Boston Med

Have you seen it?

I find it absolutely fascinating. It is a new TV show that follows several doctors, residents, and patients at three of Boston’s world famous hospitals. What makes it so different from other shows is that it follows up on all the stories– I noticed up to a year later – so we are shown what happened in the long run with all three of these groups of people.

It is filmed while it is happening. Not everyone survives. Sometimes it is really hard for me to watch.

One recent show featured a wonderful woman cardiologist who had developed a lovely friendship with a man and his wife. He needed a new heart to survive and she fought for him to be placed on the transplant list. She then fought to get him to the top of the list.

He waited for a new heart but began to quickly deplete.

While they were filming, his nurse broke into the conference room and said his heart just stopped. We all watched as they revived him enough for his entire to family to talk with him to say goodbye. He and his wife thanked each other for a wonderful life. The cardiologist just stood and watched with tears in her eyes. I was also crying.

He died. He was such a lovely man and so young to die. There just was no heart available.

Often, the stories have better endings. Last week, it followed a baby who was born with a heart defect. After surgery, baby Michael was not improving. Three months later, it was determined that the surgeon made a error. The baby had corrective surgery and he was recovering and being sent home. The parents had no anger. This is medicine. This is not so much as a science but an art. They were thrilled that their child who they told would be blind and have other issues was fine and going home that day.

Life and death in one episode. Just like real life.