Also known as: Lung cancer
Carol Austin is diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer with pleural metastases. The episode focuses on waiting for genetic testing results to determine eligibility for targeted therapy, which ultimately shows she qualifies for treatment that could buy her years of life.
Also known as: Sickle cell
Rose undergoes experimental gene therapy for sickle cell disease, receiving 2 million genetically modified cells to produce healthy red blood cells. She develops sepsis and acute kidney injury requiring dialysis, initially refuses further treatment but is convinced to continue fighting.
Also known as: Blood infection
Rose develops sepsis as a complication of her immunosuppressed state from chemotherapy. She presents with fever, hypotension, and abdominal pain. Blood cultures confirm bacteremia, likely from gut translocation.
Also known as: Kidney failure
Rose develops acute kidney injury secondary to sepsis, becoming anuric with rising potassium levels requiring emergency dialysis. The episode depicts her emotional crisis about accepting dialysis.
Also known as: A-fib
Pete has a history of atrial fibrillation requiring cardiac medication monitoring, which he has been avoiding by missing appointments.
Also known as: High blood pressure in the lungs
Pete develops severe pulmonary hypertension with right-sided heart strain, ultimately diagnosed as secondary to severe vitamin C deficiency (scurvy) from his restricted diet during COVID isolation.
Also known as: Liver injury
Pete sustains a grade III liver laceration from blunt abdominal trauma after falling on a chair. Complicated by anticoagulation therapy, resulting in significant hemorrhage requiring emergency surgery.
Also known as: Vitamin C deficiency
Pete's year-long isolation during COVID with a diet restricted to only rice and beans causes severe vitamin C deficiency (scurvy), which is the underlying cause of his pulmonary hypertension and bleeding complications. Treatment with IV vitamin C immediately improves his condition.
Also known as: Brain aneurysm
Dr. Cain performs aneurysm clipping surgery but has difficulty, nearly causing a catastrophic bleed before successfully identifying and clipping the feeder vessel.