Occasionally I watch something on TV that draws me up short...(not often, I might add, which is perhaps why they have such a strong effect on me...).
Last night I watched Storyville: The English Surgeon and was reminded of the fluffy knitted brain. It really was one of the most amazing documentaries that I've ever watched (brought to my attention by the MindHacks website *little nod in their direction*).
It was aired on BBC a while ago (I had it downloaded on my iPlayer) and, sadly, I don't suppose BBC will show it again for a while, prefering to re-run a load of rubbish instead (another documentary that I wish they would re-run was that of Henry Perkins, a touching programme indeed).
Henry Marsh is a neurosurgeon who works at the world-renowned St. George's Hospital, London, and has developed links with a neurosurgeon, Igor Kurilets, in the Ukraine over some decades. This documentary tells of the trips to the struggling Ukraine and work done by Henry (free of charge) with Igor to tackle brain medicine.
Notables from the programme that I thought you might also find food-for-thought were:
- Igor Kurilets struggles against the Ukrainian government - generally, it would seem, because he is successful (he keeps being investigated; they touch on the country's politics and it sounds dubious);
- Brain scans cost only $50-100 but most of the country can't afford this - and, sadly, with neurological problems time is of the essence. Some of the children that he sees have gone blind - their sight could have been saved by a simple scan and a simple operation;
- Henry collects the drill tips from St. George's that are going to thrown away (£80 a pop; 5 used a week) and gives them to Igor (who vows to use them for a decade);
- They browse the Ukrainian markets for tools, rivets and screws for their operations - assessing carefully for quality (although the scene when the drill's batteries start going flat is terrifying - and surely would have been for the patient (who is under only local anaesthetic));
- Igor has neither the skillful team or financial resources to use a general anaesthetic to saw open the skill and then local anaesthetic for the brain op (the patient needs to be awake for the surgeon to minimise damage to surrounding healthy tissue and thereby avoid any paralysis)...so...you guessed it...the patient has to lie awake and listen to them sawing open his own skull; and
- Probably the most moving part of the film was watching the two men discuss the scans of a beautiful 23 year old Ukrainian. She'd been told by some other doctors that she had minor encephalitis from a tick-bite but, in actual fact, she had a inoperable brain tumour and would soon go blind and then only live some 2-3 years after that. The two men spoke amongst themselves in English - she couldn't understand them but listened attentively. They decided that she must bring her mother with her before they could give her the bad news - she must have known when asked to revisit with her mum that this was serious but left the consultancy room with such grace. Igor sits with her later, she asks 3 times if the treatment will be expensive. He gently avoids answering her questions but does reassure her that it won't be expensive and the consultancy was free. They talk casually (he bluffs) about when she should return. "Should I come back soon?", she asks. "Don't leave it too long", he replies.
This programme will stay with me for a long time. Partly, as an amazing story in its own right and, partly, as a stark reminder that - whatever we say about the medical system and all its foibles in the UK - we have it good.
Recent Comments