Bendy Bodies Operation Ouch! Hospital Takeover

He's Dr Chris.

And he's Dr Xand.

And we're...

..Identical twins.

We were until you grew your beard.

In this series,

we're taking over one of the biggest children's hospitals in Europe -

the amazing Alder Hey in Liverpool.

We'll go head-to-head, as we take on

some of our hospital's most important jobs...

This isn't going well.

Ouch & About hit the wards for more medical mysteries.

-That is a hole going inside your stomach?

-Yes.

And we'll be meeting our brilliant Ouch Patients,

who come in for a regular treatment.

Hi!

We've hidden our lab in a top-secret location...

And our experiments just...

got... BURPS

bigger!

Waahh!

You guys are crazy!

So, are you ready to join us?

I have to change my cape.

Coming up today on...

Operation Ouch!

We take to the skies...

Quick, Chris, to the choppers!

Hello.

Meet our amazing Ouch Patients...

Each time I go to hospital, I get a bead.

And we put one of the strongest parts of your body to the test.

Lift off!

But first...

Let's see who's turned up in accident and emergency.

And watch out for a gross alert!

Ugh!

Today, waiting in Alder Hey's A&E with his mum

is ten-year-old Caspar, with a troubled tibia.

I broke my leg about a year ago.

But, recently, it's just got really sore.

This morning, it got worse, and I ended up here.

Looks like that leg's in limbo. How did it happen?

-One year ago, it was a beautiful, sunny day.

-Beautiful!

-Birds were tweeting...

-Tweet-tweet!

-Flowers were...

-Dancing!

Erm, yes, OK.

And Caspar was playing in the garden with his friend, Magnus.

Ooh, what were they playing?

They were running around, blasting foam darts.

Pow-pow-pow!

Sounds like fun!

It was, until Caspar tripped over a tree root and broke his leg.

-BOTH:

-Ouch!

A year later, and that leg is still causing problems.

And now it's started spraying out yellow stuff.

And now white chunks of gravelly stuff.

That's no laughing matter, Caspar.

Best get that grim limb into see...

So, we need to examine the wound and see how it is.

It looks horrendous.

That's right, mum.

Gross alert coming up.

When Caspar first broke his leg, he had an operation.

And doctors discovered he had a tumour, which they removed.

Can you wiggle your toes for me?

To strengthen his leg bone, they inserted in metal plate.

-What, like this?

-Yep, that's the one.

And Caspar was also given a bone graft.

A bone graft is a surgical procedure

when bones need repairing or rebuilding.

A very special material, a bit like moulding clay, is put into the bone.

It holds the bone in place, like scaffolding,

and encourages new bone cells to grow.

Sometimes, like in Caspar's case, the material can leak.

It's nothing to be overly concerned about,

but there could be an infection.

So, the doctor orders bloods to be taken...

One, two, three - go.

..and x-rays.

If there is an infection, Caspar may have to have surgery to sort it out.

We're going to keep him in tonight,

to see how things hold up tomorrow morning.

For now, Caspar's got other things on his mind.

-Dinner and sleep.

-My thoughts exactly!

Not yet, Xand. Find out later if he does need surgery.

In hospital, it's not just the doctors and nurses

who help to get you fixed.

There are lots of other heroes working behind the scenes.

Ah, yes!

What will happen when we have a go at their amazing jobs?

Welcome to the Dr Chris show.

Useless!

This is...

Lots of emergency cases arrive at Alder Hey

and other hospitals by air.

All over the UK, there are helicopter services ready to help.

Today's hospital hero is London air ambulance pilot...

And we're going to meet him!

Well, Chris is late!

I've got no idea where he is at all,

but Captain Neil is not going to be pleased.

This is a little bit embarrassing.

There's Xandy!

Where is he? Come on, Chris.

Aw, it's a shame he's missed this.

Probably should have told him about it.

The helicopter's here!

The blades have stopped turning, and it's safe to approach.

Ah, hi, Xand!

Sorry you missed that, it really is only way to travel.

I'm going to start getting a helicopter to work a bit more often.

This is outrageous!

Air ambulances are incredible.

This service in London helps around 2,000 patients every year.

And the pilots are essential when it comes to their rescue.

So, Neil, we don't normally think of pilots as being part of

a medical team. How do you fit in?

Our job is to get the medical team

to the patient as quickly as we possibly can.

Being driven around London, the average speed is maybe 5mph.

A helicopter can fly at about 150mph in a straight line.

Getting to a medical emergency quickly is difficult enough,

but landing there can be even trickier.

This is the on-board medical team...

No-one appreciates the role of the pilot more than them.

So, it's not an easy job,

getting this helicopter where it needs to be.

Landing spaces can be parks, can be roads.

The pilots try and get us as close to the scene as possible.

These guys, they are so calm.

Landing in school playgrounds, on the M25 -

their training just makes them absolutely amazing under pressure.

We've seen just how important the air ambulance is to the

running of a big hospital.

But will our careers as pilots... take off?

Get it? Get it?

Today, I'm going to be flying the twin-engine...

Really? I just called mine Barry.

Your Takeover Challenge is to fly your helicopter and land it

as safely and as close to the patient as you possibly can.

The pressure's on. This patient is critical.

Ah! It's Mini-Xand!

And he's grazed his knee!

Quick, Chris, to the choppers!

There's been a patient trapped beneath a car.

There are two potential landing sites -

one is right next to the patient, in a complicated school site,

or there's a bigger field, a bit further away.

So, the choice is whether they land in a complicated site

or land in the big field

and let your doctors and paramedics walk to the patient.

-SHEEP:

-Mee-eee-eeh!

We're off! Xand's up first.

Right, he's got it airborne.

We don't want it to go too close to the river in this case.

Xand, you're going a little bit high.

Come back! Come back!

I'm sure that's not quite the way he wanted to go.

It's now over the river.

Forwards... No... Fly it backwards, fly it backwards!

I've lost control!

Aargh!

That didn't go all that well.

And meanwhile, poor Mini-Xand is still

-exsanguinating all over the floor.

-Mini-Xand!

You've got to rescue him now, Chris, you're his only hope!

I will go and get Mini-Xand. Leave this to me.

He's going in the right direction.

This has promise.

Ooh, it is difficult, isn't it?

Keep it down, keep it down!

Keep it down, keep it down!

XAND LAUGHS

Hold on, we just need to recover that.

Chris is persevering.

What are you doing?

I certainly would be looking at landing in the grass area.

Yep, yep, yep, yep!

Yes! Yes!

He's landed on top of Mini-Xand.

Now, although I said to get as close as we possibly can,

that's probably just a little too close,

on top of the patient, in this case.

Chris, I applaud your determination

and I did say land as close to the patient as you possibly could.

But after many attempts, you landed ON the patient.

Probably committing more damage than Xand.

I think this is a case of who's less rubbish?

So, today's winner...

-is Xand.

-Yeah!

Well, I'm very surprised by that.

I guess, if I've learned one thing, it's the importance

of the air ambulance pilots in the running of a big hospital.

Neil, I think it's time we give our helicopter back.

Our one remaining helicopter.

Meet Ruby, Hayden, Holly and Tola.

We'll be following them across the series, as they let us know

what it's like to be a regular hospital outpatient.

They've given us exclusive access to their lives

as they undergo treatment.

Let's meet our first Ouch Patient, Ruby.

Hello, Ruby!

These are my dogs. That one, right there, at the door, is Beau.

Hi, Beau!

And the one right at the back is Cuto.

Ruby has leukaemia,

a type of cancer which means she has too many white blood cells.

As well as having lots of hospital visits, she's also been

receiving chemotherapy at home for nearly a year.

Today is Tuesday and, today, in came the home-care lady,

and she did my dressing.

As you can see, it's been changed.

Ruby has regular chemo, sometimes as much as four times a week.

Hello, good morning, Martha, how are you?

Today, nurse Donna is going to give her

a series of injections which helps treat the leukaemia.

I'm going to administer some chemotherapy through a central line.

So we're just setting up all our syringes and all the

equipment that we need.

In case you're wondering what a central line is,

it's a tube with a connection at one end for a syringe,

while the other end goes into the veins by Ruby's heart.

This is my line and they put chemo through it,

instead of having injections all the time.

And with this, it has to go in over about three to five minutes.

Chemo makes me feel really tired.

As well as having all these treatments at home,

Ruby also has to go to the hospital regularly.

Each time I go to hospital, and I have treatment, I get a bead.

Yellow is overnight sleeps,

the white is for chemo,

and these little ones here are just for bravery.

My favourite's this one, for losing your hair.

Wow, Chris, Ruby has hundreds of beads.

Yes, Xand, and soon she'll be getting another one,

as she has a hospital visit coming up.

Find out how I get on next time, bye!

Bye, Ruby!

Remember Casper and his sore leg?

It's time to find out how he's getting on!

Earlier, we met Caspar, who came into A&E with a sore shin.

A year ago, Caspar was messing around with his mate, Magnus.

When he tripped over a tree and broke his leg.

Doctors discovered he had a tumour, which they removed.

And he had a metal plate fitted and a bone graft, to fix his leg.

Caspar stayed in hospital overnight, awaiting

blood test and X-ray results to see if his leg is infected.

This is the X-ray picture on Caspar.

The white substance in the wound is coming out,

which is not good for the bone.

The good news for Caspar is that his leg isn't infected.

But the bad news is that the leaking bone graft will need

an operation, to sort it out.

Best leg it to surgery, sharpish!

To be seen by...

Caspar has had a general anaesthetic,

so he won't feel a thing.

Once surgeon Chris has cleaned the wound,

he has an ingenious idea to help that leg keel.

We've put a special dressing over the top of the wound

that attaches to a machine, that acts like a vacuum cleaner.

It sucks the air out from it,

so, because the air has been sucked out, it closes the edges of

the wound together, so that it will heal in a nice position.

With that pump now attached to Caspar's leg,

the wound has a much better chance of healing quickly.

And after a couple of days on the ward, how's our patient doing?

It's my birthday today.

Happy birthday, Caspar!

Did you get any nice presents?

I've got a splint...

Nice!

..and I have this pump. And I'm going home.

That sounds like the best present of all.

Caspar will keep the special pump attached to his leg

for five days, to help heal it.

Bye, Caspar!

Still to come...

We find out what makes you bendy...

That is amazing!

..we meet our second Ouch Patient, Tola...

Just need to chillax now.

..and find out if laughter really is the best medicine.

But first...

And the strongest one is in your foot.

Wow, that's amazing!

And now, to our lab.

But this time, we've hidden it in a top-secret location.

So secret, in fact, that even Xand doesn't know where it is.

Wow!

It's for some amazing experiments...

Just don't try anything you see here at home.

Today, we're looking at how strong your tendons are.

Now, to get us started,

I brought us something very, very flexible.

My friend Kika!

-Hi, Dr Chris.

-Hi, Kika.

Now, you should never try to fold yourself into a box.

Kika does this all the time,

she's a professional contortionist, and a world champion gymnast,

which means she has an extremely flexible body, as you can see.

Some people are more flexible than others.

I've pretty much got it.

It's just that I didn't really warm up properly.

Hmm. OK, Xand.

She you can see, Kika's back is super-bendy.

She's able to bend like this thanks to the flexible

and super-strong tendons in her back.

That is amazing!

Thanks, Kika!

Come and have a look at this.

This is a backbone. Now, this one's from a pig,

but it's very similar to yours.

These white bits are tendons.

Tendons connect your muscles to your bones,

and they are everywhere in your body.

They have to be super strong,

because tendons are the things that actually move your bones.

To show you how tendons move your bones, I have invented this...

a model arm made of space age materials!

Xand, this is something made of cardboard,

a bit of string and some straws.

Well, they use all of those things in space.

Now, this is the muscle.

This is the bone,

and this piece of string is the tendon connecting the two of them.

Now, when I take this balloon,

put it in here,

and inflate it...

Wow!

When Xand inflates the balloon, it's like my muscle contracting,

and it pulls on the tendon and moves the bone.

Your tendons had to be strong so that they can lift and move

your bones and anything else you're carrying.

The strongest and thickest tendon in your body

is the Achilles tendon, and it...

What have I told you about shoes in the lab?

Well, I thought everyone would like to see my Achilles tendon.

It's right here.

It connects my calf to my heel.

Do you know, Chris,

your Achilles tendon is meant to be stronger than steel?

It's just a shame we don't have any way to test that in the lab.

Well, Xand, I actually have the perfect experiment for this.

But we do need to head outside. And...

you're going to need this.

Meet...

Let's go find out how it works.

This is a horse's tendon.

These are scientists from Queen Mary University of London.

They're attaching these clamps to the horse tendon,

which is then frozen with dry ice.

Let's test how strong this tendon really is.

But maybe we should start with something small.

Well, we could use Zahara.

Is she here?

-Yes, she's right here.

-Oh!

-Hi, Zahara.

-Hi, Chris.

Well, sounds like it's time for some tendon-powered flight.

Get in the bag, come on!

-Are you strapped in?

-Yep.

-Helmet's on?

-Yes.

-Great stuff.

-Good luck!

-We'll see when you land!

-OK.

Remember, Zahara's body weight is being supported

only by the horse tendon.

But will it hold?

Three, two, one...

Lift off!

-You're airborne!

-Whoo!

That one small tendon is holding the full weight of Zahara.

That's amazing.

So, Zahara, were you impressed at how strong the horse tendon was?

Yes, but it wouldn't be able to carry you two's weight.

Zahara, you're about to learn the power of the horse tendon.

We're going up in the crane.

You guys are crazy!

We're going to push this horse's tendon to the limit

and see if it's strong enough to take the weight of not one of us,

but both of us.

Good luck.

Three, two, one...

Lift off!

-Whoa!

-Whoooaaaa!

This is incredible, the only thing holding us up is a horse tendon!

Wow, that one little tendon is taking our combined weight of 180kg.

It really is the strong as steel.

We've shown you that tendons

give you amazing movement and flexibility.

And just how super-strong they really are.

-Take us down.

-Back to Earth!

Let's meet our second Ouch Patient, Tola.

Hello!

Ten-year-old Tola is on dialysis

at the Evelina Children's Hospital in London,

because he has a kidney disease.

He's waiting for a donor to be matched with him,

so he can receive a kidney transplant.

Kidneys act a bit like filters, cleaning your blood.

This is a dialysis machine, and it's doing the job of Tola's kidneys.

It will take all my blood from my body,

clean it in this machine.

His blood passes through this machine and is cleaned of

waste products and excess fluid, before flowing back into his body.

It will help my kidneys function more.

Tola needs dialysis regularly.

It takes a long time though, and has to be done in hospital.

It basically takes four hours.

In a typical week, I would be here three times a week.

During this time, Tola has to stay seated,

and can't move away from the machine.

I just need to chillax now.

Ooh, I love a chillax.

But it's not all chillaxing for Tola.

Because this dialysis disrupts him going to school,

school comes to him.

-This is my teacher.

-Hello.

I'm doing maths, literacy and guided reading.

And art, sometimes.

Sometimes cooking, as well.

Until a kidney donor can be found,

Tola must continue with his regular treatment.

BEEPING

That's the alarm and that means I'm finished with dialysis.

It's good, it means Tola can head home.

Find out next time how he's getting on.

Ooh! That looks nasty, what happened?

Well, Mr Grumbles and I were playing in the park, when I fell over

and he stamped on my wrist...

What?!

You were playing with Chris without me?!

-Yeah, we quite often do that, what's the big deal?

-Come back here!

I'm glad you hurt yourself, I'm not surprised, you know.

-Now, look, give me a hand with this bandage.

-No, I've got a better idea.

Hee-hee-hee-hoo-hooo!

-What are you doing?

-Well, haven't you heard?

Laughter's meant to be really good for people with pain.

A-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

That is not how it works.

Sounds like a case for Investigation Ouch.

Laughter is something we all do.

This lot are all part of a laughter club.

They get together once a week, to really just do one thing

and one thing only.

And that is laugh their heads off.

And there are scientists who believe there are significant medical

benefits from this kind of laughter.

Meet...

..a professor of evolutionary psychology.

He's very serious.

About laughter!

Robin, what have you discovered about laughter?

When you laugh, the brain is flooded with endorphins.

So, endorphins are chemicals that make us feel good, is that right?

-Yes, it helps suppress pain.

-Can we test this?

Oh, we can test that, absolutely, yes. And I have just the plan.

So, in order to see Professor Robin's theory in action,

I'm going to need a couple of things.

First of all, 14 experimental guinea pigs.

Hello!

And, secondly, a stand-up comedian.

That's handy!

We're going to try and prove that when you laugh,

you can take more pain.

Are you ready?

-Yes!

-Here we go.

Three,

two,

one... Go!

Our guinea pigs have to sit in a chair position against the wall

until their legs hurt so much

they can't take the pain any more.

You can try this at home. It's not as easy as it looks.

Professor Robin's going to keep track of how long they last,

and it's not long before our guinea pigs start dropping like flies.

You're done, that's good.

These are the last two.

Our classroom comic making our guinea pigs giggle,

to increase their endorphin rush.

Go!

Let's see how long they last this time,

after a bellyful of laughter.

Is the comedy doing anything different to their muscles, at all?

The comedy's just making them laugh,

and that's triggering an endorphin response.

Nothing about their leg muscles has got stronger,

-it's just that they feel the pain less?

-Yes.

So, pain is in the brain?

Pain is in the brain.

Don't give up!

That's good, that's... Aw!

Bravo, well done.

Sit back, lean back... Aw!

Yes! Yes!

We have a winner!

Are you ready?

Time to look at the results and see if laughter made them last longer.

Ta-da!

This table shows how long our guinea pigs lasted

before the comedy and after.

The ones in red are the longest times.

So, what we can see is that almost everyone, except three people,

got better the second time.

Even though you were a bit more tired,

you almost all got better the second time.

Why do you think that is?

I think that it distracted us.

We were thinking about the laughter,

so we weren't really thinking about how much it hurt.

Suweyda and Daisy are spot on.

Our second test showed our guinea pigs didn't feel as much pain.

They lasted longer due to the endorphin rush released by laughter.

If there's one thing we've learned today,

it's the power of jokes can really help you not feel pain.

So, I've got a bit of a joke for you, OK?

Two television aerials meet on a roof and they fall in love

and decide to get married.

The ceremony wasn't great,

but the reception was amazing!

ALL GROAN IN PAIN

What? I don't understand.

It's Dr Chris' favourite joke.

No, it's not, Xand - that was rubbish!

In the emergency department,

our next patient has had an unusual accident.

Luckily, she's in the right place to get it sorted.

Phee-ew!

Phee-EW!

-PHEEEE-EW!

-Don't be silly.

Waiting in A&E is four-year-old Bella Rose.

I've got a sore hip.

A sore hip? How has she managed that?

You're going to love this one, Xand...

Bella Rose was hanging out with her nine-year-old cousin Connor.

Sounds cool, was she playing football?

No, she was dancing.

-Doing the robot?

-No, Xand.

It must've been Gangnam Style.

No, Xand, she was break dancing, doing the worm.

The worm?!

Yes, Bella Rose was such a wiggly worm that she banged her side

and hurt her hip.

BOTH: Ouch!

Oopsie!

Oopsie, indeed!

She never cried or anything after. It was the next day.

Just to be on the safe side, we always get her checked out,

because she's got a condition called brittle bone disease,

so she's more prone to fractures.

Brittle bone disease, or osteogenesis imperfecta,

means Bella Rose's bones are very fragile.

When you're born, your bones develop and grow when a protein

called collagen is made by your body.

Collagen gives your bones strength.

But sometimes, not enough collagen is made,

and this means bones are weaker and can break more easily,

which is what can happen to Bella Rose.

..is on hand to investigate.

Could you please bend your hip? Well done.

I'm just going to turn it and, if it's sore,

you let me know, OK, darling?

I was just gently moving her leg to try and see where she was most sore.

If I press it there, is that sore?

That tickles!

Ticklish. Right.

Bella had an X-ray when she first arrived at hospital.

Dr Wong takes a look.

This is the thigh bone, which has got a pin in it.

It seems to be a nice, straight line.

If you look on this side,

we can see the nice, straight line has gone.

It looks as though she's got a fracture in her left hip.

The question is, is it an older injury,

or is it one that she's done whilst dancing with her cousin last night?

To find out, Dr Colin rings Bella Rose's regular doctor.

While waiting, she does what all poorly people do.

Nice moves, Bella Rose!

I've spoken with the bone doctor at Sheffield Children's Hospital.

She said the injury is an old one.

Good news, it isn't broken again.

I think it's just a passing pain,

hopefully, it'll be all right tonight.

# Doo-doo-doo! #

You take care, easy on the dancing!

I'm going to keep on dancing.

Good for you!

Bye-bye, Bella Rose.

Next time on Operation Ouch: Hospital Takeover...

HE MAKES RANDOM NOISES

I'm pitch perfect in the lab...

I meet the people that make you snooze through surgery...

They put you into a special kind of sleep,

it means you don't feel any pain.

Hey, everybody, it's Dr Xand!

Oh...

And who will be triumphant in Operation Takeover?

That is phenomenally stressful.

So, we'll see you next time, for more...

Operation Ouch!

Chris?!

Chris!

Well, it's been a fantastic day.

It's time for me to get the helicopter home.

Wait a minute!

Xand!

Operation Ouch!