I know its been a busy year when there’s been only 1 blog post! Lots have asked me why I’ve stopped writing. No good reason! My kids would say it’s because I’ve been spending more time on Twitter fighting with Covid zero epidemiologists! That’s probably true!!!

As we get towards the end of this year, it has become evident that this was the year that the pandemic ended for the vast majority of the Australian population. High vaccination rates followed by the Omicron wave lead to substantial hybrid immunity. Covid will continue just like other viruses but the waves will get smaller and less severe with time. The vulnerable amongst us still need to take the necessary precautions.

The highlight of my year was visiting the Open (British Open) Golf Tournament in St Andrews with my 21 year old son. He was fortunate to walk “inside the ropes” on the Wednesday practice round with Cameron Smith, Mark Leishman, and Adam Scott. It’s fair to say that he was on “cloud 9” that evening, specially since Smith went onto win.

The field of surgery and urology continues to be extremely satisfying. The range of simple to complex surgeries; the expected and unexpected; the detailed communication; the triumphs and tribulations of patients, all make it a humbling experience to work in medicine. There’s also a sense of gratitude to my father, a retired general surgeon who exposed me to medicine as a child. He had a tough year with health and has become progressively more frail. Tough to see the man who once a “lion”, now reduced to a life of dependency. But that’s life. Not all of us have the fortune of living into their 80’s and we have to be grateful for life’s small graces.

As surgeons we are privileged to walk this journey with many of our patients. And especially now that I’ve been in practice approaching 15 years, it’s sad that many of my dear patients depart their mortal souls, some due to cancer, others due to heart disease, but many due to age and the passage of time. That’s life also and it keeps one humble. We all have to face those “exit doors” at some stage and be brave for whatever may lie beyond. We don’t really know, but my hunch is there’s “something more”!

My parting thoughts are around relationships. They take time to build, but can be dashed in a moment. Sadly we get to hear stories from our patients lives of great heartbreak. Children squabbling with parents; couples going through separation; siblings fighting over estates. These are good people who fall prey to base emotions of greed, bitterness, and ego. I say this without judgement because we all equally capable of making the same mistakes. The devil and divine is within all of us, but its our job to feed the divine in order to bring out the best in ourselves as well as others. Despite all best intentions though, conflict can happen, and then its how we respond to whats happening without engaging in heightened emotive states. Easy to say yes, more difficult to practice also yes. But if we don’t aspire to be the best version of ourselves, then we are no different to any animal. Sometimes animals maybe even more caring!

Well, over and out for 2022. Best wishes for the Festive Season. If you are seeing family after 3 years, remember to smile your biggest smile and give your biggest hug (in a covid safe way, joke). Life is precious.

I’ll try and blog a little more regularly next year!