Ronibats.PH Stories of a Filipino neurosurgeon, teacher, and writer

On Operating with and Aspiring to be an Expert

O

In February of this year, I had the rare opportunity to assist a world-renowned neurosurgeon as he clipped three intracranial aneurysms in a patient on the same sitting. Dr. Michael T. Lawton led his medical team from Mission BRAIN Foundation on a three-day visit to Philippine General Hospital, to give lectures and workshops for Filipino neurosurgeons and nurses, and to demonstrate surgical techniques on different neurovascular cases. 

Dr. Lawton is an expert in every sense of the word. Professor and chief of Vascular Neurosurgery at University of California San Francisco, he wrote Seven Aneurysms, widely considered to be the definitive textbook for aneurysm clipping.

When I was about to do my first aneurysm case in December last year, it was his book that I read, chapter after chapter without skipping a paragraph. Twenty patients and 22 aneurysms later, I continue to re-read his book before every case (and after, if I encounter difficulties during the operation) to reinforce knowledge as I continually strive to refine my surgical techniques. If one day I am diagnosed to have a brain aneurysm, I would daresay that my best chances of surviving without any disability would be in Dr. Lawton’s hands.

Just imagine the thrill when I found out that I would be a given a chance to assist him during surgery, not unlike a novice writer getting the opportunity to write a story with Neil Gaiman, on his MacBook Air.

“Never give up,” Dr. Lawton said in his opening slide during his lecture on the first day. His statement rang true, to me more than anybody else in the audience.

Michael Lawton and Ronibats

As I listened from the front row, I recalled the harrowing moments of the difficult aneurysm case I had just done two weeks earlier, in which I inadvertently re-ruptured my patient’s aneurysm during the operation. I could not control the bleeding, and when I called my attending in charge of the case, I was despondent and apologetic: I thought I would lose my patient on the operating table. In all likelihood, I would have, had it not been for my attending who drove from Makati to Manila in 15 minutes. For weeks, I would not be able to operate without the slightest tremor, for fear of committing the same mistake.

“It’s really tough when you encounter these problems early on during your training,” Dr. Lawton said to me when I told him about my case during the break. His advice was to just keep practicing, to overcome the fear as I climb my learning curve in aneurysm clipping.

He lamented how fewer and fewer neurosurgery residents in America are choosing to train in open surgery for aneurysms, preferring to specialize in less invasive, endovascular surgery instead. For a Filipino neurosurgeon-in-training, learning to clip an aneurysm is a necessary skill. Our charity patients with ruptured aneurysms usually have no choice but to undergo open surgery (i.e., clipping), given the prohibitive cost of endovascular treatment (i.e., coiling).

Meeting Dr. Lawton, what immediately struck me was his demeanor. Being tall with a cyclist’s body frame and sporting the gray hair of wisdom, he could easily be overbearing if he wanted to, but instead he spoke in a calm voice, devoid of any air of arrogance, articulating every word unhurried. And he was someone who achieved Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000-hour requirement to reach expert status in only 12 years of practice.

Before their visit, I imagined a stern surgeon, hardened by years of experience, the kind who would throw surgical instruments across the room and listen to the inevitable clang with deranged satisfaction. Dr. Lawton was quite the contrary, and I was even more in awe. The relaxed attitude with which he gave his lectures, he carried with him to the operating room. I witnessed this firsthand when I assisted him. My fingers trembled as I did the craniotomy and incised the patient’s dura, but listening to him teach during surgery, I soon realized that the trepidation was unfounded.

Assisting Michael Lawton

April Sabangan, the Filipina operating room nurse who’s been running his neurosurgery service for the last 10 years, told me how she’s only heard him raise his voice in the operating room twice. She did not even sound sure, and I doubt she could remember the circumstances.

Two times in 10 years? How does an expert do that? Hell, I would easily go beyond two times doing a single case, and my junior residents would agree in a split second.

It was April who brought up the idea of visiting the Philippines to Dr. Lawton, at first, just so her medical team would see the Philippines in a different light, “not simply as an underdeveloped country mostly in the news for either some catastrophe or some story on poverty.” She organized Mission BRAIN’s visit, and I was just grateful she did — more than anything, for the opportunity to share stories with and to ask for advice from someone I could look up to and aspire to be.

“Are there still cases that you would want to do?” I asked Dr. Lawton. “Do you have a list that you tick off one by one?”

It was right after dinner, prepared by my attending in his home to welcome the Mission BRAIN team. I was seated across Dr. Lawton, at a long wooden table set outdoors. He was obviously still jetlagged and tired from a day’s worth of lectures, warding off mosquitoes that would sneak a bite every so often. But over mangoes, and beer and wine, he was listening.

He thought for a while, and said, quite sheepishly, “None. I think I have done everything.”

“So do you still feel excited when you do your cases?”

“Yes,” this time without hesitation, “Every time.”

His smile reflected the sheer fulfillment of someone doing what he was passionate about, and being the best at it. That was an expert speaking to me.

One day, I hope I would be able to say the same, knowing that as doctors, expertise on our part would translate to better outcomes for our patients.


 

With utmost gratitude to the Mission BRAIN team: Dr. Michael T. Lawton, Dr. Ana Rodriguez-Hernandez, April Sabangan, Lisa Hannigan, Will Arsheim, and Chris Louie. 

Photo Credit: Chris Louie 

About the author

Ron Baticulon

Ronibats is a pediatric neurosurgeon, teacher, and writer. In 2018, he won a Palanca award for the title essay of his first book, "Some Days You Can't Save Them All," published by The University of the Philippines Press. You can follow him on Twitter @ronibats.

22 comments

Leave a Reply to MARC DARWIN Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • sometimes those who have attained so much are those who are humble pa… hope you can sneak time to write more 🙂

    • Hi Nu! I try to write when I can. You see, my patients remain top priority. 😉 Thank you for reading!

  • as always Dr. Ronnie…i was so inspired with almost all the articles posted in your site…i hope and pray that i could meet you personally soon… 🙂

  • It’s always a treat to read your articles. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences, it gives me a lot of encouragement.

  • How fun to get a glimpse of someone who inspires one who inspires us! Thanks for sharing, Sir. Always always a pleasure to read (& ever so eloquently, too) about what you’re up to. Happy-excited for you!

  • I always check your website to see if there’s a new post. I’m glad there’s one today. Somehow, I feel a little sad when I don’t see one because it reflects how busy you are with your patients, meaning there are a lot of people who are sick. But glad at the same time because I know they are in good hands. May God always be with you especially in the operating table.

    • Thank you, Pia. 🙂 When I’m done with residency, I think I’d have a lot more time to write. I think. 😉

  • I hope that someday soon, after I finish medical school and pass the PLE, I will get into the neurosurgery residency program of UP-PGH, just like you, doc. Every time I read your stories, my body is filled with anticipation and excitement that someday I will fulfill that one thing I am most passionate about and will be the best at it. Thank you, doc, for your inspiration.

  • Hello, Doc Ronibats!

    Isa po ako doon sa nakinig sa inyo sa parallel session last NMSC. 🙂 Just leaving a comment to say once again that I am a huge fan of your writing! Your blog keeps me and my classmates (with whom I share your posts) inspired sa medschool. 🙂

    God bless po. 🙂

  • Doc, ok lang po pala na magtremble parin ang fingers ng isang neurosurgeon, given na dapat steady talaga ang hands mo kasi dapat very precise ka sa pag-cut mo? estudyante palang ako, doc, pero nakapagperform na ako ng circumcision and i soon found out na nagte-tremble ang fingers ko. Pero not to the extent na parang may essential tremor. totoo po ba na mababawasan din ang trembling ng fingers with experience, practice and confidence? Hehe. I just want to find out from a neurosurgeon himself kasi naiisip ko rin po na maging katulad nyo pagka-graduate ko.
    thank you doc. 🙂

  • Always proud and lucky to have learned under your tutelage doctor bats,even for just a shortime lng po…(sa topnotch)…thank you po! may you continue to inspire more hopefuls like me..like dr.lawton, ikaw ay isang example ng magaling at mabuting doktor..sana wag kang magbabago.. Salamat po ulit…maraming tao ang naiinspire mo sa bawat entry mo…godbless po and more power…=]

  • Although I’ve decided to let go of my childhood dream of becoming a doctor and shift out of pre-med, I salute you Dr. I pray that you would become an amazing surgeon and help people who do not have the means. 🙂 Your blog entries inspire me 🙂

  • Reading your blog one post at a time while on a break from writing. Ang daming kuwento dito! Grabe. Gawa tayo pelikula, minsan. Haha

  • Hello Doc! I have been following you on social media for quite some time now and I am currently a pre-med student. I have only been reading your blogs recently and this one in particular fueled the fire in me to become a neurosurgeon. Thank you for sharing these experiences and I will definitely recommend your blogs to my block-mates ?

Ronibats.PH Stories of a Filipino neurosurgeon, teacher, and writer

Facebook

Twitter