Anaesthesia of the patient is a critical part of any surgery. There must be good communication with the anaesthetist to address both the needs of the patient and surgeon for optimal delivery of care. Dr Janti Shah established strong bonds with the surgeons he worked with over many years. It is because of this team approach that so many patients have had benefited even when the inevitable problems arose during routine surgery. He relates this extensive experience to advantage our younger colleagues in the hope that they may avoid as many adverse situation as possible, but also to be able to deal with less than ideal outcomes.