My job is not easy, however. The high stakes make it tough. Unlike other parts of the body, the brain and spinal cord have little capacity for self-repair. If a general surgeon injures a piece of bowel during an abdominal operation, she simply stitches the injury, or, if that’s not possible, removes the injured segment. With eight yards of bowel, there’s plenty to spare. Even a trashed heart or liver is replaceable. But when I cut a nerve, it stays cut.
