Surgeons - matter of life or death

This is a reminder as to why I do not watch these programmes!

All I know about this case is what I have read here.
One reason she may have delayed...
Taking clothes off in front of anyone can be extremely stressful. The usual anti-anxiety comments of "the doctor has seen it all before", "the doctor is trained for this", "the doctor doesn't judge people" do not help someone who just doesn't get naked (or semi-naked) in front of others. All these comments although intended to help, are about the doctor's feelings and not the patient.
It is rather like saying a firefighter has been in many burning buildings, that wouldn't make it easier for someone who was in one for the first time.
I suspect there are many people who avoid being naked in front of medical professionals until pain becomes unbearable.
I don't think it is always about being embarrassed.
It may be that the person was brought up and life has perpetuated keeping their body covered.
There's also a possibility that they've been abused at some point and the mere idea feels traumatic.
We need better procedures for making people comfortable with exposing their bodies for medical checks before they are in intense pain.

It's good we have surgeons and theatre staff who are not phased by tumours and other unusual tissue. The rest of us need to realise that being upset by such things is a block to getting help when we need it. The TV series that show real operations are a good thing. I recommend The Good Doctor on Netflix for its realism in the theatre.

Sandgrownun, a very sound post.

So many families are weird about sex, bodies, doctors…etc and some of that is to do with shame or bringing shame or ‘causing trouble’

I didn’t watch the program but poor lady

Allira

A friends mother had a very large benign tumour removed from her abdomen. She had looked as if she was about eight months pregnant and had been to the GP several times and it was dismissed as extra weight before her DD went with her and insisted she was seen by a consultant.

This happened to my cousin as well. She apparently looked very pregnant (despite not having a husband or boyfriend so the chance was quite low) and the tumour when it was removed was the size of a football apparently.

I watched this on IPLAYER and what a huge tumour it was which the patient said she’d only had it for 4months!,

I almost couldn’t watch but the surgery was so eye-watering I gasped when they removed it - thank goodness they were able to get it all.. Excellent surgeons and theatre staff …
Hope the lady is well now🤞🏻

I was diagnosed with a tumour in my eye (after a routine eye test) and had it treated, It was quite large and I was told I had it about 10 years. No-one know, even me. I just popped for a eye test before taking my driving test to be on the safe side in case I needed glasses.

We love watching Surgeons at the Edge of Life. Each case is fascinating and the surgeons’ skills are incredible

Lilypops

I watched it in disbelief. How did it grow so fast. Why didn’t the lady get help earlier. Surely the smell and the size of it should have had medical intervention. Well done the surgeon and team for removing it, the skin graft was perfect. It was good to see her sitting up in bed looking so well and happy.
I also watched the young man having a heart transplant. Just amazing to see how the surgeons removed the faulty heart , the donated heart was still beating in its container before being transplanted in to the patient and stitched in a beating. Wonderful , clever surgeons. Gives you hope that if ever one was in a position needing surgery that you would be in good hands.

I watched it in awe. The lady had been in denial about the breast tumour and hadn't told anyone. What fantastic work those very skilled surgeons do. That is really the NHS at its most excellent

I knew a woman who had a lump growing out of her neck which was huge. She kept it covered with a scarf but we all knew about it although we all felt too embarrassed to say anything. One day she went to see her GP about something entirely different and he made her go immediately to the hospital where they determined they needed to operate the next day. Unfortunately she had left it far too late and she died on the operating table. It was terribly sad and I wish we'd been braver.

Poor women this is really shocking and begs the question about the diagnostic confidencebo of the GP.

My own surgery of smug little GP's kept diagnosing my running nose and breathing problems down to allergies over twenty years.

This includes onebvery senior female doctor who just her used patients as research fodder to further her career. And was awarded an OBE before she retired.

Recently found out from my local hospital ENTvConsultant. That I've have been suffering for years from a very badly deviated septum which needs operating on and not allergies after all.

I saw that and how was the tumour allowed to grow so very big ? Did the woman hide it ? She can not have been to the doctor ..no way ,,, they said the huge tumour smelt , I looked as big as a baby and it was all twisted and lumpy ...how did this person live with it ?

No kidneys are deep and tumours can grow without detection for years. Slow growth usually in Renal Cell Cancer. Also worryingly on the increase and often no symptoms or very vague ones.

crazyH it grew so big because the woman didn't tell anyone, until her daughter said something about the smell. Tumours can be like icebergs with most of it below sight!

I watched that programme. Gave me nightmares too but it was an amazing
Outcome.
It was horrendous- that poor woman.
Imagine being so scared to seek
Medical attention.
She was very lucky.
The wonders of modern medicine!
Those surgeons are miracle workers.

I worked in A&E many years ago. There was a woman in our local area who was well-known as she had a huge abdominal tumour that was so big she pushed a pram around in which her abdomen rested. On the day she was brought to A&E she had been crossing the road and as she bumped her pram down the kerb a wheel came off which resulted in her crashing to the ground and being unable to get up. She was admitted and operated on and the ovarian tumour, which was benign weighed 60lbs. It took her a while to walk again as her centre of balance had shifted so much.

I’m in awe of these talented surgeons, I watched with fascination.

I watch this documentary every week...l'm in absolute awe of these Surgeons and the work they do...pushing the boundaries to perform ground breaking and life changing surgeries.
I love that they care so much too.... ..❤️
I've seen some incredile episodes... one young man in his 30's with testicular cancer which had spread all the way into his body and attached itself to his heart!
OMG...a team of 14 took approx 20 hrs to remove it...
AMAZING!

I'm a doctor and, while some tumour do grow rapidly and I suspect it got so big because the patient ignored it or was he n denial.
I've seen many occasions when patients present with huge, fungating tumors... Often breast but I have also seen bladder, uterus and others like this.
As said it's often the smell that alerts family

Usually it's fear, rather than ignorance that prevents the patient seeking help.
It can also happen to anyone..my own uncle's wife ignored her fungating breast tumor until it was inoperable and terminal and my cousins never noticed a thing.

How old was your friend?
My aunty is 82, heart failure.
She has a 9cm kidney tumour that hasn’t spread, she doesn’t want any treatment.
TBF I don’t think she would survive the surgery.

MT62

How old was your friend?
My aunty is 82, heart failure.
She has a 9cm kidney tumour that hasn’t spread, she doesn’t want any treatment.
TBF I don’t think she would survive the surgery.

Sorry that’s to nanny8

This week the prog featured the Whipple procedure which my son had in October for pancreatic cancer. It was an 8 hour op and they removed the tumour, part of the pancreas, part of stomach, duodenum, gall bladder and bile duct. He is now having chemo. I was so pleased to see the lady recovering well.

I like medical programs (real, not dramas) and like to point out that a big majority of the clever consultants and surgeons are from other countries.

I think we already know that watermeadow. Very clever, dedicated people.