House

[gwynhefar]

Ok, the medicine in this past House episode ticked me off a bit. First of all, the whole cochlear implant thing is completely wrong. You can't 'surprise' someone with a cochlear. There are all kinds of tests to go through first and the implant is manufactured specifically for the individual. Also, according to one discussion board post by someone who has a cochlear, it takes significant time for the brain to learn how to interpret sounds properly - you wouldn't be able to hear and understand someone talking in just a day or two.

And then there was the first (mis)diagnosis. At the beginning, when House thought the kid had what he called "NF2 cancer"? "NF2" stands for neurofibromatosis type 2, which is what *I* have. It is most definitely not cancer, slow-growing or otherwise. It's a tendency to grow *benign* tumours on the spinal and cranial nerves. Yes, many people with NF2 grow tumours on the auditory nerves which can lead to partial or complete deafness. Tumors in other areas can cause problems too, like the one I had on my sciatic nerve that caused pain, weakness, and spasms in my leg. But the tumors *themselves* are not dangerous, like cancerous tumors are. People don't die from NF2.

I always wondered if they would ever feature neurofibromatosis on House, since it's not a common thing. Now they have, and they got it wrong. Figures.