'Anesthesia Awareness'
A phenomena whereby a patient appears to be under general anesthetic during an operation,
Although victims of anesthesia awareness experience all the pain of the operation,
the fact that they have been administered a muscle relaxant
means they have no way of expressing the pain.
Such an experience causes serious emotional problems for those that suffer it.
At least half of victims develop post-traumatic stress disorder.
Sangnoksu Hospital, 1982
Start counting and you'll go to sleep.
One, two, three, four...
Scalpel.
Eighteen, nineteen...
Twenty, twenty-one,
- twenty-two, twenty-three, -
twenty-four, twenty-five...
Don 't!
Stop! Stop!!
Stop it!
Don 't! Stop!
Don 't!
Stop it!
It takes very long today.
This guy's dad is head of Dongyang Medical Instruments,
so I want to sew him up right. That okay with you?.
Sang-u's father.
You may not like the idea of a therapist, but it's fine.
It would just be a basic examination.
How do you feel today?.
In a bad mood?.
Will you show me where they did your operation?.
Did it hurt a lot after the operation?.
- During the operation. - During the operation?.
They cut me here.
It hurt so much.
Sang-u, did you see the doctor performing the whole operation?.
You must have had your eyes open.
They were closed.
It hurt. It really hurt!
So I shouted at them to stop, but I couldn't move!
Hey!
I told you, you dreamt it.
You were anaesthetized.
Otherwise how could they operate?.
I'm not lying! Why don't you believe me?.
They cut me with a knife, then a saw, then branded me!
They twisted, stabbed, and sewed me up!
Just like that! Right here!
- Oh no... - Right here!
Mum, I'm not lying.
The doctors laughed and said they had to sew me up nicely.
I heard everyhing!
I don't think he's lying on purpose.
But at his age, it's easy to confuse imagination and reality.
- And he has had a big operation... - I'm not lying! Go away!!
Go away! Go away!
Kim Myung-min
Kim Tae-woo
Jeong Yoo-seok
Kim Yoo-mi
Directed by Lee Gyu-man
After 25 years
Did you have that dream again?. Come here... come here.
Hello?.
Wow! You sound happy!
Fine weather today.
Isn 't it?
So it's only a shame ifyour dead.
Listen.
Even the police have said I'm innocent.
Please just stop this now.
So... You're not responsible?.
You think being interrogated by the police a few times is enough?
It's hard for doctors to lose a patient.
Really?. Is it hard?. Really hard?.
Want me to show you a really hard time?.
See if you find it hard to lose your wife!
Hey, Lee Myeong-seok.
If you even go near my wife,
I'll put you behind bars, you hear me!
You fucking bastard.
You think I'll let myself be caught while your wife is still alive?.
You son of a bitch!
You doctors should all be exterminated!
This is all my fault!
I should never have taken you on. It's my fault that you lost your job.
- You've only just realized?. - Shall we open a restaurant.
You think anyone can do that?. I'm just a writer.
Fine. Have a nice life.
- I'm off now. -Bye.
- Don't come out. - Just go.
His liver is smashed like a dropped piece of tofu.
So shouldn't we just sew him up?.
I was kind of expecting it.
Bovie.
How long will it take?.
Five or six hours. Externer.
Dr. Ryu, you really tire me out. You are a pain.
Out of my way.
What do you think?.
- Will he live?. - Have to wait and see.
Why should I exhaust myself operating on a hopeless case like that?.
You should stop taking on these ones.
You've been through so much shit, you should spare yourself more.
I've got a date today.
Don't change the subject. You know I'm just concerned for you.
- You're just jealous. - You just can't stop taunting me.
You have a date every day!
Oh, and Dr. Jang...
Jealous, aren't you?.
Hey, it hurts!
See ya!
Hello?.
Yes.
Is it pretty??.
Yes.
- What color is it?. - It's blue.
Right, now the bird flies away.
You will feel even more deeply relaxed.
When I count to three, you will wake up.
One, two, three.
- Hey, can I get one of these?. - Okay.
You were speeding, weren't you! Really!
Hello.
Who are...?.
My name is Gang Uk-hwan.
Sorry?.
I am Jae-u's best old friend.
Oh, right.
I've just arrived from America to see Jae-u.
I'm afraid Jae-u's not here.
Come in.
Is Jae-u late?.
He'll be here any minute. He just called.
Did you phone Jae-u?.
Of course not.
He doesn't know I'm here.
It's a surprise.
Ah, I see.
Smells good.
Wow - she just can't wait.
Surprise!
Flowers?. You shouldn't have!
Afraid I didn't bring anything.
You're not... Gang Uk-hwan?.
Gang Uk-hwan?.
What the...!
You really surprised me!
Why didn't you call me first?.
Remember me?.
Let's go inside. Welcome!
You really got me!
So you threw snow at me, but with a stone in it!
Right.
I knew there was a stone in it.
- You knew it?. - No, I'm kidding.
It's hilarious!
By the way, you really haven't contacted anyone yet?.
No. I came to see you, you bitch.
Really?.
Do you remember?.
When we were young, we cut our hands and exchanged blood.
- Really?. - What blood?.
You can't remember?. Then you said this:
'We're brothers now.' Can't remember?.
Did I?.
As long as one of us remembers.
Uk-hwan, will you stay here tonight?.
No, I should go. I've got a hotel room.
- Why?. Stay the night?. - No.
- No... - Hey, Uk-hwan!
Thank you for dinner.
I'm all right. See you tomorrow.
Call me tomorrow.
- Come again, Uk-hwan! - All right. I had a good time.
- Go inside! - I'll see you off.
Nobady knew.
Nobody could know, and not reported to the medical profession.
Anyway you alive and live your life now.
Because of the operating.
And anybody can't have responsible for that.
Look at this...
Don't do this. You can't do this.
I'm innocent, you can't do this.
Hey, what's wrong?.
Hello. I'm at the scene of the brutal murder of a young girl.
The school toilet building behind me
is where this unbelievable murder took place.
Traces of the horrific crime are still all over the building.
According to police officers, the suspect could be 10 year old boy.
Shock! Mutilated girl's body found!
Suspect held in mutilated child case said to be 10 years old.
Shock; murderer only 10 years old!
Solitaty treatment in psychiatric hospital ordered.
Woman in 30s dies in fire; cause unknown
Former Sangnoksu Hospital anesthetist and wife killed in a car explosion.
The former leader of Sangnoksu Hospital is kiiled in a fall.
They were sons of former Sangnoksu Hospital psychiatrist Kim Hyeong-seok, who died last year.
Associates of the former doctor at Sangnoksu Hospital.
under investigation for possible motives
Sangnoksu Hospital
Bovie.
Open him up! So I can get my hands in.
Body temperature up to 99.3 degrees!
His pulse is speeding up.
His muscles are stiff.
Nurse Kim, give him some Nobalgin now!
OK!
Dr. Ryu,
we need to stop and cover him up. It's malignant hyperthermia.
Already?.
The body temperature is going up.
Ice pack! Massage him now!
........
It's 100 degrees.
Did you give him dantrolene sodium?.
It's not working.
It's gone up to 102 degrees.
- Dr. Jang! - I've injected sodium bicarbonate.
Suction!
108 degrees!
Like we were concerned about familial outbreak,
His pulse got quicker after we opened his stomach, as expected.
He showed signs of malignant hyperthermia,
His muscles stiffened and his temperature was rocketing.
All right. And you gave him dantrolene?.
Yes. It had no effect.
We stopped operating and cooled him down.
- He's having a tumor removed?. - Yes.
As you can see, the tumor's size and position
means it can be cleanly cut out.
If we try hard, we can help this patient.
The problem is, if we give him another general anesthetic,
he could get malignant hypothermia again.
- Try using another anesthetic. - Well...
if we use another one there's at least an 80-90%%% chance
the malignant hypothermia will return.
So we can't anesthetize him. There's nothing we can do.
Abandon the operation.
O Chi-hun mental hospital
Dr. Ryu, it's been a long time. How are you doing?.
No, go ahead, it's all right.
Hypnotic anesthesia?.
Dr. O Chi-hun has also made a careful decision.
Decision?. What are you...?.
You can go to jail with this.
This is driving me insane.
Why are you mixing with a guy like him?.
I didn't want to bring this up, but...
A year or two ago, when I went out with the single doctors...
What the...?.
Okay, fine.
Forget everyhing up to now. We all take up our hidden cards.
The highest card drinks all this
and the lowest card takes a penalty.
- Good. - Okay, okay!
One, two and on three we do it together.
One, two, three!
- Great, keep drinking. - Drink, drink!
Your secrete is hided in there.
Where is it?.
One, two, three.
But...
I can't remember
what he asked me or what answers I gave.
I really think I was hypnotized.
Is it that easy to get hypnotized?.
Exactly.
And I'd had a lot to drink...
But since then...
I've had repeated nightmares.
Nightmares?.
I think they're because of the hypnosis.
No way!
- Have you told Dr. O?. - Are you mad?.
You still don't know how strange the guy is?.
Dr. O, come in!
- It's been a long time. - It has.
This is Dr. Jang Seok-ho, the anesthetist.
- I think you know each other. - It's been a long time.
Sit down.
- I'm leaving. - Dr. Jang...
Sorry I said nothing earlier.
I asked him to come here to talk about the operation.
Jae-u, it's Jun-ho from LA.
It's little bit late, but congratulation.
I heard Uk-hwan went to Korea - has he been to see you?
Uk-hwan is...
No... give me a call.
My number is 213-487-5911
Think about it, Dr. Jang.
This patient has no hope without an operation.
If Dr. O is certain about this, please support me and let's do this.
Support?.
An anesthetist supporting a psychiatrist in the operating theatre?.
And what's this about certainty?.
I don't trust a guy like that, even if he swears on it!
Have I come too early?.
Uk-hwan!
You're really messed up today. Expecting anyone else?.
Anyway, I'm not doing the operation.
If you want to play with fire, do it yourself and don't drag me in.
Dr. Jang...
Dr. Jang!
Dr. Ryu.
This has succeeded often abroad, but it's the first time in Korea.
And he's an anesthetist.
You should've approached him carefully.
I'm sorry, Dr. O. What can I say?.
I'll contact you again according to the patient's schedule.
All right.
- Nice to meet you. - Oh, yes...
- I'm off. - All right. Take care.
Sang-u.
Sang-u's painful memories and even his aggressive tendencies
will be shut away by hypnotism.
Did it hurt a lot after the operation?.
Dr. Choe. Yes, did you find out?.
Yeah, about Mr. Na.
What?. To America?.
So he just sold off his company?.
And Sang-u went to America, too?.
All right. Thanks for your work.
Don't!
Stop! Stop!
Don't! Stop!
Stop! Stop! Don't!
How about that?. Is it comfortable?.
You'll feel deep silence.
Just like now, you'll feel it in operating...
- Thank you. - What for?.
Thank you for coming.
If you feel pain or discomfort,
your happiest memories will surface
and all the pain will be forgotten.
He's been doing this for 30 minutes. What am I doing?.
You're going into a deeper and deeper place.
That place is full of comfort.
What was that noise?.
You'll feel the wind...
Fucking bullshit! We're all dead if we keep this up!
Prepare the anesthetic kit!
Walk on the narrow path, you'll...
You'll sleep deeply, but be peaceful.
A deep sigh from the wind sends your mind to sleep.
How do you feel?. Are you more comfortable?.
-Yes. - All right, good.
From now until the end of the operation,
you will hear nothing except for my voice.
Dr. Jang!
What's up with you today?. Acting so thoughtlessly.
Okay, I was wrong.
I've never seen such a show before.
So what?.
Ryu Jae-u, you really are wonderful!
Hey, Seok-ho!
Hold on to what you have now! You'll regret it if you lose it.
Are you back?.
- Have you read the whole book?. - Yeah.
Wow.
You had a phone call today.
Dr. Ko Chang-su?. Said his daughter's died.
She's being buried the day after tomorrow.
Body ofKim Hyeong-seok, director of Seongdong hospital, found on building site
Has something happened?.
No.
Dr. Ko Chang-su must have worked with my Dad at Sangnoksu Hospital.
- Why did they contact me about it?. - Good question.
Now that we've exchanged blood, we're brothers.
'We're brothers now.' Can't remember?.
Did I?.
Hey, damn Ryu Jae-u. My wife is lonely in the hell.
You send your wife to the hell, and make my wife not feel lonely.
- Hello?. - Hey!
You know your woman 's cheating on you?
Hello?.
I said your wife's cheating on you.
I saw her cheating today with my own eyes, you bitch.
Son of a bitch! I told you to stay away from my wife.
You moron, can 't even keep your missus under control!
Hey... hey!!
So you are here!
What were you doing?. Leaving the light off in the dark.
Have you eaten?.
- I felt a bit sick. - Why?. You eat something bad?.
- What did you have for lunch?. - Lunch?.
- I guess I missed lunch too. - What?.
You've eaten nothing all day?.
I felt dizzy in the park today.
Because you had an empty stomach.
I think I was stung by a bee.
Somewhere around here. It stung,
but it's not swollen so maybe I'm wrong.
What are you talking about?. You should have gone to hospital!
A hospital?. Why, when I've got a doctor at home?.
Your face is drawn and your eyes are sunken.
Look at me, Hui-jin.
Your face is so white!
- Jae-u. - What?.
Let's move house.
Why this, all of a sudden?.
Let's move house.
Why should we move house?. It's busy at the hospital right now.
Let's talk about this again at the weekend, all right?.
Have a rest. Call if you need me.
Wait!
- Call Prof. Choe. - OK.
Hui-jin, we almost there, stay with me.
Hui-jin, please...
What is that?.
I'm not sure.
Looks like a solid object.
If it was a ruptured spleen, there would be some pancreatin.
If it was the pancreas,
other organs would have started melting.
What's that?.
Hey, she's hemorrhaging!
Call Prof. Choe and prepare the theatre!
He's on holiday in Suncheon.
- Dr. Jeong, then?. - He's off duty but I'll call him.
Get moving! Prepare five bags of blood!
Are you mad?.
Leaving this to Dr. Jeong?.
Don't be absurd! He's just an intern!
Dr. Ryu.
I know this is hard for you,
but shouldn't you lead the operation?.
If Dr. Jeong can't do it, I'll transfer her to another hospital.
She's in a bad way! No other doctor would take her on!
- Then we'd try another hospital. - Hey, Ryu Jae-u.
You can't do this.
What are you thinking?.
Dr. Yun is on his way. But he said he's been drinking,
so it would be difficult to lead the operation.
Dr. Ryu. Make a decision.
You know she's getting worse with time.
Signature ; Ryu Jae-u
I'll count to ten.
One, two...
Blood pressure normal. ECG is 100%%% too.
Scalpel.
Start.
Forceps.
Doctor, the heartbeat is irregular. BP is falling down.
Two bags of blood, quickly!
It keeps going down.
Just a bit, just a bit!
The heart is not beating.
Defibrillator!
Three, two, one, clear!
300 joules.
Hui-jin! Just a bit, just a bit!
Three, two, one, clear!
360 joules, maximum!
Three, two, one, clear!
Again!
Three, two, one, clear! Again!
Out of the way!
One, two, three, four, five, six...
Stop it.
Stop it, Jae-u!
Stop the car, please.