On Neurosurgery

I love neurosurgery. I think it’s taken some time for me to truly realise this. Yes, it is the craft that I am privileged to practise, which allows me to look after my family. Its the hard task master that I have had to devote a lot of effort and intellect to. It is the field that I have had to accept I will never master, because there is always so much I just do not know. But it is a craft I am grateful to God for. I am grateful for the privilege to use this skill to make a difference in someone’s life. And I don’t take this for granted.

I have a medical student spending some time with me as he prepares to start his residency in March. I think he is going to be a fantastic neurosurgeon some day. In the last 10 days I have had to go to the Operating Room at 5am 3 times, and he has always been there before me. And he lives farther from the hospital than I do. In his almost crazy devotion to neurosurgery, I am finding a kindred spirit. He is investing more time to this craft at his age than I ever did. I am beginning to see that love for this field that has kept me going all these years.

It’s a hard road, this, with twists and turns, and potholes. And there is enough on this road to keep one humble. Every traveler on the road knows that it is just a matter of time before the next pothole. The prayer is for the resilience to weather the crunch and keep holding on so one stays in the lane and keeps moving. It can be a lonely road, but it is not supposed to be. Neurosurgery is a team sport? and there is always support to tap into,? sometimes from the most unlikely of places. Sometimes it is the patient whose words spur me on. Sometimes it’s my fellow neurosurgeon reaching out when the day has not gone so well. Sometimes it is the cleaner, in front of the theatre, specially creating a dry lane with the mop, just so I can pass. And so on.

I thank God for my family. From my wife who prays for every surgery I do, to the kids who graciously accept that I will not be at important meetings at school or play, or could cancel family outings at the last minute. At this stage of my journey my calling pulls me even more away, and my family has remained steadfast. They have been true warriors with me.

My siblings, parents, aunts, uncles started sacrificing long before my nuclear family. It’s a journey that has required academic commitment right from primary school. And sometimes long after my younger siblings had started earning money, I was still playing student. But they have continued to stand by me.

My family is a chief reason why I had the luxury to stay in Ghana to pursue my dream. I had the luxury of choosing to stay, because my family allowed me the choice. Some of my colleagues did not have a choice. It would seem too selfish, to forego the certainty of a large salary overseas, and settle for the what Ghana gives, when there are kids in the family waiting to be jakpaed by the rich doctor uncle. Every time someone is helped here, because my skills were available at some odd hour, some gratitude must go to my family who endured when I had to stay away long enough to acquire expertise.

It’s been decades along this road, and so much more to learn and do. I am grateful for the strength to keep going. Grateful for the love and forbearing of family. Grateful for the resilience of clients and their families on the good days and bad. I am grateful to God, who makes all this possible, and who has ordered my steps along this journey. Whose voice whispers in my ear, on the dark days when the pothole is just too hard and too deep to bounce out off right away: you’ve got this.

So I can get back on my feet, keep my eyes on the road, and push on.