The Savant Syndrome: House Episode
Yesterday was the replay schedule of House, MD’s episode about a savant who’s a genius in music. It was aired on AXN (Philippines). My wife told me to watch since I am doing a couple of write-ups in Psychiatric Nursing as of late (which is outside blogging). It so happens I posted an article on this topic a few days ago.
The problem with the savant in Dr. House’s world started when he developed seizure problems, which began during his last piano concert. After all the tests the savant had undergone, Dr. House, in spite of his usual disdainful character, deemed fit to remove the right hemisphere of the savant’s brain through a procedure called hemispherictomy. For some info on medicine, hemispherectomy is a surgical procedure where one cerebral hemisphere (half of the brain) is removed or disabled. This procedure is used to treat a variety of seizure disorders where the source of the epilepsy is localized to a broad area of a single hemisphere of the brain. It is solely reserved for extreme cases in which the seizures have not responded to medications and other less invasive surgeries. Doctor House then asked the consent of the father since procedures as complex as this entail great risks. Medical ethics also dictate such actions since you don’t just open a patient’s skull without even asking family members/relatives permission and explaining to them what this high-risk operation is all about.
The father was hesitant at first contending that his son is just alright with his current state. His seizures, as the father saw it, can be managed by anticonvulsive medications. His concern was that his son will lose his “gift”. House, on the other hand, explained that if his son becomes “normal”, he will be more likely to survive life by developing basic locomotor skills like walking, running and others. Implicitly, the good doctor was concerned about the son’s survivability when the father is gone.
For a father who loves his son so much, the moment where his son’s destiny rests upon his hands – by keeping the gift and accept the consequences or remove half the brain and live a normal life – must be a gripping one. What confronted him was a question of happiness. Before allowing the operation to happen, the father asked his son if he was happy. The son didn’t reply. The father got his answer.
If you were in the father’s shoes, will you yield and approve of the doctor’s opinion? If the happiness of the people you love is at stake, are you willing to let go and sacrifice your own?
These questions, among others, happen all the time in real life. In hospital settings alone, a husband who is forced to choose between who lives, his wife or their child, is such a confounding experience. This is no different from a family faced with a decision to ask for euthanasia when they can no longer bear the sight of their loved one suffering from cancer.
Life is sometimes harsh but there’s always beauty in it. At times it forces us to give up some of the things that we love for the sake of something, and hopefully for better. At times, it teaches us lessons in the hardest of ways. At times holding on to something makes it only more difficult for the people we love and cherish. But at the end of the day, it will be our judgment that will dictate the actions that we will take. Whatever the action will be (and the accompanying consequences), God will always be there for us. The only question is if we can even begin to understand his method of teaching like the father of the savant did.
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Tags: Nursing, savant, Savant Syndrome
there is always beauty in life, to find it
at hindi mahirap yan kapag bukas ang puso at isip natin. manigong bagong taon, jessie!
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@ Kengkay,
Yeah, you’re right, my dear. Life is beautiful even if we face tons of problems each day.
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very enlightening talaga ang posts mo kuya jessie.. it could help change one’s outlook in life ..be more of an optimist rather complain about the glitches in life..there’s always something good waiting for everyone..i think
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Hello Jessie,
Happy Happy New year!wishing you all the best this year 2008!
more blessings,more good health and wealth
paki kain mo na lang ako ng lechon jan,kahit na lechon paksiw lang
ghee
http://akoni.info
[Reply]
@ RJ,
thinking positive always has it’s rewards.
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@ ghee,
ok, i will.
take care!
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