Surgeons: At the Edge of Life

Addenbrooke's Head and Neck surgeon Ekpemi Irune takes on a challenging case where a cancerous tumour in the face and neck is growing so fast, it's threatening her patient's life. It's such an aggressive tumour that Chris, a 60-year-old retired gardener, must have surgery as soon as possible.

His patient, 65-year-old Psychologist Colin started having problems walking and was eventually diagnosed with a slipped disc in the thoracic or middle part of the spine. Colin discovered that if nothing was done, he could eventually become paralysed from the waist down and lose control over his bladder and bowel function.

Dannee's condition brings her to Royal Papworth where Aman takes on her case. To rid Dannee of the tumour and give her the best chance of a normal life, Aman needs to do what's called a sleeve resection, taking out the tumour, part of the airway and the right upper lobe of Dannee's lung.

This time their patient is 52-year-old Stuart, a father of two who's already had treatment for bowel cancer. However, the cancer has returned and the pelvic exenteration is his only chance for a cure. It will involve removing his rectum, bladder, prostate, surrounding lymph nodes as well as a large tumour on his kidney.

Seventy-five-year-old Nancie is a farmer's wife who was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer two years ago and received radiotherapy which cured her. But the radiotherapy left her larynx damaged and severely narrowed her oesophagus, so she is unable to swallow or speak properly. This has been life changing for Nancie, a lover of food and especially puddings.

At Addenbrooke's, the on-call neurosurgical team, with Consultant Angelos Kolias and Senior Registrar Harry Bulstrode, are on standby to perform an emergency craniotomy to remove the build-up of blood within Cawley's brain. The surgeons must work twice as fast to ensure that Cawley has the best possible chance of avoiding permanent brain damage.