01x01 - Episode 1

[bunniefuu]

This programme contains
scenes of surgery

and was filmed in accordance
with government Covid guidelines
in place at the time.

Newcastle - home to one of
the biggest and best hospital trusts

in the UK.

The staff here are unique because of
this Geordie blood that they have.

They always meet you here
with a smile.

Do you want to do questions,
or do you want to do muscles?

Definitely muscles.

Oh, they are big ones.

Across a shift...

I'll have a satsuma.
Go for it, wahey!

..we meet the dedicated staff.

I love your dancing.

They're kind and they're caring.

They have a sense of humour
that is second to none.

I went to see the new dog.
What have you named her?

She's called Lady.
So when are you getting the tr*mp?

Exactly, Lady And The tr*mp.
Is that you?

From world-class medics
saving lives...

It's a young lady's kidney,
we'll call it Cassandra.

You can do the lift
from Dirty Dancing.

There's just bits of artery dangling
off everywhere.

..to the support teams
who make it possible...

There you go, sir. Here we go.
Well done.

We're a bunch of odd bods.

We laugh from morning,
noon and night.

..committed to caring for people
like you and me...

That's the actual tumour
that we're dealing with.

..and transforming lives forever.

You've just walked!

That was amazing, James.
Thank you very, very, very much.

# Make it last forever,
friendship never ends

# Now here's the song
from A to Z... #

HE MUMBLES LYRICS

They never let us
audition for X Factor, I'm too good.

HE LAUGHS

On today's shift,

we meet some of the staff working
in Newcastle's two main hospitals -

The Freeman
and the Royal Victoria Infirmary...

..including clinical nurse
specialist Sean Marshall-Kellie.

Oi-oi. Good morning.

I need something good and healthy.

What about dates? Do you like dates?

No, I'm not going to have a date.
No? Well, I would love a date.

I would love one, but...!
Happy days!

I'm drop dead gorgeous as well.

THEY LAUGH

These hospitals and the staff
are very close-knit

and almost like a bit of a family.

£2. Cheers.

I've worked here since 2010.

I started as a student nurse.

I speak to anybody
from all walks of life -

volunteers, cleaners, surgeons,

I don't speak to anybody
any different,

although I might slightly
change my accent.

Good morning.

Across the city,

one of Sean's colleagues
is returning to work

after a long absence due to
Covid regulations.

WOMAN WHISTLES TO DOG

Good to go? Good girl!

Good girl. Who's a good girl, eh?

All righty.

Staff Welfare Hound Poppy
is the canine companion

of the hospital's head chaplain,
Katie Watson.

Poppy Jingles was furry-loughed
throughout coronavirus arriving,

which is basically her equivalent

of not coming to work
and getting 80% biscuits at home.

But she's now back on 100% pay

and looking forward
to her next appraisal.

Are you coming? Are you going
to work or not?

OK. Good girl.

Poppy's charms have been sorely
missed by staff around the hospital.

She makes a huge impact
on the staff.

We did a research paper about
the holistic therapies of a dog

and how even just stroking
the dog lowers your heart rate

and just cheers people up.

We want to fix everything,

and we want everybody to walk out
the front doors.

But life's not like that.

My job is getting people
to just pause long enough sometimes

to recognise that. It's about being
a friendly face who you can come to.

It's always lovely to see
you, isn't it? She says yes.

She's got eyes for the biscuit
bag, that's what she's got eyes for.

She will give you a paw if you ask.

Can I have a paw?

Oh, you're so clever!

You're beautiful!

And I bet the patients love her.

She's not for the patients at all.

Is she not? Who's she for?

Staff Welfare Hound, purely for you
guys.

That makes me very happy.

SHE LAUGHS

The staff at Newcastle hospitals
are exceptional.

They're kind and they're caring.

They do the most extraordinary
things every single day

and I couldn't be prouder
of working here,

and I certainly couldn't be prouder

of the 17,000-odd colleagues
I've got.

They're just an amazing
bunch of people.

When it all gets a bit too much,

come down the chaplaincy corridor
and borrow the dog.

That's really cool. Yeah.
You're so cute. Yeah.

I feel like me armpits stink.

Can you smell my armpit?
I don't know what it is.

Children's intensive care doctor
Emma Simpson arrives for her shift,

ready to take on the day's
challenges.

My favourite superhero is Bananaman.

Ever alert for the call to action.

Emma's day starts in Ward 23,
a six-bed children's cardiac unit

that's home to some of the sickest
children in the hospital. Morning!

Hi, Grace, how are you doing?

MUSIC PLAYS

I love your dancing.

Emma is a specialist in children
with heart defects,

a job she was always destined for.

When I was a child, I had one
of these medical sets

that had inside it a toy stethoscope
and a toy thermometer

and blood pressure cuff.

My brothers were probably my best
patients.

They didn't sit still much, though.

Hi! Hi! She's looking splendid
today. I love her little headband.

Can I have a little...? You can put
her on your knee if you want,

I just want to have a look at her.
Thanks.

The children on this ward
have all suffered heart failure

and are kept alive by
mechanical Berlin hearts, or VADs,

whilst they wait for a donor.

Three, two, one.

Four-year-old Kit
is one of Emma's patients.

His mechanical heart can only
be disconnected from the mains

for half an hour at a time.
I can push it.

You can't push it on this,
because I struggle. It's moving!

Yeah, he can. He can push it!

Come on, mate. Round the track.

Free time in the heart unit's
playground is frustratingly short.

Stop, stop, stop.

We need to go back in there,
really, to plug in.

He's very active, so this whole him
just seeing two rooms is rubbish.

As you can see, it's kind
of holding him back.

Kit is the most energetic,

adventurous free spirit there is.

A few months ago, Kit's
behaviour changed dramatically.

So he'd been running around my
dad's garden

doing an egg hunt outside
on Good Friday

and then woke up Saturday morning

and just didn't want to eat
anything.

Didn't want chocolate.

For Kit, that's a massive thing.
Chocolate is life!

He went off his food.

Didn't eat for two weeks.

The doctor gave him, like,
a chest x-ray

and it all came back like,

"You've got an enlarged heart.
His heart's deteriorating."

He went from this energetic soul
to...

..he was basically dead on the bed
with his eyes open.

For, like, a split second,
I just already thought in my head,

"That's it, Kit's gone."

Thankfully, he got put onto
the Berlin heart and, you know,

we've got our son back.

How did you get the scar?
Shark attack.

Great white.

And great whites are very strong.

They're like... they're like
the strongest.

I have three children. I think
becoming a mum

helps you to identify
with the parents' perspective.

He just wants to see his brother.

He wants to run around.

This is amazing, but he's
like a dog on a lead.

He can't do anything other than
where the Berlin heart takes him.

Today, Kit hopes
that's going to change.

The Freeman is the first hospital
in the UK

to fit a cutting-edge battery

that can power children's heart
machines for up to eight hours,

giving him much greater freedom.

Kit is going to be changed
over from the big stationary unit

to the smaller, portable
active unit,

so he's going to become mobile.

I think he'll be very excited.

He wants the Mission: Impossible
theme.

to walk out of the bathroom to.

He's going to get his independence.

He'll be able to go to the park.

This is going to be a huge boost
to his quality of life.

Nice to see you looking so well.
You're passing the test.

SHE LAUGHS

Poppy's wondering if she can have
some scrubs, please,

and a new coat.

Debbie's looking
very suspicious this morning.

I'll get the egg.

No eggs?

Oh, we need to sack these chickens.

At home, transplant surgeon Colin
Wilson

has a tried and tested routine

for the start of his surgical day.

Operating days are big days
as far as I'm concerned.

It doesn't start in the morning,
it starts the night before.

Can't help yourself
but rehearse that night

what is going to happen
in the morning.

Where's my assistant?

Can you get the milk?

All surgical procedures
require an assistant.

In the morning, it's routine,
it's get up, get dressed.

Three Weetabix every morning
before an operation,

just so I can say to the patient

when I see them
before the operation,

"I'm ready. Don't worry."

It's a big day for me,
but it's a huge day for them,

so you make sure that
they are aware you're on top form.

Pop in there, have a seat.
Thank you.

We're doing a live donor
kidney transplant.

So the first thing I need to do
today

is to check that Kimberly
is ready for her transplant.

My parents are both Geordies.

My father has an accent.

He was one of 13 children
brought up in Hetton-le Hole

and was a miner's son.

How are you feeling?

Yeah, I'm all right. Bit nervous,
eh? A little bit, but...

The first transplant patient
on Colin's list

is 32-year-old Kimberly,

whose type one diabetes
caused kidney failure

while she was pregnant.

That's great, blood pressure's
all fine.

Thank you. See you later.

I need a transplant because
the kidney function decreased

when I was pregnant
with my daughter.

My face was so swelled,
I couldn't open my eyes.

That's how bad the kidney function
got.

They took us straight down
for a section,

they couldn't wait any longer,
so she was 11 weeks early.

There wasn't a thing wrong
with her.

It was unbelievable.

She weighed one pound nine.

A little star.

With her baby safely delivered,

Kimberly's been on the kidney
transplant list for over a year...

Morning! Morning.

..until now.

No grandchildren yet? Three. Wowee!

In ward one, big sister
Debra's come to the rescue.

I've got a parakeet.

It's my grandson, called Ziggy!

Goodness!

Kimberly's diabetes has caused
dangerously low kidney function,

so the transplant from Debra
will be a lifeline.

She's had a tough...

..good few years.

She seems to have everything
going wrong for her diabetes,

and then the kidney problems.

It's just awful to watch.

Because Kimberly has suffered
with diabetes for so many years,

it's destroyed her kidneys.

Diabetics have too much
sugar in their blood.

The sugar goes into everything,

every part of the body where sugar
shouldn't be,

so it goes into the brain

and ultimately damages
the blood vessels in the brain,

goes into the eyes,

and poor Kimberly's almost blind in
the left eye.

So every organ system in her body
has been damaged

by these high sugar levels.

I'm on dialysis. Three times a week,
you're there four hours.

It's just all the simple things
in life that get weird.

You just feel like there's
nothing else but dialysis.

A successful outcome today

has particular significance
for the sisters.

Me mam had diabetes while she was
pregnant with Kimberly,

and that's when all the problems
started in her pregnancy,

and then she had heart problems

and she went in hospital for an
operation to get stents put in

because she had really
bad circulation in her legs,

and it didn't work.

So she passed away at 48. So...

Just brings it all back.

She was only about 13 years
old when my mum died.

I'm worried about her having to go

and do a massive procedure
just for me.

I'm really, really grateful
that she's doing it for us.

She didn't even have to ask.

She's my little sister,
and I would do anything for her.

KNOCK AT DOOR

Morning.

Morning. Are you all ready? I am.
Good, good.

As far as I'm aware,
everything's ready to go.

I'm going to go up and do
the team brief now

but fingers crossed, we should be
sending for you quite shortly.

Great. It's all going to go fine.
Thank you.

Don't worry.

Thank you. See you later.

Although they are a match, there's
still a risk

that Kimberly's body
could reject her sister's kidney.

Kimberly's got severe complications,
so this is the major moment.

Is this going to work or not?

Score!

Dad hasn't got any yet.

# I get knocked down,
but I get up again

# You're never gonna
see me down... #

I'm starvin'. I would love
a hash brown with a fried egg,

a bit of bacon, two sausage,

sausage cut longways
inside white toast.

But my diet started Monday.

Clinical nurse specialist Sean

has been in charge of the urology
clinic for over three years.

Come on in. Come and have a pew
over here for us.

Today he's removing a stent, a tiny
plastic tube

that's draining fluid
from William's kidney.

You've had a procedure, haven't you,

where they've gone open to the right
kidney and had to put a stent,

which is a tube that goes from the
kidney to the bladder. Yeah.

So we need to take that stent out.

Any questions?
No questions whatsoever.

When I was six,
would I have saw myself as a nurse?

Absolutely not. I always wanted
to be an English teacher,

I think, at first.

Do you feel all right?

Doesn't hurt.

I'm a one-man band
and it's just me.

There's no kind of, "I spoke
to this person yesterday

"and this person last week said
this."

Whatever has been said, I've said,

and I am able to establish

a really strong nurse-patient
relationship with my group.

I'm going to pull the stent out now.

A little bit of discomfort.
Yes, that's all right.

Good stuff.

Great.

And that's the stent out.

OK? Yes, yes.

Do you want to see?

Oh, it's quite long, isn't it?

It's a big 'un. Right.

I'm always striving for the next
best thing.

I want to be a success.

I want people to... talk about
the work I do.

I just want to get a trophy
for hitting 1,000 stents.

Come on, I've got you.

Ignore my smelly armpit.

Think you can stand up?

At least you didn't hit
us with a stick.

You get yourself dried and dressed

and you can get yourself away home,
OK?

Have you ever been notified

that you're at increased risk
of mad cow disease? No.

You don't know any mad cows?

THEY LAUGH

She's been on dialysis
for two years.

Her sister is a good donor.

Ear, nose and throat surgeon
Isma Iqbal

is preparing for a busy day
in theatre.

Most of my patients say,

"I don't envy you looking up
people's noses",

but I tell them
there's worse places to look.

Tell me if I'm walking too fast,
because I do walk quite fast.

Walk with purpose.

My mum really wanted to be a medic.

She came to this country
when she was 14

and didn't have those opportunities.

My mum's very proud.

Her first sentence when
she introduces me is,

"This is Isma.
She's an ENT surgeon",

which is very embarrassing for me,

but I appreciate
that it comes from a sense of pride.

Second on Isma's list for the day
is 71-year-old Terry...

Morning. ..who's come in to have a
large benign brain tumour removed

from behind his nose.

Who would you like us to take
as your next of kin?

The wife. The wife.

Now I'm really going to test you.

Do you know what her date of birth
is?

Now, you did that on purpose,
didn't you?

THEY LAUGH

Her birthday's March.

Are you confident in your answer?

No.

SHE LAUGHS

He's in huge trouble!

You're going to cut that out,
aren't you? No, you're not.

HE CHUCKLES

Terry first noticed a problem

when his eyesight
began to deteriorate.

Now the slow-growing tumour needs
to be removed

before he loses sight
in his left eye.

It's a really big tumour,
causing him discomfort

and also causing some visual loss.

Seven years.

Been checked over each year,
and it's led to this day.

I'm looking forward to getting
it over and done with.

You can see the pressure's building.

I can feel it.

Take a couple of minutes.

Um... just...

Good morning! Morning.

You're the one who's going to do
the drilling?

The nasal approach, yes.
That's what you call it, is it?

Yeah! I hope your drill's sharp.

I'll get Mr Coulter
to where he needs to be.

Isma is working alongside
neurosurgeon Ian Coulter,

who will remove the tumour once Isma
has cleared a path to it.

The tumour that's
in your pituitary gland,

so at the back of your nose...
Yeah.

It already looks like it's done most
of the drilling for me, OK?

Oh, lovely! So I'll access it
through the nose.

It's not eating away everything, is
it?

It's taken away the bits
that we would take away.

OK, I shall see you in theatre.

OK, that's fine.

In the back of your mind,

there's always a chance something
might not turn out

the way it's supposed to.

The patient's quite frail
and there's lots of potential areas

where there may be a problem
with bleeding.

Very acutely aware that things
may go wrong.

How's she been doing?

Her smile is looking better on both
sides, isn't it?

This tumour is coming
through there already.

Right, let's go down and get a
kidney.

Are you warm enough? Yeah.
Because it's a bit cooler down here.

It's all right, it's nice.

Nice, isn't it? I like it
when I come down here.

Debra is being prepared for surgery

to donate a kidney
to little sister Kimberly.

I don't have any worries on my end.

I'm more worried with Debra.

It's major surgery that she's going
through for me

and it's something that she doesn't
actually have to do.

Colin and fellow consultant surgeon
Naeem Soomro

are briefing the transplant team
before getting under way.

Kimberly has type one diabetes,

so she's here to have a kidney
from her sister,

which is going on in theatre two.

From the donor's side,
her BMI is good.

I have got no concerns.

We'll just crack on, then.
Thank you.

Both surgeons will operate
simultaneously.

Naeem will remove Debra's kidney

before handing it to Colin
to transplant into Kimberly

in a theatre along the corridor.

Live donor kidney
transplantation is all about timing.

It's about getting the donor
operation right,

the implantation operation right

and bringing those two things
together at the right time.

That is crucial.

Living donor thing today. Oh, right.

OK, thank you.

In surgery, you put the drapes on.

It's just the organ,
the moment, that exists.

OK, thank you.

I wish that I didn't have to make
my sister go in surgery

and all the risks, and it's not
benefiting her, it's benefiting me.

My life will be transformed.

OK. And scissors to me, please.

It takes just under an hour for
Naeem to detach Debra's kidney

through intricate keyhole surgery.

OK. That's yours. Thank you.

Now Colin must check it's healthy
enough to donate to Kimberly.

We're going to flush the artery.

If the kidney's damaged,
then it clamps down.

It becomes completely constricted,
as we call it, inside it,

so fluid won't go through it.

Any blockages will mean
the transplant cannot go ahead.

Debra will have given up her kidney
in vain.

That's rushing through,
it's pouring out of the vein here,

showing that there's no blockages,

which is the sign of a very
good kidney.

Thanks.

OK, all the best.

OK. Show me, please.

Great.

We have the kidney.

It's a young lady's kidney.

We'll call it Cassandra.

Cassandra's coming with us.

While Naeem closes up,

Debra's kidney makes the 100-metre
journey to theatre five,

where Colin can start the four-hour
transplant into Kimberly.

Right. Let's get started.

Handwash number 12.

It's a good job
I didn't fake tan, isn't it, Paula?

Good dog.

Hello! Yeah, she's back to work.
You all right?

When you need a friend

and a companion to support you
in difficult times...

Oh, I was going to send them to you!
It's nice to see you.

See you later.

Katie has been head chaplain
at the Trust for over two years,

and she's the first woman
ever to hold the position.

When I go to teach a session
for the first time,

I sort of always
introduce it as an icebreaker of,

"Were you expecting a chap with
grey hair, potentially a beard,

"dressed in black,
clutching a Bible,

"and instead you've got
a cool g*y chick with tattoos?"

We're not here to peddle
religion at you.

That's not what it's about.

The people come first.

Sean, his department backs onto me.

That way is Sean. I'm surprised you
can't hear him through that wall.

Some people, they just need to come
the once

and offload whatever
it is they're carrying.

We've had people over the years
who've offloaded something to us

from 30 years ago, and they may
never have told

their nearest and dearest.

So it's immensely humbling to get
people away

from thinking we're only here
to say some prayers.

Hello!

We could do with a little Poppy
visit today. Poppy!

I said, "I'm not sure how we'll cope
with two divas in the room."

Exactly.

THEY LAUGH

You all right? Yes, are you?
You having a busy week?

Yes. Poppy! Very. Did I tell you
I went paddleboarding? No.

Oh, it is so difficult.

I was literally like...

..trying to stand up.

And then I took my phone
out of the protective case

to take a selfie.

Plop! Straight in the water.

£150 excess I had to pay.

So I crashed my car that week,
lost my phone and lost me trainers.

Do you ever think you should
just maybe stay at home? Yeah.

THEY LAUGH
I was terrible.

Katie is a fantastic chaplain.
You must feel

like you have the weight of the
world on your shoulders

when everybody's talking to you

about everything
that's going on in their life.

A member of my team passed away,

and she came and supported
a lot with that.

She's a very caring person

and you can completely
open up to her.

She is a really good friend.

Poppy!

BALL BOUNCES AWAY

Completely uninterested
in that now, aren't you?

She's like, "No, I don't want it".

THEY LAUGH

Emergency contact,
I've got your wife.

Do you want me to put anyone else,

as you're in trouble with the date
of birth? Just phone the dog.

Just phone the dog!

Hi, Kit, what are you drawing?

That looks good, matching that.
That looks great.

Is it exactly the same? Pretty much.
Wow.

Not too bad.

You're an artiste! I'm an artiste.

Sophie? Yeah?

I'm seriously going to need that.

This one? Yeah.

He looks tricky.

No, he doesn't.

Emma has been given the go-ahead

to change the battery powering
four-year-old Kit's mechanical heart

to a smaller, state-of-the-art one.

So Kit's going to go on this new
machine,

which obviously is very small.

It's also newer technology,
so really good batteries.

You know, they'll last for six,
eight hours without being charged,

which opens up a lot
of opportunities for him

because currently, he needs to stay
plugged into the mains.

So that will give him a lot
of freedom.

Excellent.

That looks really good!

I'm so pleased you like it.

This smaller battery for the heart
machine

has only been fitted once
in the UK before.

If it's successful, Kit will be able
to leave the hospital grounds

for the first time in four months.

So Emma is leaving nothing to
chance.

His blood pressure looks good.
Bloods look good.

BNP's been stable.

It's only going to take us a few
seconds

to change him from one machine to
another.

But we have to put a lot
of time into the setup

to get it absolutely right.

Can you hear me? Yes, I can hear
you.

We're also going to have the
assistance

of the company, Berlin Heart.

COMPANY CONSULTANT:

I think we'll just go down to 90

and see whether he's OK with that.

We're going to start
manual configuration again.

It's vital that the changeover go
smoothly,

as the battery is the only
thing keeping Kit's heart beating.

We need to change him over quickly

so that he doesn't have a reduction
in the support.

If he was detached from it
and we didn't connect him,

he would become sick very quickly.

He might pass out, and he might
ultimately have a cardiac arrest.

We have to ensure that it's always
pumping.

Shall we change? Yeah.

OK.

OK.

Ready? Yeah. OK.

So that's just gone in there,

and I'll just give it a few cycles
before I assess it.

OK.

He's soldiered on

through absolutely
everything they've chucked at him.

He was seeing so many different
faces,

and every new face wanted to prick
him with a needle and take blood.

I need a bit more emptying.

Do you want a little bit or double,
Emma?

Um, double.

KIT'S MUM: He's not complained
about it, ever.

He's just a four-year-old.

Like, he's got energy.

He never stops talking.

He wants to know everything,
he wants to go everywhere.

It'll mean hopefully, he can do
some normal things again.

It's working nicely.

Did you hear what they said then?
Working nicely.

That looks fab. Good.

Look at that smile. Emma, are you
happy?

Yes, I'm happy, I'm very happy.

I'm happy too, then.

It'll make a huge difference to him

that he'll be able to go wherever
he wants to go.

So do I.

You and me both.

OLD DEVICE BEEPS

Oh, that's not your noise any more.
That's not you!

If we're happy in a couple of hours,

we can mobilise around the ward

and then we can let him
out of the building.

OK. Yeah? Yeah.

Have you got the ice? We need ice.

Can we get the kidney out?

It's in there somewhere.

Upstairs from the children's heart
unit,

Kimberly is being prepared
to receive her sister's kidney.

Looks better than my kidney!
Unfortunately.

HE LAUGHS
I'm ready.

The first stage of the operation

is to cut through the stomach
lining,

usually a simple procedure.

This is very abnormal.

Normally, all of this stuff
is really soft

but poor Kimberly, because of her
diabetes, it's all hard.

I'm cutting through the skin.

Her skin is hard.

The subcutaneous tissues
are scarred.

Everything is showing me

that this is not
going to be an easy operation.

Where's the space?

We're trying to create a pocket
for the new kidney to sit in.

The kidney
urgently needs to be attached

to Kimberly's blood supply,

otherwise it will deteriorate.

The vein join has gone really well,
very smoothly.

No issues with that.

So we move to the artery.

There's just bits of artery
dangling off everywhere.

All those little bits of tissue
just hanging off on the artery,

they're worrying me
that a clot could form on those.

If just one clot forms, that's it.

The kidney is destroyed.

The operation is meaningless.

Stress level is rising.

This is not good.

Put the swab under that one first.

Remind me that the last two...
that's not tied,

so those two are going to have to be
tied to each other. OK, next.

You have to deal with that,

but knowing that the clock
is against you,

you've got to stitch
the kidney in fast.

Otherwise, it will be damaged.

Oh, come on.

Less haste, more speed.

Suddenly, the mountain
has just doubled in height.

But you have to get there.

And if it triples in height,
you have to get there.

There is not an option of turning
around and going back.

You have to carry on.

You feel the artery just wanting
to crack underneath you.

This is your stylish outfit
for today.

The second one is to wear like
a dressing gown,

just because they're a little bit,
er...

..little bit breezy at the back.
Show more than what they should.

The flows are good. The thing's
functioning really well.

So far, no alarms either.

Her artery's fragile.

Colin is working against the clock

to repair Kimberley's damaged
artery,

crucial to attaching
her sister's donor kidney.

Oh, it's twisted as well.

My worry is that now the artery
is damaged by the clamp.

When you're up against
a complication,

there is no time to think about it
or get second opinions.

It's a case of making a decision
quickly and going with it.

Right, we're going to change tack.

It's just fragmenting, this artery.

The longer Debra's donor kidney
is left without a blood supply,

the more it will deteriorate.

You've got some flush for
the kidney? I've got the flush.

Can you get it hanging?

I have to convey to people
that this is a problem.

They need to tune in.

Jokes stop, banter stops.

We get on this as a serious job.

So we're just going to put some
extra stitches in here

to secure those bits of tissue.

Suction.

We'll start at the back.

Perfect.

That's good. Next.

We're going to put two stitches
in the back wall. That secures it.

Then it becomes clear to me

we have to do that
all the way around.

Actually, that looks pretty good.

I've had to do a million and
one stitches

to get this thing to secure.

So... right, we're going to take
the clamps off now.

OK, clamps are coming off,
so the vein's coming off first.

That's good. We've got some bleeding
from the vein, that's good.

Artery's coming off now.

We've got some bleeding
from the capsule. That's good.

Bleeding is good in this situation

because it tells me the blood
vessel is working.

I haven't damaged the blood vessel.

The kidney is getting blood into it.

This is going to work.

We've got a kidney
that's pinking up nicely.

The kidney's looking great.

Phew!

I hate to say it, but these moments
are what I live for,

and I really enjoy it!

Sorry.

We're ready to do the ureter.

Let's see if it's producing some
urine.

With the artery fixed,

now Colin must test whether
the transplanted kidney is working.

Have a wee!

Cassandra's camera-shy.

It's like potty-training
my toddler.

I bribed my toddler
with a combine harvester.

"If you have a wee in the potty,
I'll buy you a combine harvester."

Oh, here we go.

Yep, got it!

HE LAUGHS

And now... now I'm awash in urine.

Be careful what you wish for.

The kidney's lovely and happy.

Gone from one sister to another.

The joy of this moment is seeing
Kimberly's sister's kidney

coming to life in her

and the new life that this is going
to bring for Kimberly.

There is that relief, that... just
elation

that the operation has gone well.

It's either a run or
a gin and tonic, and I'm not sure.

I think it's probably a run.

And then gin and tonic.
HE LAUGHS

You done? Good girl,
do you want to go off your lead?

On you go. Stretch your legs.

Because it's a big tumour,

it's sort of coming into the back
of the nose.

Terry needs surgery to remove a
tumour that's damaging his eyesight.

Surgeon Isma is making her final
pre-op checks.

From a very early age,

I liked the idea of fixing people.

My careers adviser did tell me
that I wouldn't make it in medicine,

but... yeah, I think I was quite
rebellious.

We can see on here the green bit.

That's the actual tumour
that we're dealing with.

The arteries are very close,
as are the nerves.

It's just a couple of millimetres
between them.

So that's why it's very delicate
surgery.

We're operating looking at a screen,
using your hands as controllers,

so it's kind of like playing a video
game,

but it's a real patient there.

Isma carefully clears a path
to the tumour,

removing bits of bone,
skin and soft tissue.

There is the two openings
to the sphenoid sinus.

This is where we're going to get
access to the tumour.

It actually looks like a ghost
or something at the moment!

So this is just taking away
the tissue now.

The camaraderie in a theatre
environment,

you're kind of working
with a second family.

Can we have the idiot stick, please?

It's called a dissector,
but we call it the idiot stick.

Just when I start to get involved!

Neurosurgeon Ian will be in charge
of removing the tumour.

We have to trust each other
and rely on each other.

We all know when we need
to be serious.

So you can see the tumour there.

So we're right in the middle
of the head at the moment.

In the wrong hands, this instrument
could be lethal.

It will just eat away at anything
that you put in its pathway.

To either side, you've got two huge
blood vessels

that supply most of the brain.

The carotid artery, if that bleeds,
that's life-threatening.

We're working in a very narrow
space.

A few millimetres, you know,
off-centre or in the wrong place

can cause a lot of problems, so...

Usually, these tumours are fairly
soft.

We can kind of scoop it out.

The tumour's a bit like porridge
consistency.

Ian painstakingly removes the tumour

to avoid damaging surrounding
brain tissue and vessels.

If we try and sort of rush it here,

we could end up getting a CSF leak,
which is a brain fluid leak.

Then that complicates the situation.

The way I treat my patients
is, if it was my mum or my dad,

what would I be happy with
if somebody did this to them?

And I think if you have that
mindset,

you know, you won't go wrong.

I think we've taken most
of the tumour away.

Yeah, it looks pretty good
at the moment, actually.

Using tissue taken from the lining
of the nose,

Isma patches up the void...

Yeah, that's good.

..followed by sealing gel and
padding

to reinforce it while it heals.

So this is just going to sit
and support the grafts.

Job done. That's it.

So lights on, please.

It's a really good feeling,

it's sort of an internal
satisfaction.

You've made someone better,
you haven't done any harm,

so that in itself is, you know,
a really good feeling.

Are you seeing double at all?

No, there's only one of you.

That's good. Have a good rest now,
OK? Thanks very much.

You're waiting for a cup
of tea, are you?

Tea wouldn't go amiss.

Come on, then.

Right, what do you think you'd like,
some nectarines?

Yes, nectarines. Nectarines.
Anything else? Raspberries?

Now connected to his long-life
heart machine battery,

Kit is allowed outside the hospital
for the first time in months.

Are you excited, mate?

Oh, feel that warm breeze.

It's great to see a child's
quality of life improving.

It's very emotional.

It's the best part of the day
and it gives you a buzz, you know,

for the rest of the week.

I can see them!

I think it's life-changing
when you bear in mind

that he could be in hospital
another six,

12 months waiting for a heart
transplant.

If he's on the portable
machine,

he's able to behave more like a
child.

He's been begging us to come
here all week.

Well, now you're here.
Are you happy?

Yeah. Yeah. Please may I have a...
lemon, please?

You like lemons? Oh, he does.

You do like lemons!

Them are yours, and you don't
have to pay for them.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Remember, be strong, OK?
Don't drop them.

You've got this.

Hopefully going to go to the park
tomorrow.

Yeah, ice cream as well.

Maybe take your remote control boat
over to the park? Yes.

One day I'll come to work

and I'll be told
that he's had a transplant,

and it's lovely then to walk
into the cubicle

and celebrate with the family,

the VAD's put back in the cupboard.

That's fantastic. I love that.

After a long shift,

it's time for the Newcastle hospital
staff to head home.

Come on, then. Good girl. Out you
go, then.

The feeling I'm taking with me
as I leave the hospital

is one about people, how people care
for each other,

not only within the team, but also
patients.

We look after each other,

and that's the future and the
present as far as I'm concerned.

Morning!

Look at the size of that.

If my colleagues had to describe
me...

..it would be dramatic, vain...

It's like a sack of potatoes.

..and fun. Staples.

We're using sutures the thickness
of a hair.

Don't bugger it up.

Out to Hazel. Yes, mate!
Well done!

You've just walked!

Best day of my life, this.