Wegener's on House

[vdub]

There is a new episode (Last Temptation) of House on tonight. I'm watching the eastern feed now and about half way through they mention Wegener's. Not sure if they will go more into it or not, but they still have a half hour to go.

[delorisdoe]

Lol, looks like wg would have been better for the poor girl. they throw wg and anca around a lot on house

[vdub]

Yeah, looks like they have already gone on to cancer or something. Could change a dozen times in the next 20 minutes..... BUT WILL SHE SAIL AGAIN?! OMG! Will Masters be a surgeon or go with house? And, what about the chicken?

[NicShaf]

I'm on the west coast, so it's not on until later, but I'm recording it. I have friends and family tell me all the time that they hear about vaculitis and Wegs on House...and now because of me they know what House is talking about:)

[drz]

I'm on the west coast, so it's not on until later, but I'm recording it. I have friends and family tell me all the time that they hear about vaculitis and Wegs on House...and now because of me they know what House is talking about:)

Isn't it great that we can enlighten the medical profession and others about an illness they may have barely heard about. We are performing a public service. Maybe we should try run some PSA (public service announcements ) on local radio stations for Vasculitis Awareness Month.

[delorisdoe]

:thumbup:
Yeah, looks like they have already gone on to cancer or something. Could change a dozen times in the next 20 minutes..... BUT WILL SHE SAIL AGAIN?! OMG! Will Masters be a surgeon or go with house? And, what about the chicken?

The chickens were my favorite part. They mention wg so often. I have been patiently waiting for the episode where wg is the final diagnosis.:confused1:

[malin]

I suppose it's "easy" to use Wegs as a "throw it out there n see if it sticks" kinda thing. Because it covers soooo many different symptoms, is serious + it's something most haven't heard off, ever and is all fancy/hard to pronouce!

[delorisdoe]

Wegners Was the actual final diagnosis on the season finale.

[gurinbasra]

So, I've just watched House's Season Finale May 23 and we were graced by having WG mentioned again! See just how popular we are!

[vdub]

Dang! I missed it....

[delorisdoe]

yup, you did. she received the standard radiation therapy lol. she was given a choice between prednisone or radiation. oh well. it was at least the final diagnosis this time and the season finale no less.

[vdub]

Radiation? Dang! :biggrin1: Obviously, she is now "cured".

I think they post full episodes to the internet after a certain time-period has gone by, so I'll try to see if I can watch it when I get a fast connection.....

[NicShaf]

Darn it, I missed it too. They'll also re-run the season over the summer too, I'm going to keep my eye out for it:)

[vdub]

This is interesting....
House | A Disease A Day (http://www.diseaseaday.com/tag/house)

[julia]

Saw it on I-tunes. Weird!

I did not like it.

Wonder if in future episodes will they use the new name when referencing the disease.

[delorisdoe]

I think that that is the first time they have ever used the full name. Usualy when it is mentioned it is one of their guesses so they say "its vasculitis, do a canca" or "maybe its wegners".

seeing as they made it seem as though the standard treatment is prednisone or radiation I dont imagine they will ever even learn about the new name.

[Sangye]

Wait... radiation? Seriously? What on earth did they irradiate?

[ScreaminMeanie]

Well, I've heard of irradiated veggies, so now we've got irradiated weggies, too?

[NicShaf]

It was probably at the end of the episode, they didn't have to explain in, so it didn't matter what they were treating with radiation.

I have talked to multiple people who think Chemo and Radiation are the same, because they both treat cancer.
I was telling a girl I work with about Wegs and the treatment I was going through and she said to me "Oh, I know all about chemo, my husband did radiation when he had testicular cancer." I asked if he did both chemo and ratdiation, and her response was "they are the same"...ummm, no they're not. She insisted she was correct for another couple minutes and I ran out of energy to explain it to her...she can google it on her own time. I would hope writters of a show would research things a little better, but apparently not.

[delorisdoe]

they radiated her head she had wegners of the head.

[Sangye]

That. Is. Insane.

[delorisdoe]

always but i still listen every week closely to hear them mention it.

[Sangye]

I thought they at least tried to keep the medical side accurate. I've never watched it, but it is House, MD.

[BrianR]

"Wegeners of the head". That is perversely funny. Although I myself do not have WG, I do have some head issues.

[delorisdoe]

The diagnostic moment was funny to me. They were hell bent and determined that she had cancer-in her head-until house walked in to see her one last time and she had a rash on her neck. His eyes popped out of his head and then the next segment they said "wegners granulomatosis". I really did lol. Both my husband and daughter looked at me confused or maybe angry. They have never seen the humor in my situation.

[ScreaminMeanie]

I'm pretty disappointed. I had always heard good things about the show, but never actually had a chance to watch it until I went in for the 4 rtx infusions - my eyes would get tired of reading after a couple of hours, then I would go surfing the television to see if anything worth watching was on. Some channel was showing double-doses of it from 11-1, so I ended up seeing most of 8 episodes. I enjoyed it enough that I was contemplating netflixing it when I re-up my subscription this fall. But if it's not medically accurate, I don't really want to watch it!

[julia]

I was hoping that one day wegeners would be the diagnosis on the show and I could have family watch to get a better idea of what this disease involves. After seeing that I pray no one saw it or recognized that this is what I have.

The plot was so ridiculous.

[me2]

I think it makes the show more realistic. Who here has NOT had a well respected doctor make a crazy suggestion for treatment? Raise your internet hand. Um hm, I thought so.
Also , I remember when prescribing an antibiotic for WG was first done and it sounded like a crazy idea.
Who here has tried radiation on their head for WG? Um hm, I thought so.
You people are so quick to judge.

Ok, I like the show and have gone to rediculous lengths of logic to defend it.
I can still watch it even with such gross inaccuracy - I'm used to it in real life. Now THATS no joke.
I did miss that episode. Many shows go down hill after a long enough period of time. Perhaps my beloved House is circling the drain...

[delorisdoe]

I absolutely love the show.


I giggled at this treatment but it did not change how I feel about the show. not judging just enjoying.

just last week I had a resident ask me if I have stomach pains to which I replied "no". she felt this was a good sign and told me that stomach pains are big with wegners. If the resident of the day assigned to me is that cluless I dont expect House to be well informed. I really do love the show but I also have A tendancy to always look for the humor in any situation including wegners of the brain.

p.s. my favorite parts of house are when he is sent to the er for his turn. The little situations they come up with are hilarious.

[vdub]

"Wegeners of the head". That is perversely funny. Although I myself do not have WG, I do have some head issues.
Pretty sure Sangye knew I'd pop in on this one.... Two of us that I know of (Jennifer and I) on the forum have "Wegeners of the head", aka, brain. It's called Granulomatous Hypophysitis due to Wegener's Granulomatosis (you can google it). Wegener's is pretty rare (1 in 100,000). "Wegener's of the head" (in my case the pituitary) is extremely rare -- 1 in 10,000,000. Jennifer and I have talked, as far as we know, Jennifer is number 23 worldwide (according to her docs) and that would make me number 24, since I was dx'ed about a month after Jen.

In both our cases, the WG took out our pituitary glands, which is the master control gland for the endocrine system. So it has had a body-wide impact and I take lots and lots of drugs to replace hormones. My odds of being "viewed vs. seen" (thanks, mike -- love that term) are somewhat higher than other wegs because the panhypopit situation is a bad problem all by itself even without the wegs. Someone once said "just because you have WG, doesn't mean you can't have another bad disease". Yeap, I am proof of that....

[ScreaminMeanie]

vdub, you didn't answer the burning question - would radiation ever be used for treatment of "wegener's of the head"? ;)

[vdub]

Hmmmmm? I kind of doubt it..... :rolleyes1:

[Sangye]

Wait, what? I didn't say you couldn't have Wegs involvement in the head. Of course you can. It can be in the CNS, in the eyes, the nose, ears, etc.... Saying "Wegener's of the head" isn't medically correct and makes them sound idiotic.

Radiation is not used to treat Wegs. Radiation is used to kill cancerous tissue. There isn't anything that needs to be killed in Wegs-- the body is doing a pretty good job of killing its own tissue as it is! :rolleyes1:

[vdub]

There isn't anything that needs to be killed in Wegs-- the body is doing a pretty good job of killing its own tissue as it is!
<snicker> YEAP!

When I think "head", I think "brain". Hmmmm? Sinuses would be in the head, right? Geee, what weggie doesn't have a sinus issue of some sort? I think the whole sinus thing is probably the most common issue among weggies.

Well guys..... It's drug day -- time to get refills. It usually takes most of the day.....

[delorisdoe]

I am the one who said wegners of the head. I am the one who is the idiot. Lol

[Sangye]

ROTFL Well, it's good we have that cleared up! http://www.smileyhut.com/laughing/rofl.gif (http://www.smileyhut.com)

[delorisdoe]

It i were to explain further it was a huge granuloma at the bottom of the brain and I imagine radiation would be the only way they could have dealt with it. Honestly the show is barely about the disease at all and focuses mostly on Houses antics. It is funny though, rarely is wegners one of the guesses when the patient coughs blood or has kidney issues.

[Sangye]

No, they would not do radiation for a granuloma. A granuloma is already necrotic (dead) tissue combined with immune cells. Radiation would cause further damage. If it were too large to respond quickly to Wegs treatment they might have to remove some of it surgically. That is highly unusual though and has serious risks. Surgery increases inflammation in the area, and if the inflammatory process is already running amok, then it can actually make the lesion much larger.

[delorisdoe]

well what do i know. nothing really.

[Sangye]

LOL I wanted to clarify it for those who don't know. The last thing we want is for people to think they should be getting radiation for Wegs.

[delorisdoe]

got it. also, I read your first radiation answer after I posted but was too lazy to delete my uneducated guess. It would be a little funny if people went to their doctors and asked to have the granulomatosis radiated away.

[Daggar]

I am the one who said wegners of the head. I am the one who is the idiot. Lol

Don't feel bad Leigh -- Been there, done that.... doing it tomorrow... and probably the day after!! Acknowledging it is a good sign you're on your way to recovery!:flapper:

Just remember there is "no known cure at this time" nor is there a "known cause". :wink1:

[delorisdoe]

perhaps some head radiation will help me out? get rid of the idiot in me.

[BrianR]

Pretty sure Sangye knew I'd pop in on this one.... Two of us that I know of (Jennifer and I) on the forum have "Wegeners of the head", aka, brain. It's called Granulomatous Hypophysitis due to Wegener's Granulomatosis (you can google it). Wegener's is pretty rare (1 in 100,000). "Wegener's of the head" (in my case the pituitary) is extremely rare -- 1 in 10,000,000. Jennifer and I have talked, as far as we know, Jennifer is number 23 worldwide (according to her docs) and that would make me number 24, since I was dx'ed about a month after Jen.

In both our cases, the WG took out our pituitary glands, which is the master control gland for the endocrine system. So it has had a body-wide impact and I take lots and lots of drugs to replace hormones. My odds of being "viewed vs. seen" (thanks, mike -- love that term) are somewhat higher than other wegs because the panhypopit situation is a bad problem all by itself even without the wegs. Someone once said "just because you have WG, doesn't mean you can't have another bad disease". Yeap, I am proof of that....

Hey VDub.

I used a poor choice of words. I did indeed know about your pituitary and all the other complications you have and are going through (I read most all the posts as I really want to know how everyone is doing). By no means did I mean to make light of this and "funny" was not the right word to use. I hope you do not take offense and sorry if it came across that way. The phrasology just struck me in a "funny" way. Kind of like saying I've got Wegener's of the body since this awful disease can affect just about any organ.

I am having my lunch right now and will eat my words for dessert.

[Lightwarrior]

There isn't anything that needs to be killed in Wegs-- the body is doing a pretty good job of killing its own tissue as it is! :rolleyes1:

Why do we have to be such over achievers???? (LOL)

[vdub]

Oh, no! Don't ever give that another thought.... It was only for clarification... I am too old to ever get offended by anything. Normally, I'm the one doing the offending.

I sent my first e-mail in 1980 on DARPA.NET to a buddy in Korea. I learned a long time ago that e-mail does not convery emotions, tone of voice, facial expressions and all those other things that give cues to how something is intended. I don't think anyone should ever take e-mail very seriously. Don't have any dessert tonight, my friend.... :-)

[delorisdoe]

And lets not forget it was me that was the idiot...is the idiot.

[ScreaminMeanie]

Well, I'm reassured. I will give it a chance on Netflix this fall. Hopefully, hubby will enjoy it, too.

[pberggren1]

This is an interesting thread. Delorisdoe is changing her name to idiot. House thinks that a granuloma in the head can be treated with radiation. vdub has to wait most of the day to get refills where as I only have to wait 20 minutes to get 8 refills yesterday. And my doc, one of the leading Wegs specialists on the planet, has never suggested a weird treatment for me.

[Sangye]

Well, I'm reassured. I will give it a chance on Netflix this fall. Hopefully, hubby will enjoy it, too.
ROTFL That's the final kicker, after all this conversation!! :lol:

[ScreaminMeanie]

LOL, yeah, well......bottom line, it's just meant to be entertainment. I'd much rather it be absolutely correct, but I'm also watching a TV show where they write the songs they're going to sing in competition ON THE WAY to the competition (and I was a semi-professional musician at one time, so I KNOW how ridiculous this is!).

Suspension of disbelief is a wonderful thing. So long as I don't ask my own doc for radiation treatment for WG (or necessarily believe any of the other medical tidbits revealed on the show), I'll go with the entertainment. ;)

[vdub]

Gotta say the med shows are pretty bizzare sometimes..... Maybe Scrubs is accurate.... don't know... :-)

The reason my stupid refills take so long is that a couple of them (codiene and testosterone) are in some kind of drug category that can't cross state lines. Since we RV all over the US (currently in Nebraska), I have to have my normal drug store do a transfer, but it can only be done once on those two drugs. After that, I have to get a new script, which then has to go back to the doc. It's kind of troublesome, but I only have to do it every 3 months, so not that big a deal... Just time consuming...