Surgeons

Breast (1x3)

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Episode Three: Breast looks at the work of Arnie Hill in Beaumont Hospital and one of Ireland's few female surgeons, Margaret O'Donnell in St Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin. Last October Linda Burgess, a single mother from Dublin in her thirties, went for a check-up after noticing a lump in her left breast. In Beaumont, Arnie Hill breaks the news that the lump is cancerous and advises Linda that she needs immediate surgery to remove the cancer. During the operation, Professor Hill sends tissue samples from a lymph node under Linda's arm to the lab for immediate testing. If it tests positive he will have to opt for more radical surgery and possibly a mastectomy. Anna Norris from Callan in Co. Kilkenny was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy nearly three years ago. She visits plastic surgeon Margaret O'Donnell to discuss the final part of her treatment. In theatre Margaret will take muscle and other tissue from Anna's back to reconstruct her breast. Margaret O'Donnell discusses why so few women doctors opt for a career as surgeons. The need to spend long periods working overseas to compete for the handful of top jobs in Ireland is cited as a major reason. Margaret and her husband spent the first five years of their marriage living in different cities and even countries while she worked her way up the ladder.