Marc meets Henry Marsh
Brain Surgeon
Would you be brave enough to cut into someone’s head and work on their brain? Henry Marsh is a courageous doctor and skillful surgeon who has saved thousands of lives by doing this very difficult work. For years, he has taken out people’s brain tumors and fixed life-threatening problems. He was one of the first surgeons to operate while the patient was awake and able to answer questions. That helps the doctor to do his or her best during the operation. The American public television network made The English Surgeon, a documentary about Mr. Marsh and his work. Last year, he wrote a best-selling book, Do No Harm, about his life’s work as a brain surgeon.
In this Episode, Marc interviews Henry Marsh at St. George’s Hospital in London.
you may also like
Marc:
Hi. I’m Marc, and today, I’m going to be talking to Mr. Henry Marsh. He’s a real pioneer in his field, advancing the way we perform brain surgery. The brain contains some of the greatest mysteries in the world.
How does this lump of jelly allow us to string together complicated thoughts, or help us remember distant memories? We’re here at St. George’s Hospital and when Mr. Marsh walks around the hallways, everyone knows his name.
—-
Hi, Mr. Marsh. Can you tell me a little bit about what you do and how you do it?
Henry:
Well, I’m a brain surgeon. So in simple terms, it means I cut openings in people’s heads and then mess about with their brains a bit.
Marc:
When you think of the brain, it’s like a sponge, and it absorbs thoughts…
Henry: It is thoughts. Yeah.
Marc:
It’s something that just controls your whole body, which I find is quite amazing.
Henry:
It is extraordinary, but it’s not just controlling your body. It is you as well. That’s what’s so extraordinary. We are our brains.
Marc:
When you’re operating in the brain, you’re using medical equipment, and if you make one wrong move, surely you’ll cause paralysing –
Henry:
Yes, you can. It does require very careful decision making, because if I look back at my career – the worst mistakes were not because my hand slipped or something like that, it’s just I made the wrong decision, to either to take out too much or I shouldn’t have operated in the first place, or I should have operated more quickly than I did. So because it’s very dangerous, the decision making is incredibly important.
—-
Neurosurgery is surgery to the spine as well as to the brain. It’s not just brain surgery.
So this young gentleman, Mark, has been interviewing me for a TV program. About what it’s like to be a brain surgeon.
Marc:
Hello.
Henry:
Oh, look. That’s another surgeon. He’s bonkers. Meet Marc. He was interviewing me.
—-
Marc:
Do you find it hard to talk to your patients if you know that you can’t help them?
Henry:
Yes. It’s very difficult. I mean, in effect, you’re having to say to somebody, “Go away and die.” And they don’t like that and I didn’t like that. I sometimes end up operating when really I shouldn’t, but I do it because me and the patient can’t quite face reality.
Marc:
I saw a documentary on how you operate and it occurred to me that you keep your patients awake while doing it.
Henry:
Well for some I do, yes, because, you see, the brain doesn’t feel pain. So all you have to do if you want to operate with a patient awake is to put an anesthetic. That’s a – have you had an anesthetic shot in your gum –
Marc:
I had a filling.
Henry:
So you put an anesthetic in, yeah?
Marc:
Yes.
Henry:
Was it horrible?
Marc:
It was horrid.
Henry:
So I tell my patients that it isn’t any worse than going to a dentist. Just put local anesthetic in the skin and then it doesn’t hurt. Some bits of the brain if they’re damaged cannot repair. And other bits, you can damage the brain a bit and actually it’s all right.
And just looking at the brain doesn’t tell you what you can damage and what you can’t, because it all looks the same. So if you have the patient awake, if you get the patient to do things while you’re operating, you can get early warning if you’re going to cause any damage.
Marc:
When you do the operations, how long do they last?
Henry:
That’s very variable. The shortest operation takes about an hour, and some operations can take – depends a bit on the speed of the surgeon – it can take 12 or even 18 hours.
Marc:
When you’re in an operation, an 8 hour operation, do you go to pee?
Henry:
Well as you get older, you do, because most older men have problems with their prostates. But, no, it’s something you’ll just get used to it.
Marc:
What advice do you give to kids trying to know about neurosurgeons?
Henry:
Driller killer, you know? Kids like bloody stories. I was brought up on Grimm’s fairy stories, which are very bloody. But, no, in terms of neurosurgery, I’d like to try to convey some of my deep enthusiasm and love of the brain and sense of mystery about the brain. It’s like looking at the starry sky at night, which fills us with a sense of awe and mystery.
And the extraordinary fact is we actually, each of us within our own head, have a mystery, an awe inspiring mystery as great as the universe.
Marc:
In general, what advice would you give to kids?
Henry:
Read lots of books and learn a foreign language.
Marc:
Thank you, Mr. Marsh.
Henry:
Okay, I’ve enjoyed that. It was good. Fun.
—-
Marc:
Wow. That was cool. I hope you enjoyed meeting Mr. Henry Marsh and the brains behind him. To find out more, check out his book, Do No Harm. See you next time.