Surgeons: At the end of life

Anyone else been watching this remarkable series about surgeons based in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham? They specialise in dealing with patients who are likely to die unless treated.

Last week's episode dealt with a woman who had cancer in he face and skull and also a woman who was having a double mastectomy.

The woman with the cancer to her face had a whole section of her skull removed along with her right eye socket. The hole left behind when the skull fragment was removed looked horrifying but at the same time I couldn't drag my eyes away from the TV screen. They filled in the hole by removing a section from her hip, cutting it to shape and then screwed it to the edges of her skull before replacing and stitching up the skin on her face. Remarkably, her face didn't look any different to what it was before they did the operation with the exception of her having no right eye. The programme also covered a prosthetic department where they made artificial ears, noses and eyes. The eye they manufactured for this lady was an exact copy of her remaining eye. All they need to do is when she's healed up properly, is to take a mould of her eye cavity to form a holder for her new eyeball and fit it. It's held in place by magnets in the mould which hold it in place to some screws underneath a her skin and can't be dislodged accidentally. The prosthetic is an exact match to her skin tone too.

Remarkable what they can do.

This week's episode mainly covered a woman with a massive nine stone tumour in her abdomen. Here's a scene from the programme.

Be warned.

Not for the squeamish.

http://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-4...ve-19kg-tumour

Re: Surgeons: At the end of life

Yes I watched it .
How had she managed to walk with that growth inside her weighing as much as 5 yr old child we were told at the end of the programme?
I watched in amazement as the team worked on the dangerous task of getting it out whole.
These surgeons are miracle workers ?

Re: Surgeons: At the end of life

I have recorded it to watch one evening.....
... when I am not about to eat

Re: Surgeons: At the end of life

"This week's episode mainly covered a woman with a massive nine stone tumour in her abdomen. Here's a scene from the programme."

That should have read three stone tumour.

Re: Surgeons: At the end of life

That's better I can eat while watching it now