Brain doctors. Part 2, The Decision.

The second programme of three in a series shot at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, the county's major A&E centre. Consultant neuro-registrar Jay Jayamohan goes to meet Nicola who is unexpectantly pregnant with her 4th child. However, the baby may have spina bifida or a life-threatening tumour. Nicola is 30 weeks pregnant and has an MRI scan which reveals that the baby has a large growth on its back characteristic of spina bifida. Jack is a 19-year old with Crouzon's syndrome who is also under Jay Jayamohan's care. He comments on the life-expectancy of children now - which in many cases is considerably longer than 30 years ago. Neuro-registrar, Tim Lawrence, is on call in the evening and attends to a 2 1/2 year old boy, Raj, who has a blod clot on his brain; Jay comes in to supervise. The blod clot is an indicator of a tumour. Nicola decides to go-ahead with her pregnancy. Jack is suffering from complications from his last surgery. Lawrence Impey performs Nicola's caesarian; she has a baby boy. Jack has been moved to the adult post-operative ward. This means that his mother can't stay with him 24/7. Jay has 3 operations to perform. Firstly he operates on Nicola's tiny baby (good shots of the procedure including close-ups of the tissue). Next it is a 6 year-old who needs a lumbar puncture. Finally, Jack is in to have his shunt replaced. Raj's parents return 3 months after the removal of his blod clot; they opt for the more aggressive operation which could leave him paralysed but is the only option to prolong his life. His dura is completely cancerous and is being removed. A biopsy is performed; Jay decides to proceed and the operation takes 6 hours. Some time later, Raj is making a good recovery.