If I Could Do It Again: Victories and Regrets in the Career of Surgery

Abstract If I could do it again, I would—without hesitation. A life in surgery has never been only about perfection, but about purpose. Hippocrates' words remind us that success is not measured only in cures, but in the many ways we sustain life: Relieving pain, restoring dignity, listening, encouraging, and offering comfort when a cure is no longer possible. Looking back, I cannot say I have any regrets, but a landscape of victories both great and small—some measured in decades of survival, others in a hug or a single grateful smile. Now, at this stage of reflection, what remains with me is not the sting of what might have been, but the richness of what I have so thoroughly enjoyed. The victories of surgery are not confined to the textbook definition of “success.” They are found in the quiet resilience of a patient whose pain was eased with a return to health, the relief in a family's eyes seeing their loved one return home, and the knowledge that I gave all I had, each time I entered the operating room. If I could live this career once more, I would—because it was worth it.