Ok. so I watched the infamous Dr. House show

[oh_snap]

and what is my take on it?

Well, lemme see, that a bunch of supposedly really smart doctors didn't recognize that this Dr. House character had a legitimate need for pain management, and rather than accept that "Dr. House" had real pain, his actual problem was that of addiction.

The connection to severe pain and dysfunction was not either acknowledged nor understood. Dr. House needs vicoden in order to be "Dr. House' is the message. It isn't about pain, it is about needing some chemical to be functional, smart. What the ?

This vicoden isn't for pain, it is for a character flaw embedded in an addictive personality. Oh, that's nice.

So, what is the purpose of the cane? Is it to hit people with? Didn't he get shot, and complain that he still had pain, despite a supposedly successful surgery? So, he had surgery, that supposedly fixed him, but he still had pain? ****, we all know, that NEVER happens.:rolleyes: Dr House, just is an addict.

I don't hear any of his colleagues complaining about his use of the cane? Why the lack of logic in the need for pain control? Dumbsh(ts.

These are educated, knowledgable physicians and they can't figure out that he is really seeking relief from unending pain? And they don't know about meds that last 24 hours, and prevent this up and down pain, "chasing the pain" addictive behavior? HOLY CRAP!

Let's assume that he did get hurt, and still had residual pain levels that wracked both his mind and body, and kept him from being and doing his best? (we know that also never happens). Doesn't he deserve to be able to have expert pain management, and not suffer the judgemental BS he got from his boss/colleagues? They can't figure this out? And then, they keep giving him vicodin? Are you kidding me? What a dark, and insane concept.

So, they are simply filling the needs of an addict for their own gain, or they do realize he has a painful condition, but can't come up with a better kind of pain control? Very, very scary. Ignorance at it highest, most lethal level.

Insane! How friggin stupid this show is. They [these docs] are supposedly so smart that they can pull rare disorders/diseases out of their education/experience, but they don't know when to refer a very valuable colleague to pain management services?

How could anyone take this show seriously? So we are suggesting that doctors who get hurt, shot, etc. and have residual painful conditions, shouldn't be treated intelligently, with the finest technololgy, and medications available? They shouldn't be allowed to work? And that current medicine doesn't understand how lethal chronic pain is to a person's brain (ability to think), and there is only so much a person can distract themselves from, without draining that energy from somewhere else?

What the **** then can we (as patients) expect then? They aren't smart enough to even help each other (passing out vicoden for chronic pain is friggin stupid)! If they pass such harsh ignorant judgement upon each other, how cold we even develop the belief that a doctor isn't passing that same judgement upon us.

I would be terribly afraid that there was even a hint of truth to this show. Even as fiction, it is a horror show.

[Kira]

Just so you know, they are often glaringly wrong about their diagnosis and treatment of all of those rare (and not-so-rare) disorders, too. They are just plain wrong, about the pain stuff and about everything else. They just aren't that good of doctors.

For instance, on one episode, there is this guy that needs a heart transplant but is too old to qualify. And there just happens to be a young woman who comes into the ER brain-dead, with a perfectly functioning heart. She isn't eligible to donate it through legitimate channels because she has something wrong with her liver, which turns out to be due to gonorrhea. Here is the part that is just plain nonsense: they decide to give her heart to the guy who needs the transplant. The logic is that they will just treat the gonorrhea and then he will be fine. But they never bother to see if the heart is a match for the guy... they just cut it out of her, sew it into him, and voila, everyone is happy. In reality he would likely reject the thing on the table since they didn't bother to make sure it was a match. But whatever.

Also, yes, Dr House would be much better off going to a real pain management specialist and actually getting his pain treated, rather than chasing it with escalating doses of vicodin. But, on that show, they never send ANYONE to a specialist. Think about it... all of these people with rare, severe disorders requiring cutting-edge treatments, and this team of a few docs is somehow able to treat all of them without even CONSULTING specialists? Please. I mean, even for the mundane stuff, like scopes and biopsies, people get referred out. It always bewilders me to see this team of "docs" doing everything, from blood draws to CT scans to endoscopies to surgeries. It just isn't realistic at all, so why would we expect them to portray his pain realistically when they don't portray anything else realistically?

I got annoyed at the episode where the kid supposedly has a mitochondrial disorder, because it was full of glaring inaccuracies. So I can see where the anger over the portrayal of chronic pain is coming from. But this show just plain doesn't get much right at all, whether it is about the so-called docs or the so-called patients. The chronic pain portrayal is not the only thing wrong with this show.

That show annoys me so much I can't sit through an episode. It gets under my skin and I just change the channel.

[oh_snap]

Kira,
Very good observations. Although, you have knowledge grounded in medicine.

The problem that I see with this, and other doc shows, is that ordinary people whatch them, and don't know what is believable, and often, just assume that more is right, than wrong.

You will find, as you "do" this longer (deal with chronic pain/treatment) that you become less kind to those that jump to conclusions and substitute a TV show for real knowledge.

I have to say, though, that as my family watched the show, they were laughing so hard at the character of dr. house, and the idiotic humans he called "colleagues"...I almost had to get them "medical attention".:D

[waggytalk]

haha yeah i can't watch the show. it pisses me off.

[Poetwoman]

This is too weird. Just today I was at the doctor and he had an issue of "WebMD" in his office with the picture of "House" on the cover. I asked the doctor if he had seen it (he had)what he thought of that program. He said: "What do you mean?"and I said:"Let me tell you what I think". I went on to say that I had seen it and thought that House was a nasty and horrible doctor, and that he "shoots up" in the office. OK I know that this may be upsetting here on this thread, but let me explain. I know that people have legitimate need for pain meds for intractible pain. I didn't see the recent episode that this thread seems to be talking about, however, as someone who is a recovering alcoholic I find his methods of self delivery in the office scary, and unethical. I told my doctor that he needed to be reported to the appropriate medical board. My doctor was just supressing a smile the whole time. I think Dr. House needs to send himself to a pain clinic and get some help. I can't watch medical shows in general because I've worked in hospitals and other medical settings and the scenes that TV shows depict are so far from what could and would actually happen in real life that I find them stupid and frightening...frightening that people would actually believe that this is how things run in real life. Grey's Anatomy is horrible for this and I won't watch it, or watch House. In real life there are doctors and nurses and other medical professionals who are addicts and it as someone who has lifelong disabilities and relies on doctors and medical professions knowing that I could be treated by an impaired provider frightens me.

[oh_snap]

PW
Exactly! Great insight.

The fact that WebMD has this idiotic character on the front cover, scares the crap out of me. I do think that this does go on

I also don't know what is worse, a doc on a God trip, or a doc, tripping out.

I have had the "pleasure" of needing neurosurgeons, and many were so literally off their rocker (I recognize instability when I see it), that I would have never let them cut on me. I don't care how gifted someone is, it does not give them license to be inappropriate, mean, nasty, and/or on some power trip.

That these docs protect one another, however it is done, should also be alarming. I do know that this does occur (via a friend in medicine), and as I alluded to in other posts, I trust no one with MD following their name, and I teach my children the same. They are a necessary evil. I return the respect that they afford me.

Patient trust has to be earned. I am not an addict, and I am not stupid. Because something on me "broke" doesn't mean I should get *********d down south of the border. I didn't choose any of this, and considering how long it took to get help, ie, a diagnosis reflective of reality, and not one of convenience, comfort or financial gain for the MD, it is lucky I did not have anything deadly.

Actually, what proved the show was completely insane was seeing a group of doctors trying to figure out what ONE patient had. They had a list two feet long of "differential diagnoses" that had been crossed off as possibilities. What doc, or doc office would spend that kind of time on ONE patient?

I can tell you, that most doctors would have given up after crossing off the three most common possibilities, and then shipped the patient off to either another doctor or a shrink, even if they were bleeding from every access point on the body.

What they [most docs] cannot quickly or easily explain, HAS to be something wrong with the patient's character, or a female problem, or a lack of balls for the boys. :D

Whatever...to see a doctor, who supposedly has "pain" downing a bottle of oxycodone, along with a staunch whiskey, and then, discovered laying in a pool of vomited pills, by a colleague (supposedly who "cares" about him), and that colleague did not bother even get a pulse on the very unconscious, vomity House, nor calling for help, is a picture of pure, unadulterated insanity.

That is the point where my kids were laughing uncontrollably. Very compassionate, very nice doctors. I guess they deserve each other. :rolleyes:

[suede]

Okay, I guess I'll be the odd one out.
I actually enjoy watching the show and take it for what it is entertainment, though I have to say that after some of the Drs I have seen these past years I feel I would have a better chance with these actors then I did with them.
With all the crap there is on TV these days you have to get your kicks where you can!
Linda

[Kira]

Actually, what proved the show was completely insane was seeing a group of doctors trying to figure out what ONE patient had. They had a list two feet long of "differential diagnoses" that had been crossed off as possibilities. What doc, or doc office would spend that kind of time on ONE patient?


It bugs me that this group does it for EVERYONE that is on their service, because that is not realistic. But we do have a version of that these days with something called "Morning Report" at a lot of teaching hospitals. The residents take turns presenting a case to a room full of other residents, students, and the occasional attending. They don't say who the patient is. Then the whole room works through the case and tries to figure out what is going on and how to fix it. But they do this for teaching purposes, not for patient care. It does impact patient care fairly often, because someone will think of something the team hasn't thought of, or because you will remember a morning report case when you are thinking through another case... but it is done primarily for teaching purposes.

I was on a rotation in high-risk OB where every week the attendings sat down and talked through all of the major cases on the service. But in that setting it is pretty smart to do something like that, because the whole group (4-5 docs) takes care of all of the high-risk OB patients as a team. That way, they can take turns being on-call at night to deliver these very risky deliveries. It was nice because each patient got all of the docs' minds, plus the residents' minds, thinking about their case in a calm setting around a table once a week. I know that this is NOT the norm, though.

[oh_snap]

... though I have to say that after some of the Drs I have seen these past years I feel I would have a better chance with these actors then I did with them.
With all the crap there is on TV these days you have to get your kicks where you can!
Linda

Too funny! I think the attraction of the show, is that maybe ordinary people "hope" that a doctor, or doctor group actually exists that would "care" to figure out what is really wrong, even in difficult or no-so-obvious cases.

As Kira says, every person just can't get that kind of attention. I would think that in a private practice, that is even more the case. And then, we must account for those that do crack a nail, and seek medical attention. :eek:

Good discussion. We are all not taking this show as seriously or to heart as it may seem from our posts. I just find the logic, or lack thereof, amuzing, amazing, oh, and a bit alarming. Too funny. :D

As screenwriters usually aim their "wares" at a certain segment of the population (reinforcing stereotypes), I would wager that they feel there is someone, or some group out there big enough to keep the show on air, that has absolutely no problem with how either the doctors, their practices, or patients are portrayed.

If I was a good doctor, I think I might be slightly offended at how medicine is pictured in this "Dr. House" show...but, then again, I might have a good laugh (after watching), get my clubs, and go hit a few to get it out of my system.:D

Okay, was here just to post about DiMarie's daughter, gotta get back to work.

[Kira]

Too funny! I think the attraction of the show, is that maybe ordinary people "hope" that a doctor, or doctor group actually exists that would "care" to figure out what is really wrong, even in difficult or no-so-obvious cases.

I would LOVE to find a doctor/group that does this. I am complicated, d*mnit! :) They would love to figure me out on that show, I'm sure.

But the reality is that you have to somehow manage to coordinate a flock of specialists, and bring photocopies of their notes to one another, and beg them to call each other, just to get any semblance of coordinated, multi-specialty care.

I have twelve docs and five therapists:

-Internal medicine (primary care)
-Metabolic/biochemical genetics (here in Wisconsin)
-Metabolic/neuro/genetics (in Atlanta)
-Neuromuscular
-Physical medicine and rehab/pain management
-Nephrology
-Cardiology
-Psychiatry
-Ophthalmology
-ENT
-Allergy/Immunology
-Orthopedic surgeon

-Physical therapist
-Pool physical therapist
-Plain old therapist (for my head :) )
-Genetic counselor
-Metabolic nutritionist

I would LOVE to have them all sit down in one room and talk about me for, say, fifteen minutes. I bet it would clear up so much for a lot of them, and maybe I could get, dare I say it, some kind of integrated treatment plan out of them. A girl can dream, right? :rolleyes:

I think that is a BIG part of what appeals to people about that show, though. They just WISH they could find a doctor/hospital like that.

[Matuboo]

Man, I've never even watched the show, I wish I had time! When I first saw the previews I figured it wouldn't last, after all, House is no George Clooney (in the looks department.) It's refreshing to see that an average looking Joe can hold up on Primetime and actually do quite well, it looks like a good show. Doubtless he's a great actor. Hopefully I'll catch on, after all, I started watching ER about 6 years after it first aired.:o

[Mark N]

I like the show in spite of its short comings only because I can suspend reality for an hour. I used to really get upset about the way they portrayed House and chronic pain but the more I think about it isn't this the way many of us are treated? Maybe it is portraying our real life as CPers not a realistic view of CPers, after all isn't that the way most of society treats us?

I used to think it would be better if the show would educate the public and show a more realistic portrayal of our condition but I have come to believe it is showing a real perspective on what we face. We have real reasons for our pain but surgery was supposed to fix us, doctors see all the signs of CP in us but we don't fit their ideas so therefore we don't really need our meds.

[suede]

Mark, As usual you said it best!!!
I did read the article about the good Dr in WebMD and it surprised me to find out he was the Father in the movie "Stewart Little" and that his real life father is a Dr.
So I figure he knows that his show is just that entertainment.

Kira,I know what your saying.
I carry a "large folder" with me to all my Dr apps. with copies of reports and test for the good Dr's to review how nice it would be if they even gave the false impression that they gave a good da**.
Linda

[simby]

i also like the show for its entertainment quality. It is better than supernanny or wife-swap. There's not a whole lot to pick from these days.

And, as for the good Dr. and his buddies. House is supposed to be one of the best Diagnosticians in the country. That's what they do, diagnose. They ARE specialists. And they get the patients that no one else can figure out.

[Matuboo]

[QUOTE=simby;54783] It is better than supernanny or wife-swap.

QUOTE]



I would certainly hope so.

[simby]

[QUOTE=simby;54783] It is better than supernanny or wife-swap.

QUOTE]



I would certainly hope so.

rofl me too. :D

[Matuboo]

[QUOTE=Matuboo;54926]

rofl me too. :D


I've actually caught myself watching wife-swap once or twice and had to give myself a good slap in the face.:D This was like early last year, I didn't even know it was still on the air. I like educational shows, mostly and of course, good movies.

[curiousforever]

I like the show.

[mcdan]

I also like the show.. Its not there to make a statement , Its only entertainment. Many episodes are pure Bull @#%$ but I find it enjoyable as long as you dont take everything serious..:) Ive been in Pain management for around 7 years and I dont find anything offensive or upsetting about it...

[Kathi49]

I'll have to watch that show, eat some popcorn and pop a Norco while doing so. :) No, seriously, those kinds of shows don't bother me a bit. Maybe that is why I stick with the Discovery Channel. I like Mystery Diagnosis...always hoping somone will come on with idiopathic PN and tell how they cured it or something. :D

[spondygurl1]

I love the show. A few weeks ago he told the story of his original injury (not the gunshot) to a roomful of med students. He discussed his surgery and how they had removed most of the muscle in his leg but he told it so that the students did not realize he was talking about himself,only his 3 students and his boss did. It kind of explained his spiral toward his vicodin dependency. Later episodes showed the treatment after the gunshot worked at first and removed his pain then the pain returned forcing him to return to vicodin.
As someone who is in pain management I know in reality for pain that bad he should be in pain management and on long acting meds but for TV, Vicodin was most likely what the producers felt the viewers would connect best with. I just take it as an hours worth of entertainment during the week that normally has a happy ending.

[ASkicker]

Snap, Kira, et al,

Thank you, thank you, thank you. For a while there, I thought I was the only person in America who hated this show. And honestly, this hatred really doesn't stem from the way they treat his pain addiction--well, at least it didn't at first. Now that I see how they handle that, with the whole absolutely insane subplot featuring David Morse the cop, I hate this roadkill of a show even more. Why do I hate thee? Let me count the ways:

1) It is the SAME #$(#$( show every week! I have never watched a full episode of this show yet, just bits and pieces, but from those pieces and from the ads that are one each week, it seems to be the exact same plotline every single week, for week after week. Patient comes in with very mysterious illness, House's junior colleagues (aka, the Resident idiots) poke and prod the patient until they admit what we all know, which is that they have NO CLUE why the person is ill. Which means, of course.....cue dramatic music...they must turn to Dr. House each and every week to come in, insult everyone in sight, offer severall incorrect diagnoses, and then finally stumble upon the cause of the disease, usually saving the patient in the nick of time while causing as much angst and navel gazing as is humanly possible.

I mean, that is it--that is a summary of every single episode of "House" ever put on the air. This alone was enough to drive me from the show immediately.

2) Dr. House is such an utter jacka-- and so rude to everyone, including the patient, that the show quickly slips the bonds of reality and rockets into full-blown insanity by suggesting that anyone--and I mean ANYONE--would put up with him for even five minutes. I don't care if this man is a walking, talking cure for every disease that ails me, I would NOT, repeat, NOT allow this man to be my doctor for even five minutes. He does not treat anyone with even a degree of civility, and there is no way the majority of patients would put up with that crap. The show seems to be set in a big city, so every patient would know that there were plenty of kind, caring doctors just a stone's throw away. To me, this is the most unrealistic part of this show, and that's saying a mouthful. I've had doctors who were hated by the staff because he was never nice to them, but by god, he was good as gold to every one of his patients and treated me like I was his most important patient ever. There is a fine line between being opinionated and being flat-out rude, and Dr. House jumps across that line with gusto. No chance in a million years that any patients put up with his bs for even a second. The show is just so unrealistic.

3) Finally. I hate this show for the way it has decided to portray chronic pain and chronic pain patients. In fact, that is a mistatement--in no real way does "House" attempt to deal with chronic pain. No, it just writes House off as a hopeless addict who needs dem pills to keep on working and then thinks of different ways to make the rat press the button/avoid electric current to get his next pellet of food, er, vicodin pill. As others mention, it doesn't even bring up the oh-so-controversial idea that House really IS in horrible pain and thus does need SOMETHING to get by. And, it is just great how none of his "friends" suggest any alternate pain treatments, or any drugs besides Vicodin, or anything else that would improve his pain and thus let him function more normally. I just love that CBS takes the easy way out by perpetuating every old stereotype that anyone who needs pain medicine for any real length of time HAS to be an addict because pain just doesn't last like that, right? Just appalling.

I could probably go on and on about this ridiculous show, but I don't watch the dang thing, so why should I waste any time writing about it either? All we chronic pain patients can do is try to counteract the messages "House" is sending to society about what it means to be in chronic pain and keep working to spread the truth about CP.

Now, can we move on to those CSI shows and rag on those for a while? I mean, c'mon--why in the name of god are forensics staff members shown making every arrest, busting down doors and getting into shootouts, and interviewing every d--- suspect? That entire premise is just so ridiculous that I can't even watch any of the CSI shows anymore because I can't make myself get past the basic idiocy they exhibit.

But hey, that's just me.

[oh_snap]

ASKicker...

HAAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAA!

There is absolutely nothing that is entertaining to me in this show.

Oh, let me count two ways:

1. Although I am pretty adult :D , my teenagers, in watching this show, can't begin to imagine how so not true this show is (not even in the ballpark). I don't need to contribute to another generation believing that medical people are in this business out of the goodness of their hearts. I know better, they [my kids] are a work in progress. :D

2. As to the troubled genius (smart doc that needs vicoden to turn on his brains)...that is another stereotype that I wholeheartedly, and with great gusto, am seeking to stamp out. My kids amaze me with their intelligence and wit. Why would I expose them to such utter crap? It is very, not entertaining. (with all due respect to those that enjoy it)

So, I wasn't even really that concerned about the chronic pain part of it (as that was so illogical I couldn't begin to diagram the insanity of the premise).

As to CSI shows...they irritate me. Why? Cause the ladies have their long hair hanging all over the crime scene, in the lab, etc., and they are collecting/analysing hair evidence? :eek: :D

They must spend half the day ruling themselves out as suspects after collecting their own hair samples at the crime scene.

Can you picture it? "Oh, I am a suspect, again?" "Damnit". "Why does that keep happening". (uh, duh) How idiotic. Definitely a skit for Mad TV.

Do I still watch the CSI shows, yep, cause I enjoy yelling at the ladies to pull their hair back, for goodness sake! Interactive TV. :D

[curiousforever]

I'm watching season 1. He had an infarction (sp?) in his leg. Wasted the leg muscles.

[Annie B.]

...is on the air, because people watch it-->advertisers pay for time on it-->FOX execs. getting $$$$$$$ for it.

I don't think that, at the bottom line, anybody really cares how "realistic" this show is--they care about the money it generates. You'd better believe, that once the show starts costing a certain amount of bucks, it'll be yanked.

If anyone from FOX happened to read this forum, or any like it, they'd probably smile smugly and think, "Ahhh--free advertising." I'll bet that there are folks reading here who have never watched the show, but because of the banter raised, will give it a chance, or at least chect it out.

Just some food for thought. I don't want to raise anyone's ire or blood pressure. Please don't flame me. I just wanted to voice a small, and in the scheme of things, very insignificant opinion. Worth the $.02 that someone, somewhere, will be willing to pay for it.

Best to all of us!

Annie B.
(Please excuse any typos. Didn't have time to proof/edit.)

[oh_snap]

Annie,
That House is a TV show for "entertainment" is a given, and pretty self-evident. Free advertising? Who cares?

Nobody is gonna be swayed by my beliefs, but, I can tell you, that our household won't be adding to its success.

That is the glory of America. At one point, the narcotics fiend, alcoholic genius doctor House will fall from grace as how many episodes can anyone stomach seeing a doctor in a power position, chewing on vicoden, furnished by his boss.

Were he in corporate america, he along with those empowering him would find little pink slips on their desk. :D

House got mine (pink slip) the first and last time I (and the family) watched the show.

[suede]

Okay not to be argumentative but I only have a couple of minutes as House is getting ready to come on!!

oh_snap, I can appreciate how you feel about the show believe me there are many on that I feel much the same way about and really don't care much for any of the shows but need a escape from the mind and pain.
Though to what you say about the pink slip, I only hope it to be true but am afraid to say that I find it much more believable that this kind of behavior goes on much more then we care to admit..

Linda

[Matuboo]

I did watch a couple episodes of the show, probably reruns as they were on at odd hours (if my memory serves me correctly.) I find I don't like it as much as ER when I first watched it although in all fairness, I should probably watch a few more episodes before I jump to any conclusions but at first glance, it seems very unrealistic. Thinking back, I can't come up with too many movies or television shows I've enjoyed that are actually realistic, that's what makes movies and television entertaining!

Growing up, watching action movies and actors like Stallone and Schwarzenegger, I don't recall any of their movies being based on reality! Television is for entertainment purposes and I don't think FOX gives a crap whether or not House is sending the wrong message, in fact, I know they don't. As long as the show's successful and millions of people are flocking to their televisions every week to watch it, nothing will change. If the show was based on reality and House and the rest of the cast behaved "normally," the show wouldn't have lasted a month.:D

If I want reality, I read history books or watch educational television.

[oh_snap]

Well, my goodness...

I personally watch shows (other than medical drama) if I want distraction from pain/suffering. I don't watch medical shows because they are very not entertaining for me, as I have had my fill of medicine in general.

To each his/her own. (we are in agreement)

Although I do watch shows (some) for entertainment, I am much more drawn to shows that have either some basis in reality, or are so pointless, ie, of the Monty Python genre.

When I want to watch something mindless...I am drawn to comedy and not hyper drama (which is what I consider the house show to be as well as all the other medical drama shows).

As to druggies in the workplace, they are there, and once discovered, most large companies will ship them out. There are very real legal implications for those that openly "abuse" and those that use company time to supply them. That one is for real. (I am not referring to people who take meds as rx'd, so let's not start another "issue").

Now, I really didn't expect to see such "drama" on a thread that I actually started somewhat in jest...this will definitely be my last post, as I am off to finish the lakers game. :D

have fun...don't take this stuff so seriously. I find playing with logic, and the lack thereof, entertaining to no end. :D If you see my CSI observation (in one of these posts), you would see that I don't take much seriously. :D I certainly didn't expect to see "heated posts" that were self deleted.

My goodness...

[simby]

Last night's episode gave some very good insight into why Dr. House is like he is. I think there might be hope for him.

[Annie B.]

Because it's obvious I wasn't at all clear, and then, I will wisely bow out...

The only reason I posted was to imply, now say directly, this...

I hope that nobody is elevating their stress and pain levels by getting as involved as it appears they are, in this discussion. From the posts I've read, it seems that people are really worked up here and that can't be good for most peoples' general health. A television show created for revenue and entertainment (not for education or the public good) is simply, IMHO, not worth the serious, stressful discussion that seems to be raised here.

Again, this is simply my humble opinion only and again, please don't flame me. I guess you could if you want, as I've made this thread invisible. Flaming me though, will again, maybe only get the writer more stressed.

Looking at this, I probably could go on, and know I could continue to change or add to my words to make things more clear, but, I have work to do. My department at work is moving across the hall--might as well be across the country! Talk about stress!

As for me? I'm going to save my thoughts and breath for the really important things in life--those things where I can make little changes that may influences bigger ones down the line--my children, family, and the little world that surrounds me. I'm going to try to change opinions by actions. I'm going to do my best to be an example and not a lesson...

Again, the best to us all.
Annie B.

[curiousforever]

dang it I missed last nights. I had to go shopping, came home exhausted, did my now 8 yr olds' family party and was in bed by 6pm.

Is there anyway to get it online?

[suede]

Okay, I had to go back and read all the post because I don't see where all the drama is or the stress in this thread.
It reads to me that everyone is just expressing their opinion of a show rather they like it or not, I've rather enjoyed a thread about something off the wall instead of just talking about all our pain and medical problems.
That may be why I like the show as it's someone else on the bed trying to find out just what in the heck is wrong with them.

Curiousforever, sorry to say I dozed off watching it, I never sleep more then 2 hrs top at a time and usually just doze a little here and there and of course it's always in the middle of a show I'm watching, no problems though because thy show his reruns usually I think on Fri. night.

Linda

[ASkicker]

Annie, nothing contentious or argumentative in your original post at all! In fact, I couldn't agree with you more, as you are 100 percent correct when you say that the reason House is still on the air is because it makes money, and lots of it. Obviously I am in the minority in not liking the show, but that's not unusual--the more mainstream a show is, the less likely it is that I will like it. Mainstream too often equates with least common denominator plots and writing on American television, and I'm at an age where I usually can't tolerate dramas or comedies that are too cookie-cutter.

That certainly isn't always true, however, as I have been a regular "ER" viewer since it debuted, and I freely count "American Idol" as one of my favorite guilty pleasures. (NOTICE: We interrupt this "House" message to bring you a completely unneeded "ER" digression; we will return to our regular programming momentarily! I have to add that "ER" has really lost me in the last two years and pretty much drove me away for good when they spent much of last season thinking up storylines featuring that truly creepy teenage son of the newest nurse--one of them is names Sam, can't remember which one. The kid was a terrible actor--since replaced--and the stories they wrote featuring him and his mother were just excruciating. I think that once Carter left, I was done with "ER" and just didn't realize it yet. Although it's pretty amazing I came back to it even after they showcased my illness--ankylosing spondylitis--by breaking the AS patient's neck and paralyzing him when they tried to intubate him. This was actually a very realistic portrayal of what can happen when intubating an AS patient, so that isn't what put me off--no, it was having to watch that horrific incident after telling everyone I knew to watch "ER" that night because it featured AS. Boy, did I have some 'splainin to do the next morning when everyone asked me why in the world I would have them watch that, since they all knew that could easily happen to me! This concludes our emergency "ER" digression--we now return you to my original "House" reply.) With "House," however, I have a feeling that I just have too much experience with medical stuff to really ever enjoy the show. I know from experience that no doctor could ever get away with acting like that, and it just ruins the show for me. Well, that and the fact that, as I mentioned, the show has the same basic plot every single episode.

Now, Matuboo, as for your assertion that you don't expect to find reality in a television show, in general I would fully agree with you about that statement as well. Of course television shows are not intended to reflect reality as most people know it (especially all our "reality" shows!). I know that even shows that are based on real events utilize a massive amount of creativity to tell their tales, as too often real-life is just boring, boring, boring, and even if it is exciting, it can't often be squeezed into half-hour or one-hour time slots.

Having said all that, because I am a chronic pain patient who knows far more than he ever wanted to about the use of opiods to treat pain, I feel that I have an obligation to point out to anyone who will listen that the way this show is portraying opiod use is totally inaccurate and thus damaging to people who really use opiods. It's portrayal of opiod use is careless at best, dangerous at worst, and every time it downplays how important these drugs are to real pain patients, or portrays something about House's addiction or pain that is just flat-out wrong, it makes it harder for people like me--and you, I assume--to gain and maintain access to the medicine I need. Literally tens of millions of people watch this show each week, and for most of them, this is the first exposure they have ever had to using opiods for the treatment of pain below the cancer level. Sadly, that means that all of those first-time folks are being fed huge doses of misinformation that really misrepresents how most of use these drugs as part of our pain treatment plan. And, frankly, many of those first-timers aren't going to be quite as discerning as you or I would be when it comes to how those drugs are portrayed. They are going to accept what they see as gospel, because after all, if it's on TV, it must be true, right?

You must admit that this is happening, and that for chronic pain patients, that is about one of the worst things that could happen. For years we have sought better ways to educate the public about why opiods ARE an excellent treatment of choice for severe--but non-cancer--chronic pain, and now we have a way to reach millions and millions of people and at least expose them to at least basic information, but that basic information has unfortunately turned out to be basic MISinformation. As the saying goes, 'be careful what you wish for, or you will surely get it.' Some of us wanted more attention paid to the use of opioids in pain management, and now we've gotten it. Yippee.

So, that is why, I guess, that I DO take "House" more seriously than I now I should, or than I normally would almost any TV show. We simply can't afford to take too many steps backward in the battle for opioid pain medications, because every year the DEA seems to be making more and more inroads in it's battle to take them away in more and more cases. I don't know about you, but I really don't want that to happen. If I came off as strident or overly concerned about this issue in my original post, I apologize for the tone, but I won't apologize for the ideas behind it because I firmly believe in them.