Miracles in My Time: Reflections of a Paediatric Respiratory Physician.

Abstract

Miracles, like London buses, just seem to come along. The truth is,\nthere are no miracles, just lots of hard work behind the scenes, minds\nopen to opportunity, serendipity and possibly a little luck. In my time\nas a paediatric respiratory physician, I have born witness to remarkable\nadvances in treatment that have changed patients’ fortunes overnight.\nExamples of these include artificial surfactant replacement for\npremature newborns, conjugate haemophilus influenzae type b vaccination,\npropranolol for infants with subglottic haemangiomas, mandibular\ndistraction for babies with micrognathia, cystic fibrosis transmembrane\nconductance regulator modulators therapy for patients with cystic\nfibrosis and antisense oligonucleotide therapy for infants with spinal\nmuscular atrophy. There are lessons to be learned from reflection upon\nthese life transforming treatments, and perhaps it is a good time just\nto pause and wonder.