I love neurosurgery.
I think it’s taken some time for me to realise this.
Yes, it is the craft that I am privileged to practise, which allows me to look after my family.
It's 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 so 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 someday.
In the last 10 days, I have had to go to the Operating Room at 5 am three times, and he has always been there before me.
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 in this craft at his age than I ever did.
I am beginning to see that love for this field is what has kept me going all these years.
It is a hard road with twists and turns, and potholes.
And there is enough on this road to keep one humble.
Every traveller 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, especially 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 me before every surgery I perform, to our children, who graciously accept my absence from important school meetings and their games, or the last-minute cancellation of family outings, they have been incredibly understanding.
At this stage of my journey, my calling draws me even further away from them, yet they have remained steadfast.
They have been my true warriors, standing firmly beside me every step of the way.
My siblings, parents, aunts, and uncles started sacrificing long before my nuclear family.
It is 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 a student. But they have continued to stand by me.
My family is the main 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 what Ghana gives, when there are children 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 has been decades along this road, and there is still so much more to learn and do. I am grateful for the strength to keep going.
Grateful for the love and forbearance of my family.
Grateful for the resilience of my clients and their families, through the good days and the bad.
Above all, I am grateful to God, who makes it all possible and has ordered my steps throughout this journey.
On the dark days, when the pothole seems too deep to climb out of immediately, His voice whispers in my ear: ‘You’ve got this’.
So I can get back on my feet, keep my eyes on the road, and push on.
