Lenox Hill Episode 5 begins with David talking about how he has a dream about his father and he finds out he can cure strokes; he wonders if he was close enough to his father. He states there is no question that he got into neurosurgery because he wanted to find a cure for strokes for his father.
John explains that when his father got cancer he didn’t tell anyone; he died with a complication of a chemotherapy regimen — he believes that if his family knew, there might have been a different outcome. “Undercurrents” suggests that this series is going to get more personal as it reaches the second half.
Table of Contents
Lenox Hill Episode 5 Recap
Sensitive absence
David tells the team that he doesn’t think Mitchell will be back for two months and they need to support his practice. There’s a sense of togetherness in this scene as they come to terms that their colleague will be going through life-altering surgery.
The right balance
John gives patient Tim an update on how they will be tackling his surgery and that it will be a long procedure. The tumor is right on the motor strip so John thinks it’s better to perform while he is awake to test his motor function. Afterward, Tim cannot move his legs and John keeps telling him to practice. John talks about the extension of life balanced with the quality of life. Episode 5demonstrates the life-changing decisions these people have to make under such high-pressure environments. John performs on Tim to get rid of the residual tumor.
Space for decision making
David tells Jill that Mitchell will be going to Houston for his surgery and that it makes sense that he does it elsewhere due to politics and emotions. David wants to make sure that Mitchell has the space to make his own decisions on what he wants to do. This was a nice touch, showing the leadership of David in pressing and emotional times.
Return to work
Mirtha is at home with her newborn baby — she has struggled with the hormones but her partner John has been super supportive. She looks forward to returning to the ER. When she returns, everyone is happy to see her. Returning to work means getting to know new members of staff.
Mitzie’s big day
It’s Mitzie’s day to get her tumor out. David states that he hates that he knows the patient so well, especially when the surgery is dangerous. After the surgery is done, David calls his wife — it feels like a relief and you can feel it emanating off him. They got most of the tumor out and it will require an MR once a year.
David visits Mitzie afterward and his voice breaks talking to her saying it’s harder to operate on someone you know. Afterward, David admits the first surgery set him back where there were complications. Episode 5, shows how a relationship between doctor and patient can have a lasting effect.
The worst news
Episode 5 is difficult to watch as John delivers bad news to Chris and his family. John delivers an update to Chris’s family and states there is a nodular enhancement and that the tumor is growing back. He recommends that they take no more treatment because the side effects outweigh the benefits.
John states that the disease does not result in a painful death and that he cannot give a prediction to when he needs to go into a hospice. This brought a sense of reality to the docuseries that life can be cut short at any time — it was even more difficult watching Chris seem calm about the news, whilst his partner struggles to consume the information.
Lenox Hill Episode 6 Recap
Lenox Hill (Credit – Netflix)
Episode 6 begins with Mirtha talking about her first experience with death at 11 years old; her grandmother was very ill and the family spent their last dying moments with her. She explains how she was surprisingly not scared by death.
Fight
Patient Jack does not want to leave the hospital and John wants to make sure he is prepared — he is looking into options for Avastin and encourages Jack to fight. In an upsetting scene, Jack says he just wants to die. John cannot gauge if he wants to die before the wedding or after. Episode 6 provides a downcast moment between doctor and patient.
An inspiration
John and David see patient Marie about how they are going to take the tumor out of her head — a supramaximal resection. Marie is an inspiration, she’s so enthusiastic about taking it on. David does the operation on her.
The team completely gets the tumor out but they need to check out some cells at pathology first — they have to go back in and go deeper and get rid of a few more cells. Episode 6 shows a bright, heroic young girl taking it on and when she wakes up she says, “I’m perfect”.
Frustration
Chris is back in the hospital to have an MRI after his devastating news last episode. He’s very frustrated and has a steroid reaction and starts getting very angry. His partner is exhausted. John explains how it is difficult to take out every cancer cell in the brain — it may take years for a dormant cell to grow. Many scenes in this docuseries show sadness but seeing this frustration from Chris was just as upsetting.
Admirable
Amanda and Kevin go for their latest check-up on the baby. They ask questions about their due baby’s abnormalities. The couple is admirably focused on the arrival of this baby despite the issues that will arise.
More bad news
John has to tell clinical trial patient Agy bad news — he can’t tell if the MRI is showing inflammation or if the tumor has got worse. John seems beaten up by it. Lenox Hill episode 6, “Night of the Dead” shows that as the series wears on, there’s just as much good news as bad working in this environment.
Unexpected results
John looks at Chris’s new scan and it looks better for some reason. John states that it will never go away but the problem is between receptors and speech. He wants to see Chris again in a month.
Halloween means a busy night.
It’s Halloween and Mirtha is expecting a busy night in the ER. She’s found that since having a baby there is an emotional perspective towards her work. Mirtha felt frustrated at one family with one mother with five children and no social support — she feels she needs to help so arranges travel and expenses to get them home.
We look forward to your return
There’s a staff event and Mitchell is there and they all wish for him to return when he’s recovered. The staff is in high spirits. The episode ends with some text telling us that Agy died after her courageous battle with cancer and Jack danced at his daughter’s wedding but passed away 3 months later. Episode 6 shows family spirits, fighters, and sad moments in another emotional chapter.
Mentions
Mirtha Macri, DO — Emergency Medicine
Amanda Little-Richardson, MD — Chief Resident, Obstetrics and Gynecology
David Langer, MD — Chair, Neurosurgery
John Boockvar, MD — Vice Chair, Neurosurgery
Rafael Ortiz, MD — Chief of Neuroendovascular Neurosurgery
Sherese Fralin, NP — Director of Advanced Practice Nursing
Eran Bornstein, MD — Vice Chair of Obstetrics
Mitchell Levine, MD — Director of Spine Surgery
Jill Kalman, MD — Executive Director, Lenox Hill Hospital
Nancy Lipsitz, MD — Anesthesiology
Amanda Amarin, Manager — External, Relations, Neurosciences
Kenneth Court, Director of IT — Neurosurgery
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