Surgery in this condition would be very major, but the result of conservative treatment is perhaps even more satisfactory than if this child was operated upon. I may have none of my own but have been fortunate in being part of so many families and such special people that no other branch of medicine is able to give. With paediatrics, you are engaged in the process of birth and growth, and are at a unique vantage point to be able to see the entire spectrum of life before you. Some of my junior colleagues will complain that paediatric surgery is not as lucrative as the other surgical specialties, but then no other speciality can you see the interactions of generations as in paediatric surgery. There have been times when my patients have brought their own children back for surgery of conditions that I have successfully treated when the patients were themselves children two to three decades ago.
Children can give of their trust and friendship in a way that few adults can.
I an reminded of an incident that I was fortunate to observe during a trip abroad at a center in Switzerland. As I was with a senior professor of paediatric surgery, one of his patients, a young teenaged girl walked into his room. She now rides a motorbike, and had taken me for a ride last month with her. Understand them, know them, talk their language, and you will be well rewarded in a manner that surpasses your wildest imagination. If I had the choice of living my life afresh, I can assure you that I would choose to be a conservative paediatric surgeon all over again.