So what did you think of watching surgeon Mr Francis Wells and his team performing open heart surgery on patient David Payne last night? Was it horrible voyeurism or informative viewing? Well, I’m still not sure…

I had a personal interest in watching the operation because a mitral valve repair may be part of a larger operation that I’ll be having; my mitral valve repair will be undergone simultaneously while my aortic valve is replaced with a mechanical one. If my mitral valve can’t be repaired, it too will be replaced with a mechanical valve, so as I say, I had a particular reason to watch last night.

And it was very interesting from that regard; seeing part of what may be happening to me was useful to watch but was it interesting for anyone who isn’t imminently due to have open heart surgery or who knows someone who is? I suspect not… Read more & comment »

This new four-part Channel 4 series kicks off tonight with an open heart surgery procedure in which the patient – who has a leaking mitral valve – will undergo an operation to repair it, live on air. This leads me to ask one main and obvious question… What if he/she dies on the table? Then there are other issues such as, how is this person’s family going to feel if something goes horrendously wrong and millions of people are watching?

Additionally, we’re told that viewers can “interact with the surgeons” in real-time via microblogging site Twitter as well as by phone and email, live and as the operation is carried out. Viewers will even be able to speak to surgeons by phone at “appropriate points” but surely, with someone’s life in their hands, shouldn’t the surgeons be concentrating on that rather than answering viewers’ questions and possibly coping with stage fright? Read more & comment »