Before I begin, just want to mention that I've finally listened to Josh Groban's "You Raise Me Up", and it's become my all-time favourite Josh song. Seriously! It was originally done by Secret Garden -- they make beautiful music -- and the lyrics are truly inspiring. It might have started off as a love song, but being a Christian, I draw a lot of religious significance from the words, and the piece brought tears to my eyes. Josh has an amazing voice, and sounds fantastic. I can't wait to hear him doing Linkin Park's "My December"!

Dr. Keith Goh, the brilliant neurosurgeon who led the team that attemped to separate Iranian conjoined twins Ladan and Laleh, gave his first public interview to Tim Sebastian of Hard Talk from the BBC, and it aired on BBCWorld ( Channel 13 on cable ) today.
I have heard and read good things about Dr. Goh, and he really does come across as a very humble, kind-hearted person. Soft-spoken and respectful, he carried himself very well, and was extremely diplomatic even when Sebastian probed him about his reaction to criticisms from other surgeons after the twins died. Like Dr. Alex Chao, the much-loved vascular surgeon who perished during the SARS epidemic here, Dr. Goh is a devout Christian, and prays regularly for his patients. He spoke about the most important lesson he learnt from this experience -- that of being more adept at empathizing -- and instead of being defensive about his reasons for taking on a task that at least 2 other surgeons had considered too dangerous, he simply said that the twins were of sound mind and were fully aware of the risks involved, that they had assembled the best possible team of experts to assist in the operation, that venous bypass techniques had improved greatly since the 1990s ( when the twins last consulted a doctor ), but most importantly, that everyone entered into this with "the best of intentions", and only wanted to help the two women fulfill a wish they desired more than anything else in the world.

The saddest part, however, was when Sebastian asked him what transpired between the doctors and the twins just before they were wheeled into surgery. Dr. Goh mentioned that only he and Dr. Ben Carson were present, and that they both assured the twins that they would do their best for them. The twins then asked their surgeons to take care of them "as they would their own children", and my mom, who was also watching, said, "So poor thing."

When they died, the atmosphere in the OT was described as "stunned silence", with nurses sobbing, anaesthetists staring into space, and a massive outpouring of grief in many other ways. Little wonder that Dr. Goh spent time "soul-searching" after that, praying and asking God if he'd done the right thing, why this had to happen, etc. He's come to terms with the experience, and is a lot stronger for it. He makes us all very proud, and I hope he can listen to "You Raise Me Up" for some comfort should he need it. :)

My thanks to Obels for linking to me. Found out about this from the referrals section of my blog. Description reads as: A Dutch medical intern writes about healthcare-related issues. Very well done! :D