Surgeons

This week's episode looks at neurosurgery and the work of Ciaran Bolger of Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, along with Charlie Marks of Cork University Hospital. Featuring the story of 42-year-old Rose Slevin a single-mother from Newbridge, Surgeons follows Rose as she undergoes a rare and complex procedure known as an "awake" craniotomy. As Professor Bolger tries to cut out a tumour deep within her brain, Rose is deliberately woken up on the operating table. In Cork, Jim Landers, a GAA official from Co. Waterford, is operated on by Charlie Marks. Jim's brain tumour is dangerously close to a major vein, and Mr Marks has to balance the risks of the operation against Jim's chances of surviving without it. The programme also shows that waiting lists for non-emergency neurosurgery now stretch for over a year - with public and private patients faring equally.

This week's episode moves to Dublin's Mater Hospital and the pioneering cardiac surgeon Freddie Wood. He is joined by Mark Redmond of Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin. At the Mater, Jerry O'Leary from Cork has been waiting for a heart transplant for over nine months. He is kept alive on a machine while the search for a suitable donor heart continues. Late at night, the cardiac unit is told that a donor heart is on its way from another hospital - Freddie Wood must decide which of his patients will receive it. Nine year old Conor Murray from Co. Donegal was born with a faulty valve in his heart. Although he looks as healthy as his twin brother, Mark Redmond has to operate now or Conor will not survive into his teens. His anxious parents accompany Conor to the operation in Our Lady's. Freddie Wood discusses whether the popular image of surgeons as aloof and arrogant is deserved.

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.

Episode Four: Bones ends the series by focusing on orthopaedic surgeons Frank Dowling in Our Lady's, Crumlin, and Sean Dudeney of Dublin's Cappagh Hospital. Kerrie Leonard is 16 years old and facing an operation to straighten her spine. Paralysed from the waist down at six years of age, Kerry is bound to a wheelchair. Kerrie suffers from Scoliosis, a disease curving her spine, which if left untreated will hinder her breathing and cripple her further. Frank Dowling must weigh the risks of major spine surgery against the quality of Kerrie's life. In Cappagh, Ian Bangham from Co. Wicklow is facing knee and hip replacements. His surgeon Sean Dudeney has to plan this major surgery in detail to give Ian the best chance of regaining mobility.