MS on Television: This is Us

This is Us is one of my favorite shows. It's one that consistently has me reaching for the kleenex, and I love shows that make me cry. On the first episode of the new season, we learn that the mother of one of the characters has MS. A quick Googling tells me that we actually learned that fact last season. We have definitely not met this character and I don't know if we will. I probably forgot because the character and storyline in question are related to the only character on the show I don't really care about: Kevin. Does anyone actually like Kevin? I felt the tiniest smidge of empathy for him maybe once or twice during the first season, but mostly he drives me crazy. (To be fair, he definitely made me cry extra hard in one pivotal emotional scene towards the end of the first season but at the same time made me annoyed and upset.)

Onto the MS. Kevin's girlfriend Sophie's mom has MS. Sophie has to cancel her trip to see Kevin on his birthday.

Sophie: It's my mom. She had a really bad morning and I just couldn't leave her.

Kevin: Of course not...how 'bout now, though? She good? She good now?

Sophie: She has MS. She's never good. I'm sorry.


Later, Kevin's sister Kate asks where Sophie is.

Kevin: Canceled.

Kate: MS?

Kevin: Yeah.


And that's it. The "She has MS. She's never good." line made me laugh because there's definitely some truth to that, though I could also see why some people might be offended by that line.

Will this storyline go anywhere? I just unintentionally saw a spoiler that makes me think we might actually meet Sophie's mom at some point this season. So, stay tuned maybe probably for another post. And if you don't already watch this show, it is worth the hype. You must start at the beginning, though.

MS on Television: The Night Shift, part 2

I expected the MS storyline on The Night Shift to fizzle away and I didn't think we'd ever see the character again, but she's back. And the MS storyline is as ridiculous as ever, if not more so.

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!

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.