I’ve seen one of the documentaries with Dr Jay previously which I found fascinating so I was really excited to get stuck into his book. It was a day well spent reading, as once I started I could not stop.
Dr Jay starts with the journey of how he ended up as a paediatric neurosurgeon, it was not his initial goal, and he was undecided. However this documents the encounters that shaped his future and got him to where he is today.
He takes us on a journey through the patients that he has seen, those that he has been able to help, those that he has not, and those that are the grey area in the middle. We get the inside of how the court systems work to protect children, and then where they fail. How people take advantage of the suffering by supplying false hope, and how funerals are just too painful.
Something I had never considered was the role of a paediatric neurosurgeon in obstetrics, how on a 20 week scan they can be called to discuss options in cases of spina bifida, tumours in the womb, or whether it would be fair to continue. The heartache of this, and the outcomes when scans are missed.
Dr Jay manages to be brutally honest, and has portrayed both sides and the sacrifices it takes to do what he does, as well as he does. He takes us into the world of the operating theatre, why some things are done the way they are. Whilst he briefly mentions some procedures, there are no technical discussions about how things are done, though he does occasionally talk about the why.
What I really enjoyed was learning that he also finds music helps him find his place, similarly I operate best when there is music playing – all the stress vanishes and it becomes a place of beauty.
Everything that makes us human is a book I would recommend reading, hopefully it’s a place you will never need, however this book gives you insight in what to expect.
