Diagnosis: Reality Check

By Brianne Moore

As if to make up for last week, some of the docs were extra cuddly and sympathetic this week. Meredith and Derek are happily planning adorable Zola’s adorable birthday party, while also dealing with some hospital-related issues in mature and reasonable ways. Meredith is the only fifth year not to declare a specialty yet, and she’s being heavily pressured by just about everyone to pick general surgery, because that’s what her mother did and, apparently, that means it’s in her blood. I personally don’t think a family legacy (particularly any legacy of Ellis Grey’s) is a reason to pick a medical specialty, and apparently Meredith agrees with me. She refuses to be bullied and remains undecided.

Derek has this week’s sad case: an 11-year-old with a passion for historical battles and a neuroblastoma that eight other doctors have deemed hopeless. Derek agrees to operate, but before he meets his patient, the boy’s mother warns him not to mention the kid’s cancer. Apparently, she’s been lying to her son for ages, telling him he’s just got a bad backache, because she doesn’t want to upset him. Understandable, but the kid’s condition has reached a point where he’ll only have months to live if his surgery’s unsuccessful, which is the point you’d think you’d want to give someone a head’s up so they can prepare themselves. And it turns out the kid’s not an idiot and knows all about the tumor, but he doesn’t want his mom to know he knows because he thinks it’ll upset her. It’s so tragic to hear such a young child talk about protecting a parent in that way, and this is not a situation where keeping secrets is a good thing, because it’s just increasing everyone’s stress. When the surgery’s unsuccessful, he finally comes clean with his mom about what he knows, and she cries, of course, but it seems to clear the air somewhat. Hopefully the poor kid’s last months will be a little more honest.

Speaking of honesty…

Teddy, fueled by grief and a lot of “sad widow casseroles” is on a non-stop surgery tear, and Cristina’s only too happy to come along for the ride. They’ve been at it more than two days straight, and finally Hunt—perhaps the world’s most ineffective chief of surgery—tracks them down and orders them to go home and rest, because they’re now actually a liability. Do they? Of course not. Instead, they scheme and snag a cool surgery from one of the other docs, and when Hunt finds out, there’s a huge blow-up between him and Cristina at Zola’s party, during which he reveals that he’s not at all over the fact that Cristina terminated her pregnancy. Things are not looking good at all for these two, which makes me sad.

Doing better at the whole marriage thing is—perhaps surprisingly—Richard. His wife, Adele, whose Alzheimer’s has clearly advanced considerably, shows up at the hospital demanding to see him, while he’s in the middle of his 10,000^th surgery (a liver transplant on a pair of…shall we say, colorful sisters). He’s clearly stepped up to the caregiver plate with her, and with some help from Meredith, he manages to talk Adele down from her hysteria without missing a beat in his surgery. Talk about multitasking. And his way of grounding Adele—singing “My Funny Valentine,” which is what they danced to at their wedding, was really, really sweet.

What did you think, readers? Are Cristina and Owen doomed? Would it have been better if the mother and son had been honest with each other? Was that one liver transplant sister one of the most hateful patients in the history of Grey’s? Share your thoughts in the comments below.