When we left off, the doc was off for "treatment" and said that as soon as her treatment was done, she'd be back on the ground in Syria. Her "treatment" now apparently "done," she shows up in Texas instead. Her main purpose is to be a source of conflict as a love interest for a main character doc who is still in love with another main character doc. So I get that this MS storyline is just a means to that end, but come on! You guys can do better.
I waited on bated breath to see if her MS or her mysterious treatment would come up at all. She looked good (Did I just pull the dreaded "but you look so good!"??? Sorry, my bad, I should know better.), not having any of the obvious physical signs she was showing before. In fact, she was training people on combat medicine and running through an actual active shooter situation. The "treatment" must have worked like a charm!
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| running while loaded down with gear while an active shooter is on the loose #TakeThatMS |
I was surprised when her health did come up. Later in the episode, she apologizes to the main character doc who is the ex of her current love interest, saying "Sorry, I'm peevish these days. My treatments aren't going well." [This character has never been anything other than peevish, as far as I'm concerned.]
Other doc asks, "Treatments?
She says, "I have MS. TC didn't tell you?"
"Uh, no. He didn't. Do you mind me asking what kind of medications you're taking?"
Then another doc interrupts them and I yell at the TV because I also want to know the answer to that question!
But later, they talk again. We never learn what her mysterious treatment is or exactly why/how it is not going well. (Again, she seems to be functioning quite well, certainly better than before!)
"So does TC know the treatment's not working?"
"Not the extent, but there's nothing he could do. God knows he'd try."
The episode ends with her going back to do even more dangerous medicine on the ground in Syria. Will we ever see her again? I'd bet no, but I didn't think we'd see her in this episode.
My problems with this episode:
-The MS is just the means to a stupid end. It has no point (there's enough stupid drama and conflict in this love storyline...like the fact that she's technically still married to someone else!) but if MS is going to be used, at least use it responsibly! Medical dramas, especially, have something of a responsibility when portraying real life diseases. Some of them take this responsibility more seriously than others. MS has come up at least once on all of the medical dramas and while it rarely leaves me fully satisfied, it usually doesn't piss me off as much as this one does. And a non-medical show (The West Wing) is still the gold standard, as far as I'm concerned, for an accurate and responsible portrayal of MS.
-It's been maybe a few weeks! So how does she know the treatment isn't working? She seems to be doing significantly better physically than she was pre-treatment, so she's probably not having an exacerbation. I've been told that it can take months for MS drugs to really take effect. I've stopped MS drugs after a few months because they clearly weren't working but this clearly has not been even that long.
-I've taken flak for calling into question whether someone with MS should be president in relation to The West Wing (given the current political reality, I SO TAKE THAT BACK) but I'm REALLY calling into question whether someone with the specific challenges this fictional MS patient is having doing the kind of medicine she is doing. She's in the operating room on the front line in Syria and she can't really feel or control her fingers. She is putting other lives at risk in a stupid way. There are ways for her to contribute within the realm of medicine despite the MS.
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