Chapter 67 – Actress of the Century (6)

Far East Command office.

Commander of the Far East Command, John Hull, summoned Lieutenant Colonel Anderson of the Medical Battalion to his office to grasp the treatment status of Marilyn Monroe.

“Sit down, Lieutenant Colonel.”

“Yes, Commander!”

“Marilyn Monroe came to Korea in a hurry for a consolatory performance at our invitation. Do you know what this means?”

“Yes. I understand it is a matter of great interest to our home country.”

“Since you know well, I will ask. How is Marilyn Monroe’s status?”

General John Hull, Commander of the Far East Command, asked Lieutenant Colonel Anderson personally. Marilyn Monroe’s fame was grand enough for Commander John Hull to oversee it directly.

“Hmm…”

Lieutenant Colonel Anderson, with a troubled expression, could not open his mouth easily.

“Why is that? Is there some problem?”

Commander John Hull’s thick eyebrows wriggled.

“Well, it seems the situation is not very good.”

Lieutenant Colonel Anderson moved his lips with difficulty.

“What do you mean by that? Didn’t you say it was simple pneumonia? So wasn’t she transferred to a Korean hospital whose facilities are better than our medical battalion’s?”

Commander John Hull’s face began to turn red little by little.

“Hmm, unfortunately, the probability is high that Miss Marilyn Monroe does not have simple pneumonia.”

“Not simple pneumonia?”

The startled Commander of the Far East Command, John Hull, raised his voice.

“Yes. It seems a nodule was discovered in Miss Monroe’s lung as a result of the X-ray reading.”

“It seems to have been discovered?”

“Yes. Since it is a medically complex issue, I cannot explain it to you in detail, Commander, but as a result of our close examination of various test results, it was identified that the probability of lung cancer is very high.”

Lieutenant Colonel Anderson dropped his head.

“Oops! What does that mean? Didn’t you report it as simple pneumonia in the official briefing? Having announced it in that way in front of numerous reporters, lung cancer now?? Are you calling that words right now?”

Commander John Hull raised his voice in furious anger.

“I am sorry. It was our oversight. Although we cannot say it is 100%, it is a situation where we have no choice but to suspect lung adenocarcinoma with a significant probability.”

“Crazy! Are you calling that words right now!”

Finally, Commander John Hull yelled, foaming at the mouth.

“I am sorry. We sent Miss Marilyn Monroe’s diagnosis results to Johns Hopkins and received the results, and they say the probability of lung adenocarcinoma is very high! At any rate, it seems we must take Miss Monroe from the Korean National Medical Center and transfer her to our home country.”

Lieutenant Colonel Anderson, in a difficult position, repeatedly wiped the sweat flowing down his forehead.

“Sigh, this is driving me crazy. Do you not know that Marilyn Monroe’s health status is of utmost interest even in our home country? How are you going to handle this matter?”

Commander John Hull stamped his feet and was in a furious rage.

“Even so, we cannot let her remain admitted to a Korean hospital, can we? In the unlikely event that a problem arises with Miss Monroe’s safety, or if the Korean hospital officially diagnoses lung cancer, we will face an even more awkward situation. So, it seems we must secure Miss Monroe’s safety as quickly as possible and transfer her to our home country.”

“Hmm…”

Commander John Hull looked troubled.

“That is why I am asking you a favor, Commander. Please keep the Korean side’s mouth shut as much as possible so that this secret does not leak out. Then we will handle the rest.”

“Sigh, I understand. I will take care of that, so keep the medical officers’ mouths shut thoroughly. In the unlikely event that reporters find out, what a disgrace that would be?”

“Understood. Then I will bring Miss Monroe to the medical battalion immediately.”

“Alright. You may leave.”

Sigh—

‘What a complete disgrace!’

Commander John Hull muttered and picked up the receiver.

* * *

National Medical Center, surgical department office.

“Ji-hyuk, I’m back from checking on Miss Monroe.”

Kim Yun-seok returned to the department office after finishing Marilyn Monroe’s treatment.

Kim Yun-seok’s expression looked dark.

“Yes. But why is your expression like that? Is there some problem with Miss Monroe?”

Kim Ji-hyuk checked Kim Yun-seok’s complexion.

“It’s a bit strange, you see? The cold was roughly treated, but suddenly her fever rose, so I administered an antipyretic.”

Kim Yun-seok tilted his head with a worried expression.

“Fever? How much did it rise? Just yesterday she didn’t even have a mild fever, what happened?”

“About 38.5 degrees?”

“Hmm, that’s quite a high fever. You say it happened suddenly?”

“Yes. It seems to have started rising since last dawn. I don’t know why the fever is rising suddenly.”

“Any other symptoms? Nothing else other than that?”

Kim Ji-hyuk asked back.

“Yes. She keeps saying she is dizzy. She also has nausea… Her neck stiffness is still not improving. At this point, it doesn’t seem like simple muscle pain. Why on earth is it like this?”

Kim Yun-seok rummaged through the chart with a serious face.

“Yun-seok! By any chance, did she say she feels nauseous or that rigidity came to her neck?”

Kim Ji-hyuk narrowed his eyes and asked Kim Yun-seok.

“Yes, exactly! She said the pit of her stomach feels nauseous in an unpleasant way, and her back neck feels stiff. For now, I made an excuse that the neck stiffness worsened because she lay in bed for a long time… But it’s probably not simple muscle pain, right?”

“No! There is a possibility of meningitis!”

“What? Meningitis? Suddenly? She was fine just yesterday.”

Kim Yun-seok was startled by Kim Ji-hyuk’s words.

“Meningitis is originally like that. Once symptoms start to appear, it can worsen in just a day! Let’s go see her with me quickly.”

“A-Alright.”

It was at that very moment.

“Dr. Ji-hyuk! We have a big problem.”

The nurse in charge of Marilyn Monroe ran into the department office in a hurry.

“Nurse Jeong, what is the matter?”

“The US military came to transfer the patient right now.”

“What did you say?”

“Unbelievable!”

Kim Ji-hyuk and Kim Yun-seok immediately ran to Marilyn Monroe’s ward.

* * *

A few hours later, Professor Chung Ki-ryeo’s research office.

Marilyn Monroe, who was transferred to the Far East Command Medical Battalion half-forcibly by the US military. With only the strength of Kim Ji-hyuk and Kim Yun-seok, they could not prevent Marilyn Monroe’s transfer.

The two, who had given up the patient in vain, immediately visited Professor Chung Ki-ryeo.

“Professor, how did this happen?”

“…”

Professor Chung Ki-ryeo was silent with a sorrowful expression.

“Professor, please say something. How on earth can such a thing happen? This is beyond ignoring our hospital, it is ignoring our country!”

Kim Ji-hyuk flared up.

“Right! How can such a thing happen? We must speak to the Director and bring the patient back.”

“Calm down. It’s not a matter to be resolved at that level.”

“Pardon?”

“It seems the Far East Commander stepped in directly. Sigh, at any rate, it seems we must wash our hands of it at this point. Dr. Kim Ji-hyuk, organize all of Miss Monroe’s diagnosis results and charts we did so far, and hand them over to the US side.”

“…”

“…”

Kim Ji-hyuk and Kim Yun-seok had sorrowful expressions.

“Both of you, keep my words in mind. Our Republic of Korea suffered this disgrace because it has no power. I hope you will hone medicine with the attitude of self-sacrifice so that this kind of thing never repeats.”

“Professor, before that, I would like to ask one thing.”

Kim Ji-hyuk asked Professor Chung Ki-ryeo.

“Speak.”

“There must be a reason why they are transferring Marilyn Monroe suddenly. Did a change occur in their diagnosis? Otherwise, there is no reason for them to make such a unreasonable move suddenly, is there?”

“Right! Having reviewed our hospital’s test results again, there’s no doubt they have a guilty conscience! Didn’t they misdiagnose her themselves, and are doing this because they are afraid it will be revealed?”

As Kim Ji-hyuk stepped forward, Kim Yun-seok added strength.

“I cannot confirm it accurately, but from what I hear, the US medical battalion seems to diagnose Marilyn Monroe with lung adenocarcinoma.”

“See! They changed the diagnosis after seeing our hospital’s test results! They diagnosed it as pneumonia themselves, and are making a preemptive move because they are afraid their misdiagnosis will be revealed!”

Kim Yun-seok raised his voice in furious anger.

“So what are they going to do?”

On the other hand, Kim Ji-hyuk asked Professor Chung Ki-ryeo in a calm voice.

“It seems the medical battalion sent the test results to their home country. It seems they diagnosed it as lung adenocarcinoma over there… So they will transfer Miss Monroe to their home country and perform surgery.”

“Are you saying they will perform open lobectomy (thoracotomy)?”

“Shouldn’t we look at it in that way?”

“Marilyn Monroe is an actress. Do they not know how fatal a lung resection is to her acting career?”

“It cannot be helped. If their diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma is correct, there is no way other than surgery, is there?”

“What is the basis for lung adenocarcinoma?”

Kim Ji-hyuk asked back calmly.

“It seems they judged so after seeing the X-ray results we examined.”

“Isn’t it unreasonable to diagnose lung cancer based on that?”

“That is true… On the X-ray reading, the size of the ground-glass opacity exceeded 10mm. If so, even if it is not lung cancer, it is correct to remove it.”

“A ground-glass opacity can disappear as time passes.”

“Yes. Dr. Kim Ji-hyuk’s words make sense too, but even so, we cannot rule out the probability of lung adenocarcinoma, can we? Until we prove it is not lung adenocarcinoma, we have no basis to refute.”

Professor Chung Ki-ryeo shook his head slowly.

“Professor, that makes no sense! Please give us a bit more time. If you look at the details I studied, Miss Monroe’s symptoms are different from lung adenocarcinoma!”

Kim Yun-seok protested.

“How are they different?”

“First, Miss Monroe is continuously complaining of neck stiffness. Along with a severe headache, she says the pain in the back of her neck is severe.”

“Isn’t that muscle pain?”

“No. Not at all. On the X-ray exam, there is no problem with the bones and muscles of her neck, and furthermore, there was no improvement even though we administered a muscle relaxant.”

“Hmm, there are dozens of diseases that cause neck pain. Do you not know that it is a symptom that can appear even if there is a problem with reflux esophagitis or the thyroid.”

“Yes. I know that well. But that is not all. If so, are the skin rash and ulcers on Miss Monroe’s arms also due to lung adenocarcinoma?”

Kim Yun-seok asked Professor Chung Ki-ryeo again.

“Skin rash? Ulcers?”

“Yes. Since Miss Monroe was transferred to our hospital, didn’t I tell you that she had a skin rash and ulcers? Furthermore, she showed meningitis symptoms this morning.”

This time, Kim Ji-hyuk added an explanation.

“Meningitis?”

“I have looked through numerous papers and books, but I have not seen any content stating that lung adenocarcinoma and meningitis are correlated. I think the probability that Miss Monroe does not have lung adenocarcinoma is higher than the probability that she does.”

“Hmm, if so?”

Professor Chung Ki-ryeo narrowed his eyes and stared at Kim Ji-hyuk.

“I think it is cryptococcosis caused by a fungus called Cryptococcus neoformans!”

“Wh-what did you say?”

Professor Chung Ki-ryeo stood up from his seat in surprise.