Achalasia on tv show -- Royal Pains

June 29, 2012

Does anyone watch the series Royal Pains on the USA network?

This week's show really ticked me off.... there is a male who is " choking " on a

soft bolus that won't dislodge with the Heimlich because it is too malleable.

(The doctor ends up MacGyvering a sort of suction machine at the side of the

road to " save " the guy's life.) Later on the same patient has chest pains that

the doc chalks up to heartburn.

Then at the end of the show the doc has a " lightbulb moment " and decides that

the patient has achalasia and ends up tracking down the patient " choking " while

running in a race, and the guy has coughed up a bunch of blood. The doc ends up

" scoping " the guy at the side of the running trail (using only about 5 " of the

scope tube) and then uses what looked to be tonsil forceps to remove the foreign

body. The guy can now breathe, and he gets sent off to the hospital to be

checked to see if he tore his esophagus.

Now, being a nursing student, I'm known to scoff at medical shows from time to

time (did y'all know that they DO NOT shock you with the defibrillator if you

have a flat-line on the EKG? and yet EVERY medical show will show that time and

time again... " Asystole, charge to 300! " ). Doctors don't really start IVs or

take blood pressures, in spite of what you may see on tv, and I'll call 'em out

on it every time I see it in a show.

But this? Achalasia causing someone to choke and turn blue? Achalasia causing

someone (who is such a new onset achalasian that this is only their second

" stuckage " ever!) to bleed copious amounts of blood from a SOFT foreign body?

And since when do our stuckages occur in the back of our mouth (able to be

reached with tonsil forceps), instead of down lower in our esophagus? Oh man, I

was SOOOOO pissed off watching that show.

My 12yo son came in late in the show, and I paused the tv and looked at him and

said, " The doctor thinks the guy has achalasia... have you EVER seen me look

ANYTHING like that??? " I was diagnosed with achalasia four years before my son

was even born -- his mom having achalasia is all he knows -- and even HE was

scoffing at the inaccurate portrayal on the tv show.

I know it's just Hollywood and they make things up for maximum entertainment

value, but it REALLY ticks me off when they exploit our disease like that. Can

you imagine some newly-diagnosed person seeing that, thinking they're going to

just start choking and bleeding while they walk down the street?

*sigh*

Debbi in Michigan

Recommended Posts