S06.E19: Half Measures

[Whimsy]

Quote

Drs. Andrews and Lim clash over a patient split nearly in half, which also reveals her issues with Dr. Kalu’s return. Meanwhile, Dr. Glassman gives Dr. Murphy some fatherly advice as they await news about Glassman’s recent tests.

Original airdate 4/10/23

[Annber03]

They give us some hope with a couple of the stories this episode and then they lower the boom. They save that baby, hooray...but her mom dies. And Glassman doesn't have brain cancer...but he's still not entirely out of the woods with his health concerns yet. 

Also, Andrews challenging Lim like that was...bold. She's shown she doesn't take shit like that easily, so yeah, no wonder she reacted as she did to Andrews. Even if there was some truth to her personal feelings, which there might've been, I don't think that was the ultimate deciding factor in her choices with that surgery. And if that was an issue, there's better ways to address it. 

On a lighter note, the nursery was cute. And the guys singing Backstreet Boys at karaoke was fun, even if that version of the song was weirdly slower paced :p. 

So. Curious to see where they go next with some of these lingering storylines as the season winds down. 

[Starchild]

I don't see what Jordan has that gets two guys fighting over her. As someone has mentioned before, she's nosy and judgmental, with a touch of condescending superiority.

Yeah, I thought the "it's not cancer" was too easy. Are they implying dementia for Glassman now? Really? Can't they just let those 3 (soon to be 4) be a happy family for a while?

[KaveDweller]

Sometimes furniture you have to put together yourself comes with extra screws in case you lose one. It doesn't have to mean anything. But I'm sure it does here.

So is Morgan going to adopt this baby instead of having her own? I feel like Grey's Anatomy did a similar plot with Jo.

[thuganomics85]

This episode title would not get approval from Mike "No Half Measures, Walter!" Ehrmantraut!

While I generally enjoy most, if not all of the cast, there was something enjoyable about seeing a case that mainly consisted of Shaun, Reznick, and Park working together.  The newbies and later players certainly have their moments, but it's just great seeing the OGs (yeah, I know technically Park and Reznick didn't come onboard until midway through the first season, but I pretty much consider them the originals at this point) together again and watching those three (and the actors) play off one another.  But it looks like the case was mainly about having Reznick possibly adopt Baby Eden instead of trying to conceive one.  I guess this is a way to speed up the process to get her to motherhood?  Personally, I'm choosing to believe it's because Paige Spara isn't a fan of the pregnancy belly she has to wear and after hearing about its horrors, Fiona Gubelmann was like "Hey, can I maybe not have to do that, guys?!"

While Jared was letting his previous case cloud his judgement in some ways, I'm glad the rest of the residents are easing up now because it was starting to feel like they were just being jerks for the sake of it: especially Asher and Daniel (the latter definitely letting his jealousy get the better of him.)  And who isn't down for some drunk Backstreet Boys karaoke?!  At least they've got good taste by picking the best of the mid 90s boy bands (with all due respect to the likes of NYSNC, etc.)

After mainly being on his game most of this season, Andrews really has been slipping these past few episodes.  Not sure where this is all heading for him.

So, Glassman doesn't have cancer!  But.... he might have dementia instead.  Sigh.

[bros402]

So, uh, Jordan's love triangle get a big nope from me.

Imagine if Lim's patient had died - imagine the M&M conference on that, or if the patient's family sued? That would've been one hell of an easy suit based on Andrews constantly overruling the trauma surgeon. Also, uh, some of his comment were definitely discriminating against her based on her disability.

I think that Andrews plot might be going this way due to the actor considering running for office - so they are giving an easy out with the board being on him.

I wonder what Glassman is going to have? Parkinsons? Dementia? Mystery thing that will need Glassman to operate on himself?

[dancingdreamer]

I thought  the mother of baby Emma might die. I hope Resnick adopts  her. If Jo on greys can, so can she.

I like Jared, hmm yes, quite  yummy.

Oh Glassy, I'm so glad he doesn't  haven't cancer, but something  isn't right, he's  my favorite  character. 

Edited April 11, 2023 by dancingdreamer

[greekmom]

The fact that Morgan will adopt the little baby was so evident. I still want to see her and Park together.

Asher's resentment of Jared because he's rich was ridiculous if Jared disliked Asher because he was poor.  Asher's comment of "i even slept with some of you in college" leads me to believe he may have been in love with some rich guy in college who broke his heart. 

Daniels and Jared fighting over Jordan is laughable.

The fact that there were a few screws leftover is laughable. Everyone knows that they add a few extras just in case. 

[PurpleTentacle]

Deciding beforehand if you want a boy or a girl really isn't how IVF works, unless you have a ton of viable embryos of both sexes. To give yourself the biggest chance of success you try to implant multiple embryos and hope that even one sticks. Only two good embryos is really bad odds in the first place.

If Glassman is as old as his actor, he's almost 68. Forgetting only two screws at that age is pretty good cognitive performance. He probably shouldn't do brain surgery anymore, but in any real world scenario I don't see any further need for concern. Of course this is TV and so he'll have Pakinsons or something along those lines.

[PurpleTentacle]

21 minutes ago, greekmom said:

The fact that there were a few screws leftover is laughable. Everyone knows that they add a few extras just in case. 

To be honest I've never seen that. But I've mostly only have experience with IKEA furniture and those swedes are frugal.

Edited April 11, 2023 by PurpleTentacle

[SunnyBeBe]

55 minutes ago, PurpleTentacle said:

Deciding beforehand if you want a boy or a girl really isn't how IVF works, unless you have a ton of viable embryos of both sexes. To give yourself the biggest chance of success you try to implant multiple embryos and hope that even one sticks. Only two good embryos is really bad odds in the first place.

If Glassman is as old as his actor, he's almost 68. Forgetting only two screws at that age is pretty good cognitive performance. He probably shouldn't do brain surgery anymore, but in any real world scenario I don't see any further need for concern. Of course this is TV and so he'll have Pakinsons or something along those lines.

That’s what I thought about implanting embryos.  I’ve never heard of just using one.  Hmmm….I guess it’ll be a moot point now.  I still can’t imagine how a super busy hospital staff doctor will manage being a single mom of an infant.  Does she have only day hours now?  
 

I really wish they’d leave the Glassman health thing alone for 5 minutes.  Some reasons for dementia don’t appear on an MRI.  

Edited April 11, 2023 by SunnyBeBe

[Starchild]

43 minutes ago, PurpleTentacle said:

To be honest I've never seen that. But I've mostly only have experience with IKEA furniture and those swedes are frugal.

Same here, IKEA gives the exact number represented in the instructions. No leftovers, ever.

[MaryHedwig]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I still can’t imagine how a super busy hospital staff doctor will manage being a single mom of an infant

An infant with Turner's syndrome.

[circumvent]

1 hour ago, SunnyBeBe said:

 I still can’t imagine how a super busy hospital staff doctor will manage being a single mom of an infant

Do you think busy doctors don't have kids? Ever? 

I just watched a show on Netflix about a real hospital, with real doctors and paramedics - including helicopter nurses - two of them were pregnant, several had kids, then it shows them having the babies and going back to work. I don't see why it is different from a cleaning person of a big building having to work nights after not having any paid maternity leave or time with the infants. 

[rmontro]

14 hours ago, Starchild said:

I don't see what Jordan has that gets two guys fighting over her. As someone has mentioned before, she's nosy and judgmental, with a touch of condescending superiority.

Ha!  I've been thinking the same thing.  But I'm willing to handwave it.  Seems like the doctors work long hours and don't have much time for a social life outside the hospital.  The people they see the most are the people they work with, and fondness can develop.

[Starchild]

True, though they do work with others. That nurse who spurned Andrews (sorry don't remember her name) is more attractive to me (personality-wise) than Jordan is.

[possibilities]

I was so glad Lim didn't give Andrews a pass when he gave that fake apology. "I'm stressed! That's why I'm a dick!" Oh really? Well, if you can't handle the stress, maybe YOU shouldn't be making the decisions, asshole! 

And somehow he thinks that her having experience with a wheelchair makes her NOT objective, while his lack of any experience means he knows MORE about it and IS objective? What a dick. He has LESS experience and MORE prejudice, so OF COURSE he knows better. In his bigoted dreams!

That said, I appreciated that even though IRL nobody gives a fuck, this show actually did try to save a patent who would be considered hopeless, and they didn't act like having (with Jared's ovarian cancer case) multiple impacts from a life-saving attempt would have been worse than dying, had she lived.

They did it twice in one episode, too. Baby Eden is winning Reznik's heart over the usual trope of "my embryo is best!" and she's not afraid of raising a child with Turner Syndrome. She wasn't judgmental against the homeless mother, either. 

It's like the show decided that unrepentant dickery is not actually that much fun to watch.

 

[SunnyBeBe]

5 hours ago, circumvent said:

Do you think busy doctors don't have kids? Ever? 

I just watched a show on Netflix about a real hospital, with real doctors and paramedics - including helicopter nurses - two of them were pregnant, several had kids, then it shows them having the babies and going back to work. I don't see why it is different from a cleaning person of a big building having to work nights after not having any paid maternity leave or time with the infants. 

Most of the doctors that I know had a stay at home spouse, who provided the bulk of the child care AND, other help, like a nanny and a housekeeper.  It’s doable, I suppose as a single person.  It’ll be interesting to see how it’s portrayed.  Maybe, a hospital childcare center that the staff utilize would be helpful.  Like they have on The Resident.  

[KaveDweller]

9 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

That’s what I thought about implanting embryos.  I’ve never heard of just using one.  Hmmm….I guess it’ll be a moot point now.  I still can’t imagine how a super busy hospital staff doctor will manage being a single mom of an infant.  Does she have only day hours now?  

I'm sure we'll find out the hospital has a very good day care that is open 24/7 like all hospital shows. Shaun and Leah will probably be using it too.

Plus, Morgan is wealthy (on top of being a doctor) so she would have money to hire a nanny.

[The Wild Sow]

Aha, so that hospital actually does employ imaging technologists (even though Sean apparently has the authority to send them "on a break" -- news flash; he doesn't.)

And the doctor who actually did the LP should have been the one to give him the results.  Staff or not, you're not supposed to access your own electronic record like that!

[possibilities]

My test results always show on my own electronic record, and they encourage you to check it to find out what they are. I saw my MRI report before I spoke with my neurologist about it. 

[bros402]

3 hours ago, The Wild Sow said:

Aha, so that hospital actually does employ imaging technologists (even though Sean apparently has the authority to send them "on a break" -- news flash; he doesn't.)

And the doctor who actually did the LP should have been the one to give him the results.  Staff or not, you're not supposed to access your own electronic record like that!

I think there's a law making it so the second the doctors have results, it has to be released to the patient portal (Might be an NY specific thing, though - or maybe a policy for my cancer center).

Also, uh, this was another episode where they probably could've solved a case by asking Shaun to look at things and give his input for a solution, because he has Magical Autism Brain.

[circumvent]

7 hours ago, bros402 said:

I think there's a law making it so the second the doctors have results, it has to be released to the patient portal (Might be an NY specific thing, though - or maybe a policy for my cancer center).

It is part of the ACA (Obamacare). There is always a disclaimer that the doctor will get it first but by the time you get the notification, they haven't read it yet. Sometimes they don't even know it is there

7 hours ago, bros402 said:

Also, uh, this was another episode where they probably could've solved a case by asking Shaun to look at things and give his input for a solution, because he has Magical Autism Brain.

I actually like the show better when they do all the graphics of Shaun's processing thoughts. At least it is much better than the absurd story of the almost cut in half man, where the family has no input on how to proceed, where two surgeons can solve all the problems related to the organs and bones, and where residents spend the whole day researching solutions, just to find a magical, incredible way of "saving" the man. All that to have an episode where the residents "bond". Ridiculous. If that solution was a real solution, they would be candidates for the Nobel Prize. On top of that, residents have to fulfill clinical hours. they spent a whole day not doing that. And how can a complicated surgery like that would take only 8 hours? Besides, the man was on the table, open, while the residents tried to come up with something. 

Is choosing the the sex of a possible baby a thing? I mean, it would require some sort of test on the chromosomes, right? You would basically be choosing between XX or XY. Boy or girl is a stretch. If one considers gender to be int he genitals, that is not decided until later in the pregnancy. All of them start as "girls". More over, gender is in the brain, so that is even later. I don't get the reason for this to be included in the plot, the conversation about who is more "badass". People desperately wanting a baby that go through all the shots and treatments don't get choosy

Edit: I looked up - quickly - about the choice of "sex" and the only thing I saw was about the possibility of diseases that would lead someone to choose the embryo according to the probability of a genetic male or genetic female to develop a disease. Still a bit fishy but in the world we live... I have mixed feelings and many contradictory thoughts about this. Also, slippery slope. Human beings love exploring possibilities that take people into a rabbit hole. But in the show, does Morgan have a disease that is so serious that would make her not want a child that would have a high probability of developing such disease? I cannot remember if that was addressed in the show

Edited April 12, 2023 by circumvent

[jacourt]

Someone I know just did IVF and was told there was one female and one male embryo.  They were asked to choose which they wanted and only that one was implanted.  

[circumvent]

18 minutes ago, jacourt said:

Someone I know just did IVF and was told there was one female and one male embryo.  They were asked to choose which they wanted and only that one was implanted.  

Wow! They are actually doing this? Do you know there is a reason? Do the potential parents need to consent to whatever test determine the genetic code, is it part of the process for everyone or it is charged extra for the choice? So many ethical questions, so fishy when ethics, money and the potential for eugenics band together.

My theory is that it is about money. Implant one, if it doesn't take, then you can charge the whole process again, and put the woman's body through hell.

But there are still the more ridiculous premise that a chromosome is the deciding factor on gender for all people. Worse, the horrendous reality that this is one step closer to full blown eugenics. Disgust doesn't even start to convey how I feel about this.

[Rileyjo]

My daughter had IVF. She produced ten viable embryos and only had one implanted each time.  Had a boy, lost another one then had just one more implanted and had another boy.  She had no idea the gender of each.  She does know someone who spent thousands of dollars to have genetic testing done on hers and so she found out their genders that way.  Don’t think you can tell gender otherwise.

love Dr Glassman and don’t want him put through anymore illness. But I have to say that to survive a GBM is extremely rare. Like not many people do.  My 60yo sister died four months after diagnosis. So I really have to suspend belief on that whole story

[tennisgurl]

So after several weeks of happy endings, we get a sad one with the homeless mom. The baby survived, and it looks like Morgan might adopt her, but the mom tragically passed away. Now Morgan gets to have a baby without all the stress of being pregnant, so now instead of a big story about Morgan getting pregnant, we get a big story where Morgan goes through the adoption process. 

I'm really glad that Lim read Andrews the riot act, he was being a real dick to her during the surgery, and even worse, unprofessional at a critical time for a patients life. Its certainly possible that Lim's personal experience was causing her look at the situation a certain way, he handled it horribly. Andrews has been having a great season, but he's slipping a bit into asshole territory again. He and Lim have always had issues, but this one especially looks bad. 

I'm glad that the rest of the residents are warming to Jared, watching them (especially Asher) give him the cold shoulder for no real reason besides resentment while he tried to make friends was painful to watch. 

I was so relived that they seemed to have side stepped Glassman being sick, but now its looks like something else is going wrong. Damn it, I just want Glassman to get to be a grandpa and let them be a happy family!

Edited April 12, 2023 by tennisgurl

[Daff]

I just wanted to know if that corrugated metal plate was surgical grade stainless steel….

[bros402]

17 hours ago, circumvent said:

Wow! They are actually doing this? Do you know there is a reason? 

I believe one of the driving factors was Octomom.

Also, I imagine they want to keep some backups just in case it doesn't take.

[circumvent]

13 hours ago, bros402 said:

I believe one of the driving factors was Octomom.

Also, I imagine they want to keep some backups just in case it doesn't take.

Well, the IVF thing is full of possible ethical holes. I can understand the fear of multiple babies at once, not ideal for anyone, but the choosing of "boy or girl" is clearly unethical to me. I also have family members who had several rounds of IVF and had the embryos frozen until one was able to develop into a full term pregnancy. Like I said, we love a slippery slope and soon enough eugenics will be just another casual thing in fertility specialists circles. when I looked it up, the reason given was to try to prevent genetic diseases. But I don't remember Morgan having anything so serious that would be part of a routine implantation (to if we can call this routine)

[SunnyBeBe]

3 hours ago, circumvent said:

Well, the IVF thing is full of possible ethical holes. I can understand the fear of multiple babies at once, not ideal for anyone, but the choosing of "boy or girl" is clearly unethical to me. I also have family members who had several rounds of IVF and had the embryos frozen until one was able to develop into a full term pregnancy. Like I said, we love a slippery slope and soon enough eugenics will be just another casual thing in fertility specialists circles. when I looked it up, the reason given was to try to prevent genetic diseases. But I don't remember Morgan having anything so serious that would be part of a routine implantation (to if we can call this routine)

What’s the medical condition that prevents her from practicing surgery?  It involves her hands.  

[KaveDweller]

4 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

What’s the medical condition that prevents her from practicing surgery?  It involves her hands.  

She has rheumatoid arthritis. I don't think it is life threatening, but I think it can actually be really painful for some people.

[bros402]

7 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

What’s the medical condition that prevents her from practicing surgery?  It involves her hands.  

Arthritis - iirc she somehow has it so bad that she destroyed all of the cartilage in her hands in a matter of weeks (days?)

[SunnyBeBe]

That’s right.  I recall that now.  My paternal grandfather had a severe case.  He was eventually bedbound with it, but that was many years ago.  I have a cousin who has it too, but she takes injections that keep her pretty mobile.  

[circumvent]

Rheumatoid Arthritis is an autoimmune disease, it is serious. Arthritis is not, so less serious. It doesn't mean it is easy to deal with.

If she has the former, then maybe that would make doctors check the embryos to see if they are male/female. I still think it is a slippery slope, but it would explain the why. Still, even if she has the autoimmune, the way the writers did the whole thing wasn't really about trying to choose the embryo with better chances to evade a disease. Rheumatoid Arthritis affects more women than men. If that was the concern, she would have had the conversation with the doctor and choose the male embryo. But the doctors were talking about girls being more badass and silly things like that. I really don't get why they did that whole dialogue. It is like they needed to chew the information for us and regurgitate it so we could understand her apparent desire to adopt Eden. 

 

[SunnyBeBe]

Yeah, the girls being better than boys….it seemed like it was dated material.  
 

Right, RA is autoimmune related.  It runs through my dad’s side of the family.  RA in several, Lupus with my aunt, cousin and myself have Type 1 diabetes, psoriasis, and hypothyroidism.  I think that’s it.  All autoimmune related.  

Edited April 14, 2023 by SunnyBeBe

[possibilities]

Ethical or not, I've heard it is often a choice given to patients, to choose the sex of the baby. Sometimes it's because they already have a child of one gender and want the other binary experience, but whether or not it's ethical, a slippery slope, or just plain unlikely to pan out as hoped, it's happening. I agree that if they were doing it to screen for genetic illnesses, they would have said so, and this was clearly about "choose your adventure".

[ForReal]

I'm thinking Morgan will adopt the baby, Park will help her when she inevitably needs help and support, thereby getting to experience parenting a daughter, and then they will get back together and have their own baby, a boy, so that Morgan can experience parenting a boy and Park can correct all the mistakes he made raising his son.