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00:00Our cameras have been capturing the incredible teamwork of the Royal Prince
00:08Alfred Hospital for decades. And as medicine is moving beyond anything you
00:16can imagine... We are the first public hospital in the country to perform complex
00:22robotic lung surgery. We're still there. Dirty, how are you? Very good, okay. Side by side. Our average
00:32operating time is just under 10 hours. We know that we can rely on one another.
00:37Witnessing medical revolutions. It's not likely that's gonna prolong my survival.
00:43Sorry. As the future of medicine unfolds before our very eyes. Already it's gonna
00:50make a difference for future brain cancer patients. What they do, now we're going
00:55to stop the heart, is simply astounding. In that operating theatre, I was reborn. It
01:00is said heart surgery is based on science but inspired by art. Special connections.
01:07You look great. Tell me how you feel though. Yeah, I feel really good. Give us a hug
01:12here. Lifting patients up. I'm just grateful you're doing this surgery. You're
01:17going to be fine. In their darkest hour. It'll be a bit hard. I just told him that I'm
01:22going to fight. You are so welcome. Saving the lives of everyday people. I feel
01:29like it's starting to become a bit more real. Getting ready for battle. Just like you
01:33and me. My first reaction, not again. I'm not ready to just die. Pleased to meet you. Welcome back to RPA.
01:41On this episode, situation critical. Lovely heaps. Yeah. As a team of the very best. Having a good working
01:55relationship and a friendship with Nabila has definitely made us both better surgeons. Are
02:00assembled to save Naomi's life. My little boy asked me yesterday if I was going to die. Rap fan, Troy.
02:11Like, throw me across the room and it wasn't the best idea. Literally suffering for his music.
02:18And too close to home. My heart is changing. As cardiac nurse Elio. The size of the heart is changing.
02:28Becomes the patient. Elio is such a great mentor to me. It's a privilege to be able to look after him.
02:34It's pre-dawn and 38 year old father of two, Elio arrives for another 12 hour shift at RPA's
02:48intensive care unit. I like working in ICU because as a nurse you can make a difference in someone's life.
02:57So it's a job that has meaning. There is a lot of things happening at the same time. So mentally
03:04it stimulates. You know, you have to think. You have to analyse. You have to control machines.
03:10Hi Elio. Hey. So it's a great environment to work. I think they have allocated you in bed five
03:17with a dialysis. I have worked with Elio for like almost 10 years. So when I started here he was my
03:25senior nurse. So he taught me a lot of things. So he's like a mentor to me and he's one of my close
03:34friends. Everyone is feeling a bit on edge this morning. Particularly Elio who's about to transition
03:41from nurse to patient. This is my last shift then officially I will be on sick leave. I'll have
03:50the operation on Thursday. Elio will be having surgery to fix a leaky valve in his heart. My heart
03:57is changing. The size of the heart is changing. So if nothing gets done soon enough symptoms
04:04will start to arise. So I don't want to get to that stage of being symptomatic. You know like there
04:12are complications from the operation. There's a small percentage of death. There's a small percentage
04:19of stroke. That's my main worry. How do you feel? I feel nervous. I feel quite nervous. Yeah. But
04:27relieved that my friends will be looking after me. We will definitely look after you for sure. Thank you.
04:34It's every rap fan's dream to shoot a music video.
04:43Hands up, up, up, up. Yeah we got something to say so come and pull them away.
04:49But for 29-year-old Troy it turned into a nightmare that's landing him in emergency.
04:54We were filming a music video and we're in the last scene of it so it was like
05:02throwing me across the room and um until the basement track is smashed back to the
05:07f**k.
05:08And um
05:10wasn't the best idea.
05:14Wasn't the best idea clearly. I was the shortest bloke at the place so we were like
05:19kind of like a little party balloon floating around the room.
05:22Troy's bubble burst when he landed hard, badly fracturing his ankle.
05:28Hi Troy, my name's Joe. I'm one of the emergency doctors. I'm just going to feel for the pulse.
05:33Can you wiggle your toes?
05:35Kind of like...
05:37Right.
05:39So it actually looks like the ankle joint's probably fractured and dislocated. So we'll get you in a bed and
05:44we'll get an x-ray to assess that. What we're going to need to do is to actually pull it back into a normal
05:50alignment um and that will also help reduce your pain. Okay? Yeah.
05:55As you can see, Troy's ankle does not look like a normal ankle. It's really deformed and that's
06:01because he's got a fracture dislocation where the bone's broken in multiple places. It's really
06:05important that we pull the bones back into a normal position as soon as possible because they can
06:10potentially damage the surrounding blood vessels and nerves. You can see there's some skin tenting
06:16there where it looks like the bone's about to push through the skin.
06:21An x-ray shows just how badly deformed the ankle is. We need to give him some
06:26anaesthetic medication to put him to sleep and then actually pull the ankle to get back
06:30so it looks like it's in normal alignment. Another 2.5 milligrams of morphine.
06:35With Troy now heavily sedated, orthopaedic doctor Sarthak Chopra will try to pull the ankle back into place.
06:43You all right, Troy? It's okay.
06:5441-year-old mother of two, Naomi, arrived in emergency a short while ago in unbearable pain.
07:00Thank you. She's less than a week away from major surgery to treat an aggressive colorectal cancer.
07:11Since she arrived at RPA, husband Matt and mum Sharon have not left her side.
07:17I've got two boys, so one's nearly nine, Isaac, and I've got Bryson who's nearly 14 in December.
07:25There's a lot about her deadly cancer diagnosis and surgery that Naomi doesn't understand.
07:31They're just going to cut you up and get it all out, aren't they?
07:34But all will be explained by the RPA team over the next few days.
07:39Love you heaps.
07:40I know.
07:47Take it easy.
07:53I just want to get it started and so I can fight.
07:59Because I don't want to, yeah, I want to live. I don't want to leave my kids and everybody behind, so...
08:05I don't want to live my kids and I don't want to live my kids and I don't want to live my kids and I don't want to live my kids.
08:1538-year-old intensive care nurse Elio has worked alongside robotic and cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Tristan Mian for years.
08:24But today, he's seeing him as a patient ahead of surgery to repair his leaking heart valve.
08:30No one come to see a heart surgeon willingly. I guess a lot of patients, when they are diagnosed with a major heart condition,
08:39they feel fearful, they're anxious and vulnerable.
08:44You've been referred to me because of a condition called mitral regurgitation.
08:50The mitral valve is one of the main valves in the heart and the condition that you have is a mitral valve prolapse.
08:59It's a floppy valve that you've got.
09:01It's quite common and it happens in young people like you.
09:08The blood flows from the collecting chamber into the pumping chamber.
09:12So over here is the collecting chamber and here's the pumping chamber.
09:17The blood is flowing forward in a normal physiological condition.
09:21In your case, the mitral valve has become redundant, floppy,
09:25and we can see the valve is billowing out into the collecting chamber with each heartbeat.
09:31It's a portion of the blood going forward and a big portion of the blood going backwards.
09:35Elio's heart has to work much harder for blood to get around his body.
09:40And if this floppy valve or doorway is left untreated, blood may start backing up into his lungs.
09:46Right, yeah.
09:47So the first thing we're going to do is to implant or repair the heartstrings.
09:54I may put in new heartstrings on the edges of the doors and pull that heartstrings.
10:00It's almost like a target of your heartstrings.
10:03Yeah.
10:03And attach that to the inside of the pumping chamber.
10:07After that, I will be putting in a new door frame.
10:12Right.
10:12That is annuloplasty ring.
10:14Right.
10:14Okay.
10:15That will strengthen the door frame and also prevent it from dilatation.
10:19It's almost like doing a plastic surgery on your mitral valve.
10:23Right.
10:24And all of this is done through the use of minimally invasive robotic surgery.
10:28And through small incisions on the side of the chest, about eight millimeters in diameter,
10:35through those little incisions allow the introduction of the robotic arms.
10:40Every time when I hold a beating heart, which is pretty much every day,
10:44it always reminds me that life is so precious.
10:49We ought to treasure it, protect it, and live a life to the fullest.
10:54How are you feeling?
10:56I'm a bit nervous, of course.
10:59It's been my privilege to look after you.
11:04Hi, Naomi.
11:07Hi.
11:07How are you today?
11:08I'm all right, thank you.
11:09That's good.
11:10How's the pain?
11:12Today, it's okay.
11:13But, yeah, it's been horrendous the other days.
11:17But, yeah.
11:19After an emergency admission to RPA, 41-year-old Naomi is set for the fight of her life,
11:25following a devastating cancer diagnosis.
11:28In her corner is colorectal surgeon Dr Cherry Ko.
11:31At the moment, what we can see on scans is that you have an area of abnormality in the large bowel
11:38itself, which we know is cancerous.
11:41We also have a large ovary within the pelvis, which is measuring sort of at least 13 centimeters,
11:47and that's obviously cancerous as well.
11:50Giving Naomi, obviously, news about her diagnosis, her advanced disease, that clearly affects all of us
11:57as well.
11:58You know, we're all human beings.
11:59I have two children.
12:01I'm a mum as well, a relatively young mum.
12:04And it makes me feel very grateful that I am healthy, that I'm in a very privileged position
12:11to be able to help patients like Naomi.
12:14Depending on what else we find, we may have to remove other organs as well.
12:19Because the aim of this operation is to actually clear the entire peritoneal cavity
12:28of any cancer that we can see.
12:32And it might be as small as a sesame seed, we have to clear it.
12:36It might be as small as a poppy seed, we have to remove that.
12:39There is a chance that we may also have to remove the gallbladder.
12:44We also look at the spleen.
12:46And if there is disease on the spleen, we'll remove the spleen for you as well.
12:51We will definitely be removing the appendix.
12:54Once we have cleared the disease, what we would also plan to do is something called HIPEC.
13:01H-I-P-E-C.
13:04That stands for hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy.
13:11The hot wash chemo is poured into the abdomen to kill any of the cancer cells Dr Ko can't see.
13:18It is a long day though.
13:20An average duration of the operation is typically between 8 and 10 hours.
13:24The average length of stay in hospital is about 19 days after the operation.
13:31So in terms of like how bad it is, how bad is it?
13:38This is considered stage 4 colorectal cancer.
13:42I will be able to give you more answer to your question once we have actually done the operation.
13:53Yeah.
13:55It's a lot to take in, isn't it?
14:01So you could just hit me.
14:02Yeah.
14:14And my little boy asked me yesterday if I was going to die.
14:20I just told him that I'm going to fight.
14:26Fight as much as I can.
14:29Yeah, it's often difficult for kids.
14:31Yeah, that's the hot pot.
14:40All I can do is fight, bro.
14:47Today is an unusual one for ICU nurse Elio.
14:51He's arriving at work as a patient to have urgent surgery to repair a leaky valve in his heart.
14:58The whole admission is unfamiliar.
15:01So this is like foreign environment to me.
15:03And I can empathize with the patients who have that fear of the unknown.
15:11Once I get to ICU, I suppose it'll be like, oh, okay, I'm back on my turf.
15:17Morning, Elio.
15:20Hello.
15:20Ready to go?
15:21Yeah.
15:22Yeah, we'll go.
15:23It's all ready.
15:23Okay.
15:24See you afterwards.
15:25All right.
15:25Okay.
15:25On the other side.
15:26Yes, on the side.
15:29Using the latest robotic technology, the surgery will take roughly three hours.
15:35During that time, Elio's heart will be stopped and supported by a heart-lung machine
15:40that will keep blood circulating around his body.
15:43I think most people find it strange that we work at the precipice between life and death.
15:51I think heart surgery often will have to push the boundaries of human physiology.
15:59We also have to take the patient a step closer to death momentarily in order to give them more
16:07life, both in terms of more life in the years and more years in their life.
16:15So making a small incision in the right groin,
16:19expose the artery, the femoral artery.
16:23We need to put the patient on heart-lung machine,
16:26and that process is done through this small incision in the groin.
16:33Now I'm going to make a series of little holes in the chest,
16:36and this will help me to put the robotic arms inside.
16:42Okay, let's dock the robot.
16:46Slow down. Come towards me. That's enough. Thank you so much.
16:53As Professor Yan gets the robot in place,
16:57Elio's wife, Nike, arrives to wait for news from the operating table.
17:01Elio is our world. He's a family man. He's everything to us.
17:08A lot of things goes through my mind with this surgery, especially with the complication.
17:14What could happen, I suppose, but I'm just trying to stay positive.
17:18So what we're doing now is to deliver a cardioplegic solution.
17:25This will stop the heart. The solution is a heart stopper.
17:29So the heart is beating, slowing down, and it'll come to a standstill.
17:36So this is all controlled, induced.
17:42We want the heart to stop so we can operate inside of the heart.
17:48If you look on the screen, the heart is stopping.
17:51So the heart is stopped. And then on the screen you can see there's no heartbeat at all.
18:02Now the heart has been stopped, the clock starts.
18:05For the best outcome, Dr Yan must complete the complex surgery
18:10and get Elio's heart beating again in less than three hours.
18:13Music fan Troy took a nasty tumble while being thrown around a mosh pit filming a video.
18:26I'm going to get some help from the other doctors and they're going to give you some sedation.
18:31He's been given a strong sedative and pain medication
18:34before they try to pull his twisted ankle back into line.
18:37Troy, wake up.
18:39Yeah, what is it?
18:39It's not nice seeing Troy showing signs of pain but when we're giving procedural sedation,
18:51we need to balance the amount of medication given to control his pain
18:56with making sure that he still breathes on his own.
18:59If we were to give him a general anaesthetic, he'd stop breathing and that is very risky
19:03because then we need to put a tube down and ventilate him.
19:07So that comes with a lot of risk if we do that.
19:09With the right sedation on board, it's time to pull the ankle back into place.
19:15You all right, Troy? It's okay.
19:21It's all done, it's all done.
19:29Deep breaths, we're doing pictures now.
19:33It should start being a lot more comfortable.
19:34That's all good. Take some deep breaths, all finished.
19:39It's a challenging sedation.
19:41It is really challenging.
19:42Yeah.
19:44No worries. Thanks, Dr. Smith.
19:47Troy's ankle is back in place.
19:49But ahead lies surgery and a long road to recovery.
20:05While mum of two, Naomi, prepares herself for surgery to remove a deadly cancer from her abdomen,
20:12husband Matt waits for news.
20:17Everything's up in the air.
20:18Like, I just don't know what's going to happen.
20:21Yeah, just anxious and nervous.
20:23I just want to get in there and get it done with.
20:26I messaged my husband
20:28and asked him to give the boys and my dog a kiss.
20:35But yeah, I said I'll see him soon.
20:39All right.
20:42Good morning, Naomi. How are you?
20:44Good morning.
20:45Any questions? Any last minute questions before we go in?
20:48All good? All ready?
20:50Perfect. Let's do this.
20:52For such a long and complex procedure, Dr. Ko's colleague, Dr. Nabila Ansari, will assist.
20:59Together, they have performed more than 500 surgeries.
21:03Having a good working relationship and a friendship with Nabila
21:07has definitely made us both better surgeons.
21:09We don't even have to talk to each other and we both understand and know what we need
21:16to get to the common goal safely in getting the tumour out
21:19without causing any complications for the patients.
21:22We've only got one patient on per list because our average operating time is just under 10 hours.
21:29I prepare for a big case by making sure that I've actually rested well the night before.
21:34I make sure that I've had breakfast, have my cup of coffee,
21:37and the entire team knows exactly what the surgical plan actually is.
21:43You're doing well. Just concentrate on nice, slow breathing.
21:47Naomi's life is hanging in the balance.
21:51And with such high stakes, a crack team of specialists has been assembled in theatre.
21:57That has a diathermy up to 35 feet.
22:01What you can see here is this large ovarian tumour,
22:06because normally your ovary would be about the size of a Kalamazoo olive.
22:09It's very enlarged.
22:11Yeah. So we're going to plan to take out this ovary first, because it is so large.
22:18This is occupying so much space.
22:20So for us to be able to assess the rest of the pelvis and decide what we need to do,
22:25and the cherry's got to take it all out.
22:26Okay. All right.
22:29So now that the large ovary is out of the way,
22:33we can actually have a look within the abdomen to see what other areas is affected by this cancer.
22:41Unfortunately, the cancer is well and truly on the move.
22:45It's spread to Naomi's bowel, her other ovary, her uterus, even the lining of her abdomen.
22:52And out comes the entire specimen.
22:54It all has to be removed.
22:56The pelvis part of this operation is finished, and we'll move into the other parts of the abdomen,
23:07and continue with our removal of cancers.
23:11As operations get longer, it is common for surgeons, anesthetists, as well as assistants,
23:16to start to get fatigued. What we need to do is to be mindful of our own feelings,
23:24and how we're actually dealing with this fatigue.
23:27Dr Cherry Ko and her team have kept a razor sharp focus for almost seven hours.
23:33So far, Naomi has had a very technically successful procedure,
23:38in that we've been able to completely clear all the visible areas of disease.
23:45But there's still a long way to go.
23:47For Naomi to have any chance of being around longer for her kids,
23:51doctors Ko and Ansari must now destroy all the remaining cancer.
23:57Problem is, they can't even see it.
24:03In a complete role reversal, 38-year-old cardiac nurse Elio is the patient today.
24:09On the screen, you can see there's no heartbeat at all.
24:13A colleague and friend, Dr Yan, has put him on a heart bypass machine,
24:20so he can begin revolutionary robotic surgery to repair a leaky valve.
24:26So now we have stopped the heart, and what we're going to do now is to open the
24:32interface between the right and left atrium. And that will allow us to enter the left side of the heart.
24:41With the advent of cardiopulmonary bypass machine, we're no longer required to stop
24:47the circulation to the rest of the body. We can just stop the heart and operate on the heart.
24:52But the patient's not dead in a way. They're preserved and protected so that the surgeons,
25:00the heart surgeons, can operate on the aortic arch in a safe manner.
25:08And then we can see the inside of the heart, which is the left ventricle. And over here,
25:14there are broken cords. The tiny cords, also known as heartstrings,
25:19help to open and close the valves of the heart. Problem is, Elios aren't doing their job.
25:26Because the cords are broken, and this segment of the mitral valve has prolapsed and billowing out
25:33like that. So what we're going to do now is to put new heartstrings onto the pupillary muscle here,
25:40to reinstall the integrity of the valve. These replacement heartstrings are made of
25:46Gore-Tex and are incredibly strong.
25:48This Gore-Tex material is a little bit slippery. If you don't make so many knots and change your hands
25:55and make sure the knots are locked, they can slide. So we have now implanted the new heartstrings.
26:03Next step is to strengthen the frame of the valve. So we're going to bring that frame down to a normal
26:11diameter. Next part is to put the door frame in. We're going to put this band that will fold the
26:23double doors in position. So if you can see there, the band is inside of the heart now.
26:32With the repairs complete, Professor Yan now stitches Elio's heart back together.
26:39I'm going to pull out now and take out a cross clamp.
26:42Elio's heart has been stopped for 90 minutes. It's now time to turn off the bypass machine
26:48and bring his heart back to life.
26:50It's the final check that Elio's repaired valves are working.
27:04Essentially zero residual mitral regurgitation on an initial examination.
27:11Encouraging signs and news worth sharing with Elio's anxious wife.
27:16Thank you so much. Everything. Yeah, that's okay. He's good. Yeah.
27:19So everything went beautifully. So no complications. No complications.
27:23Okay. Smooth. That's what I like to hear.
27:27So in the next few days, he'll be nice to you being looked after by his colleagues.
27:36It's the day after 29-year-old Troy smashed up his ankle while being thrown around a mosh pit.
27:46His antics have made him a bit of a star in Sydney's rap scene.
27:51On my mate's Instagram from when we were shooting the video, he's apparently gone live while ambulance
27:58were doing their job and yeah, a bit of a mascot at the moment.
28:07Orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Anish Darvey is taking on this tricky ankle repair.
28:12This gentleman came in yesterday and we're operating on him today. The reason we didn't need to take him
28:17down urgently was because Sartac did a great job in reducing the ankle, which means putting it back
28:22in the correct position. And what that allows is for the soft tissues to settle down. All the swelling
28:28in the skin and the soft tissues can reduce and it makes our job a lot easier when we operate.
28:34Troy has broken the two bones running from his leg into his ankle, the tibia and fibula. Dr.
28:40Darvey wants to start on the larger bone, the tibia, where the main fracture is.
28:45It's actually quite nasty eh? Yeah.
28:47The plan is to probably fix these two fragments together because I can get a good read on what the,
28:54how these two pieces fit and then try and fit that piece back onto the shaft of the tibia
29:00with the plate. Plans can change though.
29:05Sure enough, a floating bone fragment makes fitting the two pieces back together difficult.
29:12This is the fracture here. Just want to see a smooth continuity of the borders of the bone. There's
29:17that piece of fragment that was getting in the way of the fracture. So that's now gone.
29:22And overall, it looks pretty good. So... Finally, the realigned bone can be secured
29:27permanently with a titanium plate.
29:32So overall, I'm pretty happy with the x-ray and the alignment of the bones. I think the joint
29:37surface, which is really important for him, looks good. And I hope he's going to have a good outcome.
29:43No more mosh pits.
29:49Having had some of his heartstrings replaced and his leaky valve fixed,
29:53nurse Elio is being moved into ICU where his co-workers are waiting to take care of him.
30:01He's definitely our star patient today. Elio's such a great mentor to me. When I started nursing,
30:07he was already one of the senior nurses in cardiac ICU. So it's a privilege to be able to look after him.
30:14Hello. How are you?
30:16Hola. How are you?
30:19Yeah. How are the kids?
30:21They're good.
30:23It's nice to see.
30:24Good.
30:24I have a nice sleep.
30:26Oh, good. And he's doing well. He remembers the kids' birthday. So that's a good sign.
30:33Hello.
30:34How are you?
30:35I'm all right.
30:35Oh, good.
30:37Elio.
30:37How are you feeling?
30:39Yeah, good.
30:40Yeah?
30:40Yeah.
30:41You're looking great. You're looking great.
30:43He looks fantastic. He's alert. He's comfortable. He's talking. He's moving everything. And there's
30:49minimal output from the chest strength. He's not bleeding at all. I would expect him to do quite well,
30:54you know, especially being looked after by all his friends and colleagues. Time to enjoy the service here at RPA.
31:02Okay?
31:10It's been more than seven hours since Dr Ko and the surgical team started Naomi's life-saving
31:16operation to rid her of colorectal cancer.
31:19She's doing very well from an anaesthetic viewpoint. She hasn't lost too much blood at all,
31:24so that we can proceed with the next part of the procedure, which is the hot chemo wash.
31:29The chemo wash kills any of the microscopic cancer cells that can't easily be seen.
31:35It is actually called the open coliseum technique because the skin is held up like a coliseum.
31:40The chemo wash is going to be contained within this area. The reason why we prefer this technique
31:46is because we can actively stir and move bowel loops around to make sure that it maximises contact
31:54between the hot chemo wash and the organs inside the abdomen.
31:58This is a rare technique performed by very few hospitals around the country.
32:06Can I put the chemo in?
32:07Yes.
32:12We shall run this for 60 minutes.
32:13Naomi means the world to me, yeah, yeah. We've been together for 25 years,
32:18and yeah, the first day I saw her, I fell in love with her.
32:21She's actually my best friend, like, as much as my wife, like, so, um, yeah.
32:29Nine hours of surgery, plus one hour of a unique chemo treatment.
32:34But will it be enough to give Naomi a longer future with her family?
32:38We have achieved complete clearance of the disease, and we can confirm that Naomi has
32:44limited spread within the abdomen. So that's fantastic news for Naomi.
32:49Despite the amazing outcome from the surgery, the harsh reality is the chance of the aggressive
32:55cancer returning is very high.
32:57The likelihood of cure in most established studies is that there is about a 20% of
33:05long-term cure after this operation with the hot chemo wash. And this would apply to Naomi too.
33:12Hello? Oh, hi. Um, this is Cherry Ko. How are you?
33:20I'm good, darling. How are you?
33:22On the other end of the line, Naomi's mum Sharon and husband Matt.
33:26Everything has gone very well with Naomi's operation. We're actually, uh, we've removed the
33:30tumour. We've done the hot chemo wash. So we've cleared the cancer. That's the key thing.
33:35Um, the other thing is that Naomi has fairly limited disease, which is also another piece
33:40of good news. That is the one moment that I look forward to at the end of every single operation,
33:46uh, to be able to ring the necks of kin, to tell them some good news, because up until that point,
33:53it's all been sort of not good news, really. So that ray of hope, I think that is such,
34:01is such a golden moment, really. I'm so glad everything went well.
34:05Yes, so am I. I'm very pleased for her. This is a fantastic outcome.
34:08Excellent. You did a bloody good job, love.
34:1438-year-old intensive care nurse Elio has been a model patient. He's made an astonishing recovery
34:21from surgery to correct a leaky heart valve. After less than two days of being cared for by his
34:28colleagues in ICU, he's ready to go home. I'm extremely happy with the results. I'm extremely
34:36happy with how my body's coping with all of this trauma. Um, and I'm extremely happy with
34:43how Professor Yan has been so friendly and, and caring, and how my friends have looked after me.
34:52Hello, Elio. How are you? Yeah, good. How are you? You're looking
34:57very well. I feel very well. This is less than two days. I know. After the, uh, heart surgery.
35:03Yeah. Yeah. Any problems at all? Not at all. No. So, I'm happy for you to call your wife. Okay. And
35:10Nick. Yeah. Get her to come and pick you up and take you home. Great. Wonderful. I'll get on to that.
35:15Yeah. Okay. There's no doubt. I think heart surgery represents the finest craftsmanship. It is said,
35:23heart surgery is based on science, but inspired by art. Yes, we did. Oh, look at him. Hello.
35:32Ready to go home. Ready to go. How are you? Good. How are you? Oh, there goes my glass. Yeah.
35:38You okay? Yeah. Good. All right. Ready to go. Yeah. I really have felt the love from all my friends.
35:46Looking after me really made me feel so special, really special. I'm looking forward to going home to
35:53see my kids. They know that I cannot carry them, hold them or anything, but I just want to give them a hug.
36:01So just hugging them would be a nice, a nice first thing to do. Yeah. I'm looking forward to that.
36:07It's been five days since 41-year-old Naomi's marathon colorectal cancer surgery. Although the
36:23disease has been successfully removed, her time in ICU has been a roller coaster. The first day after
36:30the operation, she had some issues with pain, which is not an uncommon problem. It then had implications
36:35for Naomi's heart. At one point in time, there was what we call a pause in her heart rate,
36:42which typically would imply to say that patients would require CPR. And that's what Naomi had on
36:48the first day after her operation. Taking turns to keep vigil, Naomi's ever-present husband,
36:54Matt, and mum, Sharon. Hi, Naomi. Hello. How are you today? Good, thank you. That's very good.
37:00You've had some ups and downs, certainly. And, uh, but more importantly, how are you feeling today?
37:06Much better today. Much better? How's the pain? Not bad. Not bad? Despite everything that's been
37:13thrown at her, through it all, Naomi somehow kept her sense of humour. I never thought I'd be excited to
37:20tell someone that I actually fathered. Look at that smile on your face. That is so good to see.
37:29I think Naomi is doing very well. I think we'll just continue. Her blood tests are looking very
37:34good. I mean, from a physical viewpoint, I think she's getting stronger every day. Yeah. We're still
37:40waiting for her pathology. Uh, so I think we'll obviously have to have a conversation about what the
37:45final results of that pathology is. I'll see you tomorrow again. Have a good day. Keep up with the
37:50good work. Thank you. I'll see you later. Yeah. She's kicking goals, actually. She's a way ahead of
37:55what we will be expecting for a patient at the same stage. Yeah, she's a fighter. She's the way it has been.
38:01Yeah. A little bit of a hiccup now, and yeah, she's on the up, which was good. And, um, yeah,
38:07I'd move the world for her. Hmm. Sometimes you don't actually realise how much you really do mean
38:14to somebody until something like this happens. So, yeah, I just love everything about him.
38:28And a few days later, Naomi feels well enough to see her sons.
38:32Hey, ma'am. Hello. Thanks, dear. How are you? Just a bit careful of my belly.
38:38I know. I know. I missed you. I missed you. I missed you.
38:42I missed you. I missed you. You good? Yeah.
38:47Come on. Just standing.
38:52I missed you. I missed you.
39:02You feeling better today? No. Yeah? Good. Looking good?
39:08Oh. Yeah? So glad you're here.
39:11Yeah. I missed you so much. Yeah.
39:14What's Benji been doing? Um, he's... he's been doing good.
39:20It's cool. Thanks for looking after him. Yeah.
39:23Is school going good? Yeah.
39:26Have I got top of class? Very good. Top of the class? You didn't tell me that.
39:31Very different personalities they are, but they're both very good kids. Very proud mum. Yeah.
39:36It's still unclear when Naomi will make it home. I've got to look at the positive side of things.
39:42I've got a family to live for. I've got boys at home waiting for me to get home.
39:45Worrying about what's going to happen is not going to change anything, so...
39:49Mm-hmm. Yeah.
39:55Troy's broken ankle has been fixed in place with a metal plate and screws.
40:01The 29-year-old smashed it badly, being thrown around a mosh pit for a music video.
40:07Despite the pain, this hardcore rap fan still thinks it's a small price to pay.
40:12Well, it was 100% worth every second of it.
40:16It was complex surgery, but just the next day, Troy's given the all clear.
40:22Forward, yeah. Yeah, that's it. Good job.
40:25He'll spend six weeks in a boot or cast and another six having physio.
40:30Good work. All right, we're going to turn around here. Good. Take your time.
40:35This one for you. Good. That's right. Have a little rest.
40:38Yes. And ready to give him a lift home, Aunty Christine and Uncle Gary.
40:43There you go. Under there.
40:47OK, you're going into the bathroom.
40:48He'll be fine once he gets home to his own bed. And my sister works in the medical industry,
40:56so she knows what to do once he's home.
40:58There you go.
41:00He's a very sensitive young boy. Very sensitive. Yeah, he's a good boy.
41:05Yeah, I can't wait to go home, see my dogs.
41:13So today's day 19 in hospital.
41:16And it's home time, home day.
41:21It's awesome. I can't wait to go home. I'm very ready.
41:24It's 41-year-old Naomi's final hospital consultation with Dr Ko.
41:29I also have your pathology results. Yes.
41:32So the specimen with the bowel cancer on it, indeed it is bowel cancer.
41:36Mm-hm.
41:37That large ovary, it is also cancer. Now, what does it mean to you?
41:43It doesn't really change anything that we do in terms of the need for chemotherapy.
41:48This confirms that you definitely need that as a follow-up.
41:51Mm-hm. Okay. You are so much better compared to when you first came into the hospital.
41:56Okay. Any questions at all?
41:58No. No.
41:59Oh, you're very welcome. Thank you very much.
42:02You are so welcome. Thank you.
42:04It's been a pleasure looking after you.
42:05It's been great being on the team.
42:07All right. Thank you. Take care.
42:08The thing that drives me is actually patience. Seeing that smile on the face,
42:14making sure that my patients are happy with what they, what the care they've received,
42:19and just having grateful patients. Ultimately, it is the patient that makes doctors feel like
42:26we've done a good job and that we want to come to work every day to continue to look after sick patients.
42:33I still have to go through the six months of chemo and then I'll just have to have close monitoring
42:37because it's, um, I think she said 80% likely it will come back somewhere else. So,
42:45that's pretty , but, yeah. It is what it is, but we just have to fight that battle as well when it comes. So, yeah.
42:56Yeah.
43:02Good then, yeah. Me. Oh.
43:05Naomi's can-do attitude has her leaving hospital early.
43:12Home sweet home.
43:13All the best. Thank you. Thank you.
43:15I've got everything going.
43:22Going forward, it's just one day at a time.
43:26They both know it's the only way.
43:28I'll cook her a nice meal tonight. See the kids at Savo.
43:34I'm just relaxing and recovering.
43:35Uh, yeah. That's the plan.
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