I love my job. I look forward to every day at work. I am in the rare position that there have only been two days in my consultant career where I have not wanted to go to work – those followed unexpected deaths of patients in the operating room, and so perhaps could be forgiven.
I have been privileged to have been let into the lives of so many extraordinary patients and their families, to help where I can. I am also afforded the chance to teach and train the next generation of doctors – all the time encouraging them to see the whole patient, not just the disease.
My thanks for this chance in life go to my parents and my big brother, who loved, protected me and moulded a rather wayward child. Also to my friends, medics and civilians, who keep me sane.
There is a whole team who look after my patients. It is obvious to anyone who has been in hospital that one doctor is pretty pointless without the rest of the group. Big kudos goes to my fellow paediatric neurosurgeons Shailendra, Amedeo and Tim, and my plastic surgery, oncology, anaesthetic, intensive care, paediatric and radiology colleagues who are the bedrock of the hospital that cares for so many of my patients. Eternal thanks to my nursing team on the wards and in theatre – where would we be without them? They literally keep my patients alive. There are play specialists who allay so many fears, psychologists, physios, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists who get my patients better after I have done my worst. And let’s not forget all the porters, cleaners, cooks, housekeepers and managers who are all unsung heroes.
And, of course, lastly, my wife and three girls, who give me light in the darkest of times.
All of these people are everything that makes me human.