These Arms of Mine - Recap

This week's show dealt with updates to the hospital's security systems after the shootings several weeks ago and new patients' cases. The show opened with someone filming some of the doctors handling emergency situations such as a young girl needing a trach tube inserted to allow her to continue to breathe; an arm amputee looking forward to two arm transplants and a young married woman going in for a routine colostomy reversal operation.

The nine year old girl was already a long time patient of the hospital, having had repeat operations to remove an aggressive tumor or growth on her trachea. Suddenly, the growth took over her trachea and the doctors decided that she needed an emergency operation to remove it. When the single mother, who lived three hours away by car, was notified and showed up at the hospital, she was told by the doctors that her daughter needed a completely new trachea. The mother asked how that could happen. She was informed that it might be possible to harvest stem cells from her daughter's rib and the cells put in a special growth solution and incubated until such time when the doctors felt it was ready to insert into the little girl's abdomen. Once there, the potential trachea would grow, become stronger and finally be inserted via operation into the girl's present trachea. If the mother opted not to have this procedure done, the girl would simply not be able to breathe and would die. Of course the mother agreed to the operation which was a success. The cells were carefully put into a lab dish and faithfully, Doctor Avery fed them every single day with the special growth solution. It would then take some time before the cells would be ready for the next step, which the mother and daughter were gratefully and anxiously awaiting. The mother thanked Doctor Avery for his diligence and pioneering idea to save her daughter, which he modestly took in stride and continued his vigil.

The doctors were interviewed, in turn, as to their views and opinions concerning the previous shootings and the current updates to the hospital's security systems. They allowed as how some glitches were happening, but they felt positive that it was coming along pretty well, in general. Doctor Mark Avery discussed one incidence where he was taking a male heart patient to an operating room when something happened at the front entrance to the hospital on the ground floor, resulting in the automatic doors he was going through to lock, imprisoning him and the patient in the doors. An alarm went off and a frantic call to the main floor security headquarters was made, telling them to unlock the doors, but the heart patient coded, dying on the gurney despite Doctor Avery's frantic and noble efforts to revive him. Doctor Avery was deeply traumatized by his patient's death, but he understood the efforts being made to protect the hospital staff at the same time.

A young married woman, Sally Portman, was admitted to the hospital for a routine colostomy reversal operation. Her husband was extremely attentive, asking the attending doctors all he could about the impending operation, being as close to his wife, Sally, as possible. Everything seemed to be going well as Doctor Bailey performed the bowel connection, etc, and the patient was wheeled to the recovery room. Doctor Bailey visited with Sally's husband, reassuring him that everything had gone very well and she foresaw no problems, just a rapid and complete recovery. Shortly afterward, in the recovery room, Sally went into a coma and after tests were run, Doctor Bailey told Sally's husband that sometimes a recovery goes wrong. Sally showed no brain activity or awareness of her husband or surroundings. Doctor Bailey advised Sally's husband about disconnecting life support if he felt that was an option. He agreed to have it done, saying that he felt Sally would want to be an organ donor if possible. Doctor Bailey felt that he had made the right decision and expressed her sorrow for the situation gone wrong. The husband seemed to take it in stride.

Doctor Arizona Robbins was awarded the Carter-Madison grant for her pediatric work which would involve her moving to Africa to continue her work and fellowship with the hospital. Doctor Robbins talked to her lesbian lover, Doctor Torres, about her having to move and the two quarreled, but eventually Torres agreed that that was the only thing that Robbins could do. Torres helped Robbins to pack for the long journey as she talked over the things that her lover might be doing in the far off country and Robbins begged Torres to consider coming with her. Torres thought about it and said that she would come along as soon as she was able to tie up some loose ends at the hospital and the city. Both of them were jubilant and looking forward to the future together.

A man in his thirties was brought in, but was brain dead according to tests run. He had been in a near fatal motorcycle accident and his wife was informed of his condition. She shared with the camera man reminiscences of her husband and herself enjoying motorcycles, etc. She made the decision to donate his forearms to a double arm male amputee waiting for arm transplants. The donor's arms were removed very carefully as the amputee was prepped for surgery and the long procedure began to attach them to the amputee. It was a very tricky operation, the doctors twice having trouble getting the donor arms to complete circulation of needed blood but finally the procedure was finished and the operation was pronounced a complete success. Later in his own home, the amputee happily displayed his new forearms which were seen to be doing quite well. He and his wife were jubilant and hopeful that all would be well.

The show ended with the camera man asking a few questions of Christina: what were her thoughts about life and the shootings? She declined to talk about the shootings, but she felt that life is a gift and being a hero always comes with a price. She smiled wryly into the camera as the footage faded away.

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