Where is Dr. House when you need him?

May Sweeps...a new episode of "House," guest starring the Whalen family..mmm... sounds like it would boost ratings!! :) Unfortunately, Dr. Gregory House will not be paying a visit to Lakeridge Health Oshawa nor to star patient Wyman! For the past few weeks and most recently, the past two days, I have felt like my family is living out an episode of "House!" For those of you who have no idea who Dr. House is, let me introduce you to him....

"DR. GREGORY HOUSE (Hugh Laurie) is devoid of anything resembling bedside manner and wouldn’t even talk to his patients if he could get away with it. While his behavior can border on antisocial, House is a brilliant diagnostician whose unconventional thinking and flawless instincts afford him widespread respect.
An infectious disease specialist, House thrives on the challenge of solving medical puzzles in order to save lives. He has assembled an elite team of young experts to help him unravel these diagnostic mysteries: neurologist DR. ERIC FOREMAN (Omar Epps); immunologist DR. ALLISON CAMERON (Jennifer Morrison); and intensevist DR. ROBERT CHASE (Jesse Spencer). House has a good friend and confidant in oncology specialist DR. JAMES WILSON (Robert Sean Leonard), with whom he consults with on a regular basis. "

Here is an example of typical banter between House and his colleagues:

Cameron: "You're lucky he didn't die."

House: "I'm lucky? He's the one who didn't die."

I love the show and love the character of Dr. House! Why do I feel I am in an episode of House?

Well, the doctors involved in my dad's case are baffled as to what is causing my dad's symptoms. It turns out, he has something called, "Erythema Navosum," which is an imflammation of the fatty tissue and thus creating the tumours, redness, swelling and burning in his legs and arms. His family doctor wanted him admitted to hospital two days ago because this burning/redness and swelling spread to his head. So, mom and I spent many hours in the ER with dad and many cranky nurses, with no bedside manner. One of dad's "favourites" was a nurse he nicknamed, "the orange pumpkin rotweiller!!" Welcome to the world of my dad's humour...it can be embarassing at times!!:)

Finally, almost 24 hours later, the internist (another one with crazy bedside manner, but apparently she is the best) came to inspect dad!!! She feels the cause is a parasite and his head issues are viral, so she sent him home.

We were home for 2 hours when the gastro...( I'm not sure the correct name:)) doctor called and asked dad to come back into the ER ASAP! They found blood in his stool, and with all dad's other medical issues, the doctor needed to do a colonoscopy and gastroscopy immediately!! In typical Whalen fashion, this doctor called at the exact moment my mom was choking on her "Teddy's corned beef on rye," with dad doing the hymlec manoeuver on her!!!:) Always an adventure in the Whalen household!!! After mom was sorted, dad went back to the ER to be prepped for this procedure.

Dad is finally home and resting comfortably! Slowly, the pieces of this medical phenomenon puzzle( my dad!!:)) are being put together. I have a feeling Dr. House would have solved this mystery by now!! But, House affords the luxury of having all the doctors who are involved in the case, assembled in one room, writing possible causes on the flipchart and having test results back in minutes!!! In the real world of medicine, it is not that organized. I must say however, we have had amazing doctors dealing with dads case. I am grateful to his family doctor, dermatologist(she's amazing...she's the one who got the ball rolling on everything and her predicitons have been accurate), gastrologist, internist and respective secretaries. They have all been amazing in this medical adventure!

Dad's diagnosis as of today: he could have one of the following diseases, which most likely is causing the erythema navosum: chrone's disease, collitis, a parasite, or celiac disease! Take your pick! I wonder what Dr. House would say!