Seventy-one year old Terry has a benign brain tumour that has been closely monitored over the last 7 years. Yearly checks and the deterioration of Terry’s sight, have led to the tumour needing to be removed before he loses the sight in his left eye.
In the episode, we follow Terry as he goes into surgery to have the tumour removed from behind his nose, in the pituitary gland.
As an emotional Terry explains: “I am looking forward to getting this over and done with, the pressure is building up and I can feel it.”
Terry’s first test when entering the ward, was to remember his wife’s date of birth as an emergency contact, he says: “You did that on purpose didn’t you? You’re going to cut that out aren’t you? – no you are not!”
Using humour to hide his nerves, Terry jokes with consultant ENT surgeon Isma Iqbal asking her if she’d be doing the ‘nasal drilling’ and hopes the drill is sharp.
Isma will work alongside consultant neurosurgeon Ian Coulter to remove the tumour from behind Terry’s nose, once she has cleared the path through his nose to it but it is very delicate surgery.
“The arteries are very close to the tumour – as are the nerves – with only a couple of millilitres between them, going either way could be fatal,” she said.
Once the area has been cleared, Isma is passed a dissector used to remove tissue and bone fragments. During this point, Isma and Ian are in the middle of Terry’s head.
“In the wrong hands this instrument could be lethal. It will just eat away at anything you put in its pathway. We are working in a very narrow space.”
Ian painstakingly removes the tumour slowly, to prevent damaging surrounding tissue and blood vessels and afterwards the void where the tumour has been is patched up.
Back on the ward, Terry gets a much needed cup of tea and we’re pleased to say following the removal of the tumour, his eye sight had improved and was no longer seeing double. He’s making a good recovery and enjoying a happy retirement with his wife.
