Is gastric-bypass really the weight-loss miracle it's made out to be?
One of House's houselings, Dr. Taub, displays an alarming amount of unprofessionalism by basically calling her a hypocrite for misrepresenting her weight loss as a by-product of healthy living. The PotW states that she had tried everything--exercise, pills, diets--but nothing worked. Nothing. And they run more tests. And because they have to fill up an hour's worth of show, they decide on new conditions and diseases, but then more symptoms pop up that rule those things out. Finally, she is exhausted and asks Dr. Taub to wheel her to the cafeteria for the chocolate cake. Because she used to be fat, get it? And needs comfort food. Okay, we get it: she was a fattie and chocolate cake is the reason she was fat. But weirdly, after the next commercial break, just when the team is about to perform another, much more invasive and painful test, the PotW is better, so much better! House stares into space for a second (as he always does) and then tells her that she is basically sick because her body has a condition that needs extra fat and carbs. So the cure? Undo the gastric bypass surgery, take two Krispy Kremes and call me in the morning. However, the PotW is so afraid of being fat again that she'd rather take the marginally-effective drug treatment and live a lifetime in pain rather than gain weight again. Whuppah! Here's your weekly dose of ennui and despair for the human condition.
It's a good question, though, one that our Anne deals with on a regular basis. Lord knows, there are many painful and alarming side-effects to weight-loss surgery, some of them life threatening. But the PotW's decision seems to be condemned by the show's writers (through the mouth of House) as a sad pathetic choice. However, with the rampant increase in weight-loss surgeries over the last decade, people are making that choice every blessed day. They go into the surgery knowing the risks, understanding that they might not even wake up. They have to write a long description of what they will no longer be able to do, the things they won't be able to eat, the particular changes that they must make in their lifestyles. They negotiated this before they ever saw a scalpel. Why is it so mystifying that the PotW cares more about staying thin, when the entire world has enumerated time and time again that there is an OBESITY EPIDEMIC and fatness kills and oh noes u r in mah pantry, eetin up mah choclat cakez! (Read about this unexpected side effect of WLS.)
This is not the first time that the writers have taken on the topic of weight, but usually it's handled surprisingly well. However, this entire episode was mystifying. The patient was condemned for having been fat, again for having hidden the fact that she was fat, and then a third time for not wanting to be fat again. How do you win at Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital? You can't. Not if you are or were ever fat.
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