Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death

Twenty-nine-year-old Laura faces an excruciating decision. Diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour, she's been told that her only chance to extend her life and spend more time with her young daughter, is to have the tumour taken out. But there's a catch.

In order to make sure that all the tumour is removed, surgeon Ismail Urghratdar must sacrifice tissue from a healthy part of Laura's brain – the hippocampus - which is responsible for storing memory. It's a devastating dilemma for Laura. Should she sign up for a hugely risky surgery knowing that it will have a drastic effect on her memory and may even kill her? Or wait it out and try to enjoy the years she has left?

Across the hospital, Lee prepares himself for a procedure that he hopes will return his quality of life after years of battling excruciating pain. Emergency surgery in 2016, to repair a ruptured colon, left him in agony and since then the pain has been so intense that he contemplated suicide. Now he has a second chance. Colorectal surgeons Chuk Abraham-Igwe and Charles Hendrickse attempt to remove Lee's inflamed bowel and rectum in what is hugely complex and life-threatening surgery. Will this surgery finally bring peace for Lee, having already gone through so much?

And 80-year-old David needs surgery to remove a section of his oesophagus after months of chemotherapy and radiation treatment to shrink a tumour. But while surgeon Raj Nijjar knows that this is the only chance his patient has for survival, he's also aware that in a man of such advanced years, this risky procedure could also kill him.

It's judgement day for 66-year-old Patsy who has been walking around with a ticking time bomb in her chest. Diagnosed with a massive aneurysm in her aorta – the vessel which carries all the blood away from her heart - the aorta is so swollen it's in danger of bursting, which would kill her in seconds.

Surgeon Jorge Mascaro must stop her heart beating, drop her body temperature to 22 degrees and divert all of Patsy's blood supply to a by-pass machine. In a woman half her age, the procedure would carry risk. But given Patsy's advanced years, the threat of stroke and death is huge.

Across the hospital, time is also of the essence for 80-year-old Sue, who having previously battled breast cancer, has now been diagnosed with angiosarcoma - a highly aggressive secondary cancer.

It's a difficult procedure - involving the removal of Sue's breast and chest wall and the reconstruction of the area using skin grafts from her back. And this time, there's an added problem.

When surgeons Rob Warner and Salina Bains get Sue onto the operating table, they make a grim discovery. The cancer has progressed incredibly fast since they last saw it. Now the only option is to remove an even larger area from Sue's chest – which means that she may not have enough available tissue on her back to close the wound.

Finally, it's D-Day for Andrew who has been living with a tumour which is slowly wrapping itself around a crucial nerve in his face. ENT surgeon Richard Irving previously operated 15 years ago, but now it's growing back and Andrew faces a tough decision. The operation carries a significant risk of facial paralysis. But without it, Andrew will almost certainly lose his ability to smile, blink and talk.

Cameras focus on Gary, who has a rapidly growing paraganglioma - a rare tumour that has lodged itself in his spine. He knows that leaving it in place will almost certainly lead to paralysis. However, the operation itself carries a huge risk. One wrong move during surgery could damage the nerves so irreversibly that Gary would never walk again.