'I have a fantastic set of colleagues and staff in Cardiff who are dedicated to their roles' | Watch the third episode of Saving Lives in Cardiff on Tuesday
In the third episode of Saving Lives in Cardiff, we meet three more incredible surgeons and their teams as they treat patients in the Welsh capital.
Neurosurgeon Mr George Eralil, faces a challenging operation and must contend with unexpected complications to cure a woman’s extreme facial spasm.
After two years of waiting, 59-year-old Ceri has finally reached the top of George’s surgery list to be treated for a rare neurological condition called hemifacial spasm, which causes one side of her face to suddenly and involuntary go into spasm. Ceri first suffered symptoms while working as a primary school teacher. The spasms have been painful and have severely impacted her confidence and mental health forcing her to give up a job she loved.
Five years ago, George performed an operation which stopped the spasms on the left side of Ceri’s face. But the symptoms returned, this time on the right side.
Now, in order to fix the right side, George must navigate around key nerves, deep inside Ceri’s brain. Despite having performed this procedure many times before, Ceri’s operation becomes one that George will never forget.
George, said: “I have a fantastic set of colleagues and staff in Cardiff who are dedicated to their roles – and in doing so enable me to do my job so that the best possible outcome can ensue for my patient.
“No form of brain surgery is possible without the help of other healthcare professionals.
“Every surgical attempt is enabled by several echelons of fellow doctors, nurses and allied professionals. It is only collaborative teamwork that enables a surgeon like me to achieve my very best for a patient.”
On call for emergency admissions at the Children’s Hospital is Consultant Paediatric Surgeon Eniola Folaranmi, known as Enny, who is treating six-week-old Zackary. The little boy has been unable to feed for seven days, due to a narrowing of the passage between his stomach and small intestine.
Zackary is being kept alive with intravenous fluids until Enny can get him into theatre, but he is not the only patient requiring urgent attention. With only one emergency theatre available, Enny must advocate for his young patient. With other children deemed more clinically urgent, Zackary might not make it to theatre.
“I enjoy surgery and paediatrics, so becoming a paediatric surgeon seemed to be a reasonable career choice,” said Enny, Consultant Paediatric Surgeon and Clinic Lead for Paediatric Surgery.
“I love looking after the patients under my care, watching them make a full recovery and seeing the joy on the faces of their parents as their child is well enough to be discharged.
“I also enjoy training the next generation of paediatric surgeons.
“The paediatric surgery department at UHW is made up of seven consultant surgeons, three Advanced Nurse Practitioners and eight trainee surgeons. We sub-specialise into Upper GI/Thoracic/Oncology (2 surgeons), Lower GI (2 surgeons) and Urology (3 surgeons). We serve the population of South Wales.
“It was a privilege to share our day to day activities with the wider community.”
One of the longest serving surgeons at Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales is Nagappan Kumar. Naga set up Wales’s only liver surgery centre in 2002, which now serves a population of 2.2 million people. With just four surgeons, the waiting list is constantly under pressure.
His first patient of the day is 50-year-old Sarah, who has waited seven months for surgery to remove a rare cyst in her bile duct which is causing her debilitating pain. During the procedure Naga will perform a test to determine if the cyst is cancerous. If it is, the procedure will take longer, potentially delaying his next surgery on patient Linda, who has waited for 18 months for her operation.
“I started the Liver unit in Cardiff as previously patients were being referred to England,” said Naga. “I developed it and Welsh Government recognised it as the Centre of excellence in 2010. We now provide all Liver surgical care for the entire South Wales population of 2.2 million.
“Liver surgery is my passion and I am proud and pleased that I was able to set it up in Wales. We are one of the large volume centres in the UK doing over 160 liver resections a year. Our results are excellent and on par with the best units internationally. I am fortunate to work with a great team of HPB surgeons, anaesthetists, theatre staff and nurse specialists.”
“I decided to participate in the BBC program as it will allow to showcase our work and make people aware that we in Cardiff can provide all their needs in Liver surgery under one roof.”
Watch Saving Lives in Cardiff on BBC 1 Wales Tuesday 22 April and BBC 2 on Wednesday 23 April.
You can catch up on the first and second series of Saving Lives in Cardiff on BBC iPlayer.