Merry Little Christmas
Encyclopedia
"Merry Little Christmas" is the tenth episode of the third season of House
and the fifty-sixth episode overall.
, and removes him from his team's case: a 15-year-old girl suffering from a collapsed lung and anemia.
The patient, Abigail, and her mother, is considered to be suffering from cartilage-hair hypoplasia
, a type of dwarfism. Abigail also presents with apparent liver cancer
and diabetic ketoacidosis
, among other things.
House picked up a prescription for pain meds from the hospital pharmacy, supposedly for a patient of Wilson's (it turns out the patient has recently died). Cuddy offers House Vicodin, asking him to come back to help with Abigail's diagnosis, and House refuses Cuddy's drugs, but takes on the case.
Abigail is eventually found to have a granuloma
pressing against her pituitary gland
, evidently causing her apparent "dwarfism", which points to Langerhans cell histiocytosis
. These symptoms are addressed and Abigail is offered treatment, but she refuses on account of not wanting to "fade into the background." House questions Abigail's mother on whether the uniqueness of being "a freak" is worth the hardship. The mother later convinces the daughter to go through with the full treatment.
It's Christmas Eve, and Wilson invites House to spend time with real people, but he goes home instead. House leaves a Christmas message for his mother on the phone, then ends up overdosing on pain meds and alcohol. Wilson comes to check on him at his house, and discovers House on the floor next to a pool of vomit, pills included. Wilson leaves in disgust after finding the pill bottle of illegally-acquired drugs. House goes to Tritter to take up the deal, but Tritter turns him down, saying they have new evidence of House taking the drugs illegally from the hospital pharmacy.
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
and the fifty-sixth episode overall.
Plot
Dr. Wilson attempts to create a deal between Detective Tritter and Dr. House, but House stubbornly refuses, in large part because the deal involves House spending up to two months in rehabilitation, supplied only with low-strength pain medication. Wilson points out to House how he almost "cut a little girl in half" and punched a coworker. House angrily points out that he was in pain. House, still unconvinced, demands Detective Tritter and Wilson leave his office. Eventually, Dr. Cuddy sides with Wilson and refuses House any Vicodin, forcing him to detoxDrug detoxification
Drug detoxification is a collective of interventions directed at controlling acute drug intoxication and drug withdrawal. It refers to a purging from the body of the substances to which a patient is addicted and acutely under the influence...
, and removes him from his team's case: a 15-year-old girl suffering from a collapsed lung and anemia.
The patient, Abigail, and her mother, is considered to be suffering from cartilage-hair hypoplasia
Cartilage-hair hypoplasia
Cartilage–hair hypoplasia , also known as McKusick type metaphyseal chondrodysplasia, is a rare form of short-limbed dwarfism due to skeletal dysplasia. It was first reported in 1965 by McKusick et al...
, a type of dwarfism. Abigail also presents with apparent liver cancer
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common type of liver cancer. Most cases of HCC are secondary to either a viral hepatitide infection or cirrhosis .Compared to other cancers, HCC is quite a rare tumor in the United States...
and diabetic ketoacidosis
Diabetic ketoacidosis
Diabetic ketoacidosis is a potentially life-threatening complication in patients with diabetes mellitus. It happens predominantly in those with type 1 diabetes, but it can occur in those with type 2 diabetes under certain circumstances...
, among other things.
House picked up a prescription for pain meds from the hospital pharmacy, supposedly for a patient of Wilson's (it turns out the patient has recently died). Cuddy offers House Vicodin, asking him to come back to help with Abigail's diagnosis, and House refuses Cuddy's drugs, but takes on the case.
Abigail is eventually found to have a granuloma
Granuloma
Granuloma is a medical term for a tiny collection of immune cells known as macrophages. Granulomas form when the immune system attempts to wall off substances that it perceives as foreign but is unable to eliminate. Such substances include infectious organisms such as bacteria and fungi as well as...
pressing against her pituitary gland
Pituitary gland
In vertebrate anatomy the pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an endocrine gland about the size of a pea and weighing 0.5 g , in humans. It is a protrusion off the bottom of the hypothalamus at the base of the brain, and rests in a small, bony cavity covered by a dural fold...
, evidently causing her apparent "dwarfism", which points to Langerhans cell histiocytosis
Langerhans cell histiocytosis
Langerhans cell Histiocytosis is a rare disease involving clonal proliferation of Langerhans cells, abnormal cells deriving from bone marrow and capable of migrating from skin to lymph nodes...
. These symptoms are addressed and Abigail is offered treatment, but she refuses on account of not wanting to "fade into the background." House questions Abigail's mother on whether the uniqueness of being "a freak" is worth the hardship. The mother later convinces the daughter to go through with the full treatment.
It's Christmas Eve, and Wilson invites House to spend time with real people, but he goes home instead. House leaves a Christmas message for his mother on the phone, then ends up overdosing on pain meds and alcohol. Wilson comes to check on him at his house, and discovers House on the floor next to a pool of vomit, pills included. Wilson leaves in disgust after finding the pill bottle of illegally-acquired drugs. House goes to Tritter to take up the deal, but Tritter turns him down, saying they have new evidence of House taking the drugs illegally from the hospital pharmacy.