午夜剧场

I am one of just over 1,000 general pediatric surgeons in the entire country. While surgical diseases in children are rare, they often require urgency. On the other hand, one is considered a full-fledged professional only after gaining the knowledge and experience to promptly diagnose and treat rare and intractable diseases. Consequently, the training to become a pediatric surgeon is actually quite demanding.

Now, when I first started my apprenticeship in pediatric surgery, there was a child with a giant lymphangioma of the neck. This disease occurs due to malformations during the embryonic stage, where parts of the lymphatic network that circulate lymph fluid swell into sacs (lymphatic cysts), which then cluster to form a mass. Although not malignant, they can cause significant cosmetic issues or compress the airway. Treatment is difficult, and some patients must live with the disease for the rest of their lives. At the time, however, there was no detailed research and no promising treatments available. Therefore, I decided that I had no choice but to investigate it myself. Since then, I have advanced research in various directions, including studying cell properties from excised lesion tissue, conducting nationwide surveys to provide medical expense subsidies for patients with intractable cases, proposing designations for intractable diseases, creating websites for the general public and medical professionals, and developing and conducting clinical trials for new treatments.

While my activities gradually became known within our industry, the fact that there are few researchers tackling the fundamental resolution of lymphangioma led me to believe that I had been entrusted with a great mission by fate. Along with this, I began to feel a dilemma. That is, while keeping an eye on lymphangioma, I also wanted to aim to be a first-rate surgeon who appropriately treats all types of diseases as the primary duty of a pediatric surgeon, so I did not restrain myself from immersing myself in various fields. As a result, I have reached my current position, but I cannot help but feel a sense of regret that if I had focused all my energy on lymphangioma without distraction, I might have been able to further the understanding of the disease and improve treatments for many more patients, yet I did not make that choice.

There are many doctors who, through their own fateful encounters, spend their lives seriously working on the elucidation and advancement of treatment for a single disease. I do not know how far I can go, but I have renewed my determination to do my absolute best to bring about a breakthrough treatment for lymphangioma and fulfill the promise I made to my first patient—who is now an adult—and their family.