It's fine for the first leg of the surgery. Herbert will actually find it increasingly difficult to cut any of the flesh that isn't iron poisoned, as the longer the iron is off of Ignatius, the more visibly resilient his body seems to become. The wounds that weren't dealt by iron are starting to seal in record time, though it's slower going than it would be if Ignatius was at his full strength.

That does introduce a problem, though, because after the iron is off Herbert will find himself having had less than ten minutes of working time until Ignatius is suddenly spasming, his hands clenching tight as he abruptly starts reacting to the pain of having parts cut out of his gut.

He grits his teeth, groaning as he shifts to kick his legs, like he is trying to push off an attacker. He's not rationally conscious, but he's reacting, and that's enough.