'Saving Lives in Cardiff gives everyone a unique insight' | Watch episode 5 on Tuesday 17 September
13.09.2024
Episode five of Saving Lives in Cardiff will air on BBC One Wales and BBC Two on Tuesday 17 September — introducing three more incredible surgeons and their teams.
As a consultant thoracic surgeon, the majority of Mr Tom Combellack’s workload involves lung cancer patients.
Tom said: “One of the sad things about lung cancer is that you have lots of patients coming through our multi-disciplinary team, but three-quarters of them don’t have an operable or curative option as they tend to present quite late. However, there are a select number of patients where we do have an opportunity to offer them curative surgery — sometimes that’s in combination with other treatments such as chemotherapy and anti-cancer drugs.
“It’s so important that this small subset of patients are given good quality operations to give them the best chance of a positive outcome.”
In the episode, Tom has prioritised 72-year-old Jan after a scan showed a suspicious area on her lung which could be cancerous.
Tom explained: “Initially, Jan just had a small nodule which was deemed to be indeterminate, but then in a follow-up we could see that it had grown. It was in a difficult area to biopsy as it was right up against her heart.”
At University Hospital Llandough, Tom uses keyhole techniques and a camera to take the biopsy and avoid damaging Jan’s heart. While she is anesthetised, the sample is blue-lighted to the pathology lab at the University Hospital of Wales for a diagnosis.
When asked about the most rewarding elements of his job, Tom said: “I hopefully play a very positive role in a patient’s journey. One of the best parts of my job is telling someone that they don’t have cancer, or I’ve gotten rid of their cancer. That’s incredibly rewarding and a huge release of that worry and anxiety for the patient and their families.”
Tom heaped praise on the “fantastic” team working around him, saying: “There are probably about 30 people in this chain who are looking after the patient as they come through. We give them some of the best quality, highly-specialised care in Wales.”
Tom said Saving Lives in Cardiff was a great platform to showcase the work of thoracic surgeons within Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
“Overall, I found it to be a really positive experience,” he said. “All our work happens behind closed doors. Even patients we’ve treated in the past don’t really know what happens to them when they’re put to sleep. Saving Lives gives everyone a unique insight.”
In the fifth episode of Saving Lives Cardiff, we also meet paediatric urology surgeon Ms Selena Curkovic who helps sports mad eight-year-old Barney get back to the activities he loves.
Selena, originally from Croatia, first met Barney when she moved to Cardiff from Birmingham Children’s Hospital in 2019 to take up a locum Consultant position at Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital for Wales. She has been Clinical Lead for Department of Paediatric Surgery, University Hospital for Wales for last four years.
Before Barney was born, his parents Sam and Owen, were told the devastating news that his kidneys and bladder were not functioning properly, and their son was unlikely to survive more than a few minutes after birth.
After a series of emergency operations in his first week of life, Barney’s only functioning kidney was saved and an opening made on his abdominal wall to drain his urine through vesicostomy into a nappy. This was never meant to be a long-term solution and as time has gone on, the stoma has started to leak.
Selena Curkovic, who subspecialty area is Paediatric Urology with special interest in neuropathic bladders and reconstructive surgery, said: “Barney is a very stoic little boy and he had been waiting for a long time for an operation which would make him continent.”
Rugby fan Barney, has been waiting five years for a life-changing bladder operation and feels his life is on hold until he can get rid of his bag.
“The operation closed the hole in his bladder and using his appendix I’ve attached his bladder to his belly button so he can self-catheteise,” said Selena. “Barney’s operation went really well and he’s doing the things he enjoys such as playing rugby.
“It’s mind blowing that we have the skills to change somebody’s life. The best part of the job is seeing the difference you can make to people. Everything we do is based on team work. Theatre staff, ward staff and everyone else in between we couldn’t do what we do without them.
“Since Saving Lives was filmed, we have managed to get the waiting lists down from 130 children to 70 currently. This is a major success and again, without the help from the team could not be possible.
“We organise our lists ahead and when there is a cancellation, it’s becoming a constant juggle with patients. We understand that people have to organise themselves, arrange childcare for other children and manage their work commitments. All those cancellations trigger a lot of problems and are tiring.
“I hope that Saving Lives will show people what we do and how our normal working day looks like.”
At the University Hospital of Wales, spinal surgeon Mr Stuart James has taken over two theatres to try and get through his elective operating list, but an influx of emergencies overnight threatens to derail his plans. He must make the difficult decision of who to prioritise.
“I’m not a natural showman but letting cameras into theatres and follow patients throughout their journey helps put context to the waiting lists,” he said.
“Every day, we are making difficult decisions about who to prioritise and balancing patients who may have waited a very long time and may be experiencing pain and discomfort and urgent and emergency cases.
“It can be very difficult to get this message across because the headlines focus on numbers and statistics, but behind these numbers are people and surgeons who want to do the best for their patients. When we have to cancel a surgery, it’s never easy because we know the impact it will have on that person but we have to prioritise patients based on their need and urgency.”
Watch Saving Lives in Cardiff on BBC One Wales and BBC Two at 9pm on Tuesday. If you’ve missed an episode, you can catch up on BBC iPlayer now.