Doctor John -Episode 7-8 Recap
Yo Han walks over to Si Young and asks her to stop caring about him if she is confused about what he is. He asks her to focus on Joo. Yoo Joon comes in and says that Joo wants to be taken off the ventilator.
At the conference room, the senior doctors (anaesthesiology), the director and Lawyer Han are present. Lawyer Han advises against removing the ventilator as he says the family can later sue the hospital if Joo dies soon after. Dr Kwon Suk blames Yo Han for this, as the patient is their responsibility now. Chief Min says that the problem is that there is no diagnosis.
The director informs Joo’s wife and his father that there is no diagnosis yet. Joo’s father asks them to save Joo no matter what the cost is. Joo’s wife is heartbroken as she asks him to respect his son’s wish. She says the patient’s opinion should matter more than his family’s, but his father doesn’t agree. Yi-moon acknowledges and the family leaves.
The lawyer says he will get the family’s consent for treatment, but he wants Yo Han off the case. Lawyer Han says that Yo Han didn’t break the law but Dr Min agrees to keep Yo han off the case.
At the meeting room, Yo Han receives a message from Lawyer Han stating that Joo will be tested but that he is off the case.
(Episode 7- About Fears)
Joo’s children watch him from outside and worry if he is going to die.
Yoo Joon and Heo Joon are walking down the corridor. Heo Joon drags Yoo Joon away when he sees Chief Min and Yi Moon walking towards them. He says he gets an upset stomach when he sees them and wonders how Si Young puts up with them all the time. Si Young being Min’s daughter comes as news to Yoo Joon. Heo Joon says that Yi Moon is Si Young’s uncle. Yoo Joon is determined as he walks away saying aristocracy doesn’t bother him.
In the meeting room, Si Young sketches a droopy eye (Myasthenia Gravis). She learns from Yoo Joon that the family has consented for Joo’s test.
Si Young stands outside Joo’s room and overhears the doctor brief the family. He says that CT showed pneumonia and once that is treated, he can come off the ventilator. He says the diagnosis isn’t complete yet and only the cause of the respiratory arrest has been found. Just then, Joo wakes up and his father assures him that he can come off the ventilator.
Cha Yo han is sitting in the meeting room tapping his finger, deep in thought. She updates him on the status. He points out that she said she wouldn’t order the test. She explains it was because of the family’s consent. He checks the CT on his monitor saying pneumonia doesn’t explain his symptoms. He observes there are no tumours or enlargement of the thymus. He rushes out of the room as he notices that Joo is being given antibiotics (Levofloxacin).
By the time Yo Han obtains a drug from the pharmacy, the antibiotic has been already administered on Joo. Yo Han runs towards Joo’s room but Si Young stops him. She says that if Joo has Myasthenia Gravis, the antibiotics could worsen his condition. She notes that the drug in Yo Han’s hand is tensilon (the test for Myasthenia Gravis). He says she is right and tries to go past her but she doesn’t allow him
She says if he is right, it would mean he is an amazing doctor but it also means they don’t have a diagnosis yet, as they don’t know it for sure. She says the antibody test also came back negative. He says 25% of patients test negative.
She says that the drug would put the patient in danger if Yo Han was wrong. Yo han asks if she thinks he is using the drug to see if he is right. She says she isn’t sure if his treatment is for the patient’s sake or for his own sake.
Yo Han gives up talking with her and walks away in a frustrated manner. She again asks the question and he repeats the same question back at her. He says they don’t have time if she is asking this for the patient’s sake. She follows him as walks away.
They reach Joo’s room in time to see the doctor instructing the nurse to give Joo more antibiotics later. Yo han tells the doctor about the condition and that antibiotics can make them worse. The doctor calls him an anesthesiologist and asks him to contact neurology formally. He says Joo has been doing well (removed from the ventilator) after being given antibiotics but Yo han says if Joo has already been given antibiotics then there is no time to waste.
Chief Min comes by just then and reminds him that he is off the case. She asks Yo Han to follow her. Just then, they hear shouting from Joo’s room and Yo han rushes in followed by Si-young.
They learn that Joo isn’t able to move his right hand and leg. The doctor suggests that it could be brain lesions. Yo Han says if they wait longer he might go back into respiratory paralysis. He suggests putting him off antibiotics. The doctor asks what will happen if tensilon puts him into Cardiac arrest.
Yo Han removes Joo’s oxygen mask and asks him if he can do the test. Joo says he recognises the look on Yo Han’s face as if he has found something. He asks if he is different. Yo han asks him to consent in order to find out. Joo asks if it will help the diagnosis. Yo han says it will and begs him to consent. Joo consents and immediately starts having difficulty breathing.
Yo han tells the doctor to have both atropine and intubation ready if Joo goes into cardiac arrest.
Chief Min watches as Yo han injects the drug into the IV. Joo’s heart rate starts dropping immediately and the doctor pushes Yo han away to give Joo Atropine.
The doctor is about to inject atropine when Joo’s heart rate stabilises on its own. Joo immediately moves his right hand and opens his eyes. The nurse says the vitals are normal. Yo Han is relieved as he sees Joo sit up.
Yo han explains that this drug was just for diagnosis but Joo will need treatment for Myasthenia Gravis. Joo’s father thanks Yo Han profusely. Yo han tells Joo that continuous and careful care is needed for Myasthenia Gravis. He advises Joo to get treated at neurology.
Joo thanks Yo han for ignoring his request the day before and saving him.
Yo han said he didn’t ignore what Joo said but he got a hint from it. He says he wondered what would have made Joo feel like he had lost his sight and limbs. He says he considered every disease that would cause these symptoms and found the answer. He mentions Joo saying that his life would be a pain, so Yo han had to find the answer.
We see a flashback of their conversation the previous day (boxing ring).
Yo han refuses to euthanize Joo and walks away. Joo asks why he did it for that patient and asks if pain matters only if a person is dying. He asks, what if he is in so much pain that he would rather die. Yo han says he understands Joo’s pain as a fighter but he asks why the family needs to suffer. He says Joo cares only about his life and asks if fighting is the only important thing.
Yo han says that advancing death to feel at ease and advancing death to take life away is totally different. He firmly states that he is not a doctor who kills people.
At present, Yo Han smiles at Joo who has a grateful look on his face.
Later on, as they watch Yo han from afar, Yoo Joon tells Si Young that Yo Han is a fearless doctor who doesn’t make mistakes. He asks if she has come to a conclusion regarding who Yo han is.
Si-young smiles and says that Yo han is a doctor who does everything he can to get rid of the pain.
Yoo Joon smiles as he says that’s why Yo Han saves people but sometimes ends lives in order to do so.
She asks him why his attitude has changed towards Yo Han suddenly. Yoo Joon says he needs to earn money to open his own hospital one day. He says Yo Han is a doctor who can teach him stuff that no one else can.
As Si Young enters the meeting room, Heo Joon asks her to ask Yo han if they can leave. She sees that Yo Han is in his office with his back facing the door. She knocks the door and walks in.
She walks up to him and calls out his name softly. He seems to have fallen asleep cradling his head in his hand, but his finger occasionally taps the desk. She walks slowly around the table and sees the papers on Myasthenia Gravis. His pen drops from his hand but he doesn’t wake up.
Si Young goes closer and crouches to picks up the pen. She pauses and looks up at Yo Han’s sleeping form. She is taken aback when Yo Han opens his eyes. He asks her what she is doing. She gets up placing the pen on the table. She says the doctors want to know if they can go home.
Yo han goes out and sends the doctors home. He comes back to the office where Si Young is there and they exchange an awkward look before he heads out.
As Si Young gets off work, she sees Joo and his wife walking down the corridor. Joo walks with his crutch. He says he will start getting treatment now. He asks for Yo han whom she says has gone home. He thanks her for following him that day and not giving up on him when he wanted to be discharged. He says that if not for her, he would have come back to the hospital with a ventilator.
Just then, his kids wave to him from a distance. He tells Si Young that he had fainted in front of his 5-year-old daughter. He says his wife saved him that day. He says he swore at her for it and made her sign a memorandum saying what to do if he fainted again. He says he was selfish. He adds that he thought doctors only saved patients but doctors actually saved his family. He thanks her. Si-young smiles as his kids come running and hug him. Her smile fades as they leave.
Si Young walks into the room having the patient on the ventilator to whom she sends messages. She draws the curtains back and lays on the person and starts crying uncontrollably “Dad…Dad…”
Later on, Yo Han is getting off work when he notices Si Young run past him. Si Young sits in the fire escape staircase and breaks down into tears. Yo Han follows her and watches her from a distance. He then sits in the staircase above her as she cries.
(Episode 8)
Later, Si-young splashes water on her face in the restroom. She receives a call from her uncle.
She joins her uncle at a grill house for dinner. He toasts to her return and they drink. He calls Dr Min cold-hearted after learning that she had scolded Si Young. She tells him that inmate 6238 came to her hospital. Jeong Nam says he doesn’t keep track of inmates once they leave and she calls him indifferent. He says buying food and drinks for the inmates is enough. He waves to Yo Han who walks in. Si Young is thrown off guard. He says he had called Yo han for dinner and learnt that he works at this hospital. She reminds him that he had asked her not to talk to Yo Han and Jeong Nam says things have changed now.
Si Young says she is leaving and keeps her head down, as she swiftly walks away. She stops in front of a person and looks up to see that it is Yo Han. She smiles and says she came to escort him to the table. They both walk towards Jeong Nam.
As they sit down, Jeong Nam asks her not to be rude to Yo Han like before. She gapes at him asking when she was rude. She is extremely embarrassed as he repeats what she had said about Yo Han while at the penitentiary. Yo Han seems amused.
Yo han asks about the new medical officer and offers to work there for some time. Jeong Nam is alarmed and asks him to stay away from that place. Yo Han asks why he had called him if Jeong Nam hated him that much. Jeong Nam says he is happy that they keep meeting each other. He notes that first time they met through him and now they meet as teacher and student.
Yo Han asks if he should be nice to Si Young and Jeong Nam confirms it. Jeong Nam goes on to tell her again to be polite to Yo han. This time she asks if he is drunk and asks him to keep quiet. Yo han smiles as he drinks. Jeong Nam again pours them a drink and toasts to both of their return. Both of them fall silent as they drink.
Meanwhile, Yoo Joon is at a restaurant and his mother (owner) packs him many boxes of Kimchi and rice. He tells her that he doesn’t have time to cook and she asks him to cook at the hospital. She asks him how things are at the hospital. He asks her how her health is and she says she is normal. He tells her not to overwork herself, as her health shouldn’t get worse. She brushes it off saying she knows. He yells at her saying he won’t take any of this.
Later on, Yoo Joon is on his way back carrying all the boxes and rice. On the way back, he stops as he sees a kitten. He opens a can of food and places it near the kitten. Just then, Mi Rae comes by and he learns that she lives in the employee apartment. He calls her thrifty and she asks if she shouldn’t live alone just because she is the chief’s daughter. She says that the food tin will hurt the kitten’s tongue. She places the food in a paper bowl along with water and they watch the kitten eat.
Yoo Joon points out that Si Young is her sister and she asks him how he was acquainted with Si Young. He tells her how he, Si Young and Yo han met. This is news to her and he laughs asking if she isn’t close to her sister. She gets up angrily as she says they are not close and walks away. He is puzzled as he looks at her as she walks away. The kitten too runs away after finishing its food. Yoo Joon comments that they are alike.
Meanwhile, at the grill place, Si-young walks in front to call the cab. Yo han helps a drunk Jeong Nam walk to the cab. Jeong Nam says they aren’t related by blood, but she is his niece. He says Si Young is his best friend’s daughter. He holds Yo Han’s hand and asks him to take care of Si Young. Yo Han says he can barely fend for himself and Jeong Nam shouldn’t be saying that. Jeong Nam says that Si Young isn’t able to tell Yo Han but he knows about her. Yo Han doesn’t allow him to complete the sentence and says that the cab is here.
Jeong Nam asks him to teach Si Young well and Yo Han says she is already doing well. As he helps Jeong Nam into the cab, Jeong Nam yells out saying that Yo Han praised Si Young. Si Young is confused as Yo han closes the door and the cab pulls away.
She looks at Yo han who asks her to go home and walks away. After walking for some time, he notices that she is following him. At first, he doesn’t say anything but later on, he turns around and asks her if she wants to know what she to earn his praise. Si-young nods her head. He says she doesn’t do as he says. He adds that she used to find it hard to do as he said, but not anymore because she questions his orders and does things before he even says it.
He says he will see her tomorrow and starts walking. She mentions her patient and he turns around. She says that her patient from the incident is still alive in a vegetative state. She says the patient (her father) whose heart she stopped is in their hospital for more than a year now.
The scene shifts to a separate dimension where they continue the conversation inside what looks like a glass cubicle.
Si Young says she visited the patient for the first time after the incident. She asks Yo Han if he ever regretted the decision. She asks him if he would choose to kill a patient, if killing him would be the only option to stop the pain.
Yo han says that he was the doctor in charge of managing the patient’s pain.
We see a montage of Yo Han, managing the dosage (IV) of painkillers for the patient Yoon Seung kyu who is in pain. He watches the patient sleep.
Yo Han narrates that pain management means he has to give enough painkillers to knock the patient out (so he doesn’t feel pain) and then to reduce the dose so that it does not kill him (so that he will feel pain again).
Yo Han sits near the patient after reducing the dosage and waits for the patient to wake up. After some time, the patient starts groaning as the painkiller wears off. Yo han walks towards the patient who is suffering.
Yo Han narrates that they fed nutrients into his body even though his body was rotting alive. He had no choice but to wait for Seung Kyu’s heart to stop. He says not providing nutrients is murder. Giving a lethal dose of painkillers is murder. He says he feared to become a murderer so he kept the patient barely alive and in pain for two months. He says that he used the name of pain management and hated himself for using the excuse that the patient had killed two kids.
In a montage, we see Yo Han as he changes the patient’s IV and starts to walks out of the room. The patient starts bleeding from his nose. Seung Kyu calls out to Yo han faintly and says, “Please, I want to…”.
Yo han narrates that over the two months Seung Kyu had never asked Yo han to save him or kill him. Si Young asks why was it so. He says she had asked him if he can kill a patient if the doctor could get rid of the patient’s suffering. He says she is asking the wrong question. He says that you don’t kill to end the suffering or to avoid the suffering. He says it is to solve the suffering even though it results in death. He says that is all it is.
He says his patient asked him to end the pain even if it meant he died. He adds that the law states it is a crime to kill a patient at will, but neglecting a patient’s suffering to end pain could be a crime too. He says what he was doing to Seung Kyu for two months was not treatment but torture. He says he doesn’t regret it but he was just afraid.
Si Young asks if he was afraid and he nods saying he was afraid a lot. She tears up as she says she was afraid as well. She says she is afraid as unlike him she doesn’t know what she did so she can’t say she has no regrets. She says back then and now she is afraid that a patient’s life is in her hands.
Yo Han says that is natural as a patient needs a doctor who fears himself than a one who doesn’t. He tells her that she is doing well.
A bus rides past them and Yo han smiles at her. He says he needs to walk and says he will see her tomorrow. She bows to his retreating figure.
The next day Yo Han visits Joo in his room. Yo Han says he is glad that Joo is getting better. Joo says that Yo han is right in saying that you don’t take away life or extend it but you let your patient live his full life. Joo thanks Yo han as he holds out his hand and Yo han takes it with a smile. Yo han mimics a punch and Joo laughs as he tells him the right way to do it.
As he walks out of Joo’s room, he runs into Chief Min. She says she wasn’t always an oldie and there was a time when she wanted to heal people and not their illness. She says she isn’t sure if that is the best. She says they are scientists who find answers from the illnesses but humans are organisms without answers. They both walk away.
Chief Min receives a call and her expression turns grim.
In the meeting room, Mi Rae runs out as she too receives a call.
Yo Han is in a good mood as he walks into the pain management centre. The nurses look at him oddly, as he greets them with a smile. He notices something is off and he heads into the meeting room. He asks the residents where Mi Rae and Si Young are.
Meanwhile, the doctors run to the VIP Isolation ward. They say it is Ventricular Fibrillation. Chief Min stands in the corner watching the vitals, as the doctor gives Si Young’s father chest compressions. Mi Rae rushes in and starts crying holding her father. Yi Moon joins them in the room but Si Young is nowhere to be seen. Chief Min asks for a defibrillator. Joo Kyeong takes a wailing Mi Rae out of the room. She calls up Si Young who doesn’t pick up.
Back at the meeting room, Yo han sits silently as the residents discuss Si Young’s father. They say it was a huge accident and Si Young left the hospital after that. Yo Han realises that Si Young’s patient whose heart she stopped was her dad. Just then, Heo Joon receives a call asking where Si Young is. They realise that Si Young isn’t at the VIP Isolation ward either. Yo Han taps his finger as Heo Joon says Si Young isn’t picking up calls and her father’s condition is serious. Yo han heads out after asking them to keep calling her.
Si Young sits in the stairwell (fire escape) and cries uncontrollably. Yo han comes and stands before her. He calls out her name but she doesn’t look at him. He calls her name again and she looks up crying. He asks her to stand up. He bends down and ties her shoelace. He asks her how many times he should say that there is always a timing for each patient. He says if it is not then, it may too late forever. He says a doctor must be ready to run. He says now is the time.
Si Young says that ‘he’ is her father and not just a patient. She says she is not a doctor but a daughter. He says she is both a doctor and a daughter. He says that right now her father needs both.
In Si-Young’s father’s room, Min isn’t able to revive him but she continues to give chest compression. Si Young walks in slowly to see this and Yo Han remains at the back of the room.
Si-young remembers in a flashback, her father asking her to stop as it hurts (while she was giving first aid).
At present, Si-young notices tears trickling down her father’s face. She asks her mother to stop as her father is in pain.
Chief Min stops the chest compressions and staggers back as the machines continue to beep. Mi Rae and Yo han look on as Si Young cries softly.
Image courtesy- SBS
Review
This episode cast light on both Si Young and Yo Han’s side of their story.
The portrayal of two characters in a separate dimension (the boxing ring and glass box) as they find something common between them was a good visualisation. It shows that only the two characters understand the subject (that they talk about) that is very deeply rooted in their minds.
The scene where Yo han explains his side of the story and what was running in his mind at that time was a noteworthy scene. It is good that Si Young spoke to Yo han about this right before they called a code blue on her father.
The scene with Yoon Seung Kyu suffering was well portrayed as it was uncomfortable to watch. The concept of pain management is explained very well and makes one understand how tough it is for doctors to treat patients who are in chronic pain.
The other characters term Yo han as arrogant and unsocial but he comes across is actually a great teacher. It seems like Cha Yo Han is a phantom outside the hospital. Almost nothing is shown yet about his personal life despite him being the male lead.
The dialogues in this episode were outstanding and thought-provoking. Some of my picks were:
“Advancing death to feel at ease and advancing death to take life away is totally different”- Cha Yo Han
“Pain management is to give enough painkillers to knock the patient out so he doesn’t feel pain and then to reduce the dose so that it does not kill him ,so he will feel pain again.”- Cha Yo Han
“You don’t kill to end the suffering or to avoid the suffering. It is to solve the suffering even though it results in death.”- Cha Yo Han
“The law states it is a crime to kill a patient at will, but neglecting a patient’s suffering to end pain could be a crime too”- Cha Yo Han
“You don’t take away life or extend it but you let your patient live his full life.”-Joo
I like how the drama is made and look forward to seeing what is in store in the upcoming episodes.
-By Soul Sword-
Doctor John Episode 9-10 Recap
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