with him. Simply speaking, everyone was there except Makbong.

“No, please go up a little further.”

“Like this?”

“Yes.”

“Should I lie down to make buttocks up?”

If one were to describe the position of Ryu Seongyong in a word right now, it was ‘shameful’. Yeoju described it as follows:

‘He lied down with his face downward and legs apart as much as possible. The knees were bent, and the buttocks were directed to the ceiling. To prepare for the situation when he would lose his consciousness, he was fixed with metal equipment.’

He might not have ever imagined that he would have to lie in this funny position as a Confucian scholar, causing him to sigh

“Yes…”

“Anyway, I will be healed after this, right?” If Ganghyuk did not say yes, Seongyong would surely kill him. But, he could not move at all right now because he was tied.

“Yes. If you follow my instruction, it will not recur.”

“That is good.” He looked satisfied, even though he had to lie down in such a funny position.

‘It is no wonder he is so desperate. According to Sunshin, he could not even answer the call of the King at one time because of it. Seonjo had asked him to travel to provinces and see how people lived there, but he declined with an excuse.

When Seonjo heard of his excuse, he laughed. Of course, nobody would know if it were a true story.

“Well, let’s take off the trousers…”

‘Should I take off the trousers?’ Seongyong sighed on hearing this, wanting to just lose consciousness. At that moment, he thought of an idea. “Can I drink that medicine you told me about before?”

“Will you?”

“Yes, that would be better.”

“Okay, sir.”

As requested, Ganghyuk gave him the medicine. He had experimented it several times more after the first one to make sure of the dose. For a few days, the five bandits slept and then got woken up several times.

It was all thanks to their sacrifice that he could find the safe and effective dose.

‘It owes a lot to them.’ Ganghyuk nodded his head while watching Seongyong drink the medicine.

“Ka! It is said that good medicine is bitter to taste, but it is not really bad.”

“Glad to hear that.”

“Then, what should I do?”

“Just stay like this and you will be sleeping.”

“Really? I am wide awa…ke…”

It was very effective, as Seonyong fell asleep on the count of seven. It seemed to have a similar effect as the modern anesthetics used in operation rooms.

‘It does not seem to inhibit breathing at this dose.’ Of course, he might feel some pain, but that could be solved with the help of local anesthetic.

“Let’s take them off.”

“Yes, sir.” Dolseok acknowledged and rolled down the trousers politely. After all, when could a servant roll down the trousers of Grade 2 official? Hence, he took extra care.

“Fellow, take them down quickly.”

“Well, but…this…”

“Treatment is more important here, not etiquette.”

It was a comment that a nobleman would not make at all; but everyone present there, including Dolseok, did not care much as they knew Ganghyuk.

“Yes, sir.” And so, Seonyong’s trousers were removed with one movement.

His anus was a mess; in comparison, the mayor of Anseong had a clean and near-perfect package.

‘Wow! How did he live with this?’

It was no longer at the level of simple hemorrhoids. It might have even killed him soon without exaggerating things.

Ganghyuk had asked him to have a Sitz Bath for a few days prior to the date of operation, but it still looked really bad. Dolseok and Yeoni, who did not know about hemorrhoids, opened their mouths wide.

“Are they buttocks of a human?”

“Yes, this protrusion is called hemorrhoids.”

“Hemorrhoids?”

“Yes! It should be in the anus, but it came out because of pressure.”

Ganghyuk thought that he would need Yeoni’s help for this. This operation would be big, and he would need her help as well as Dolseok’s assistance.

‘He has both internal and external hemorrhoids. The status is the worst that I have ever seen.’

He was worrying about the operation, and hoped that the three of them could manage to finish it. The status was so bad that other doctors might wake up the patient rather than have an operation.

It was a total disaster.

“Watch out! It is not a joke.”

“Yes, sir.”

At this moment, Ganghyuk was the most tensed since he came to Joseon. Therefore, Dolseok and Yeoni were highly tensed as well.

‘I need to inject the local anesthetic.’

He tried not to cause bleeding as much as possible. After all, there was no way to transfuse blood here, and the patient had anemia; so, any blood loss was to be avoided as much as possible.

“Give me the syringe.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ganghyuk started to inject the anesthetic after making a simulation in his head. As far as Dolseok saw, he made tens of injections. It was totally different from the case of the mayor, where he operated after only one injection.

“Sir?”

“What?”

“I think you are taking care of him very carefully.”

“I always do when I treat patients.” It was a total lie that both the speaker and the listener identified.

“Did you forget the mayor of Anseong? But today, you made the special medicine and give him many injections…”

“Aha!” Ganghyuk laughed. “He deserves it. Wipe the blood.”

“Yes, sir.”

How could Dolseok know that Ganghyuk was treating an excellent politician right now who would leave his name in the history? Ganghyuk wanted to use all possible ways he could use to mitigate his pain and make the operation successful.

If he could, he wanted to transplant a healthy anus.

“Yeoni, apply the antiseptic.”

“Yes.”

It was the operation of the part which was the dirtiest in the body. Of course, he could start the operation with just a loose cleansing. Given the status of the anus, it was particularly true.

But, he wanted to make it perfect.

Seuk!

Yeoni cleansed the anus with Betadine, and because of the color of the medicine, it looked even dirtier right now.

“It looks strange with the application of Betadine.”

“Don’t say that. Do you know who he is?”

“Yes, sir.” With the low scolding from Ganghyuk, Dolseok bowed down immediately.

“Now, make it open.”

“Yes…”

They had practiced up to here with the bandits. Dolseok and Yeoni had practiced the operation with the chief bandit. Ganghyuk had said that they deserved it because they had attacked them, so nobody could object him. Thus, they gave off their buttocks for the experimentation.

“Good job! It was a good idea to practice.”

After all, it was better to see than to hear, and better to do than to see. The space that Yeoni and Dolseok created was the most appropriate. If it were too wide, the anus could be torn, and if too narrow, he could not have seen inside.

“Thank you, sir.” Yeoni bowed.

Earlier on, she did not know the importance of this practice. They had used a metal rod to open an anus. Although it was a practice for the treatment, they thought that it was quite peculiar. It was not only unfamiliar, but also strange.

But, after they became accustomed to it, they realized that it was a necessary practice.

“Good. Hold it like that.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ganghyuk looked inside the anus, which was opened three centimeters wide. There were a lot of big size hemorrhoids in it; it was terrible to see.

‘I need to remove them and suture.’

Hemorrhoids had a long history, and could be said to be there from the beginning of the human history. Therefore, a lot of treatment methods were developed. In the modern world, there was a device to insert in this narrow and dark crack.

But, there was no such device in the home visitation bag. So, he had to solve this problem with the scalpel and suture. The difficulty that he felt was close to that of a brain surgery.

“Hu!” Ganghyuk gave a low sigh in front of the anus. One good thing was that the medicine worked very well. Yeoju checked if he was breathing from time to time; it was certain that he would be good until the operation finished.

“I am starting now. It will bleed a lot, so do not be startled. Just think of what you practiced.”

“Yes, sir.” Yeoni and Dolseok answered in a serious voice as Ganghyuk looked very serious as well.

“Now, I will cut. You remember the order, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

He had already practiced hemorrhoids operation on the bandits. Most of Joseon people had small hemorrhoids, although they were not severe enough to have an operation. Therefore, they had a good teamwork for the operation today.

Jeek!

Ganghyuk cut the hemorrhoids which were swollen, and blackish-red blood flowed from it along with scabs.

“Yeoni!”

“Yes!” Yeoni gave the device to open the part for operation, called Army, to Dolseok, and inserted a gauze held by a tweezer. On her side, Dolseok received it at the same time. As a result, Ganghyuk did not lose his sight of the part under operation, and could press to stop the blood.

Consequent to the coordination, everything went well.

“Good! You did a good job! Now, leave it.”

“Yes.”

Blood in the hemorrhoids was stagnant. Therefore, it was not difficult to stop it. If pressed on time, it could be easily stopped. Ganghyuk started suturing once the blood stopped coming out fiercely.

‘There is still a blood lump.’

He did not forget to remove lumps by pressing the lesion with suture devices. It was a wonderful skill to suture through the three centimeters wide opening.

‘The president should have seen this…’ He thought at this moment that he deserved to have a full professorship. Nevertheless, he sutured quickly and perfectly, although he was having a useless thought in his head.

“Good. It is done here.” They had removed only one while Gagnhyuk cut the other hemorrhoids.

“Dolseok!”

“Yes, sir!” Dolseok gave the Army to Yeoni and tried to stop bleeding. At the same time, Yeoni held Army to maintain the sight.

“Without you guys, I could not have even dreamt of finishing it.”

“I am glad to hear that!” Dolseok laughed near the anus as he was really glad. Nevertheless, even though he wore a mask, it was not a good scene to see.

“We have still far to go. Do not lose focus.”

“Yes.”

“Yeoju, is the lordship alive?”

“Yes, sir. He is sleeping well.”

“Okay. If he moves, please tell me.”

“Yes.”

They had opened the anus as wide as they could. If he became conscious, a disaster might happen; for example, he could ‘shoot’ something.

‘Ah! That was enough with the experience in Mt. Gwanggyo.’ Although he respected Ryu Seongyong, he would not like to encounter the latter’s pooh.

‘We need to hurry up.’

The operation had to end as soon as possible. So, Ganghyuk moved faster and assistants became busier.

“Yeon!”

“Yes!”

“Dol!”

“Yes.”

With the repetition of such a chorus, the hemorrhoids became reduced. At this stage, only a few external hemorrhoids were left. Although it was still severe, it was better than the situation at the start, incomparably better!

Ganghyuk opened his mouth after removing those hemorrhoids too. “Good! We are almost at the end.”

“Wow, we did it!” Dolseok said with a moved face, while Yeoni felt the same satisfaction; her ears were blushed with delight.

“I think I am dreaming.”

“Yes. It is not a human anus at all.”

Although it was a rude comment, Ganghyuk did not stop him. He thought that Dolseok deserved saying that, as he had done a good job in the operation.

“How can we make him awake?”

With Dolseok’s remark, Yeoni rolled up her sleeves. She was ready to hit him by choosing the place that caused a greater pain without creating a wound. Ganghyuk shook his hands quickly to stop her.

“No, no. Wait till he wakes up.”

“Do we leave him like this?”

“No, we must cover him.”

“Yes, sir.”