Anyone Watch Desperate Housewives?

[KarenInWA]

Yes, I admit, it's a guilty pleasure/addiction of mine.  I hate the title, love the sordid storylines - but!  Did anyone watch it tonight?  I am just a little over 10 minutes into it, and one of the main characters, Susan, has been told she has to go on dialysis.  She was stomped on during a street riot (just go with it for now, lol) and the surgeon had to remove her ruptured kidney.  The kidney that she is left with is "deformed" and has left her with 5% kidney function.  I like it when they introduce dialysis into mainstream tv shows.  We shall see how this goes....

KarenInWA


Edited: Moved to proper section - okarol/admin

[galvo]

Please keep me updated on this. Do you think they intend to write her out of the show?

[Jean]

I was going to post on this tonite also. I am a devoted fan and would rather slit my wrists than miss it. I love the way she thinks she will get well on holistic medicines or a diet. She says she doesnt want to do D because its 6 hours a day, 4 days a week and she doesnt have time for that. Somehow I am sure she will get a transplant, immediately of course, andl literally pain free. Wish they would do just a little bit more research on it, as so many people watch the show. They will probably put in a fistula and use it the next day. Cant wait until next Sunday.

[Poppylicious]

Oooh, exciting.  I think we're only an episode behind you in the UK (I thought we were more but the last epsiode we saw just before Christmas was the one where Susan was trampled when the protest went wrong.) I love Desperate Housewives, mainly for its silliness; it's a bit of light relief.

My only worry is that it won't be a true portrayal, but I suppose at least it brings it into the mainstream and might get people talking, and anything which does that can only be a good thing.

 

[okarol]

Here's an overview http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00037674.html

[cariad]

I was going to post on this tonite also. I am a devoted fan and would rather slit my wrists than miss it. I love the way she thinks she will get well on holistic medicines or a diet. She says she doesnt want to do D because its 6 hours a day, 4 days a week and she doesnt have time for that. Somehow I am sure she will get a transplant, immediately of course, andl literally pain free. Wish they would do just a little bit more research on it, as so many people watch the show. They will probably put in a fistula and use it the next day. Cant wait until next Sunday.

6 Hours, 4 days per week?! In-center? Already they lose points on accuracy.

I've never seen the show (thought it has been canceled, actually) but will be interested to hear where this is leading.

[Rerun]

I love Desperate Housewives but haven't watched for a while.  I'll have to tune in.  Thanks!

[KICKSTART]

I hate it when they bring D to the tv , it makes so little of it. They have done it over here .Dialysis was a breeze , in fact it looked quite pleasant ! the person got a transplant in record time . Was back to normal in a matter of a week, did show her taking medication , then that fizzled out. Now there is no mention of the transplant and she drinks like a fish in the pub every night ! The programme for you brits ...Coronation Street , the person Tracy Barlow ..remember ?

[Rerun]

I dobut Susan will look sick!  She may be funny as I see her running out of the clinic screaming for her life.   

[Stoday]

Yeah, keep us posted.

I'm not desperate enough to watch the program.

[okarol]

You can watch it here http://abc.go.com/watch/desperate-housewives/SH559048/VD55103853/assassins

[RightSide]

I was going to post on this tonite also. I am a devoted fan and would rather slit my wrists than miss it. I love the way she thinks she will get well on holistic medicines or a diet. She says she doesnt want to do D because its 6 hours a day, 4 days a week and she doesnt have time for that. Somehow I am sure she will get a transplant, immediately of course, andl literally pain free.

And of course, she'll be back to her usual lifestyle the very next day, and no need to take immunosuppressants.

On that other ABC-TV show "Lost," Locke's dad persuaded him to donate a kidney to him.  The surgeons stuck the kidney into the dad--and he left, just like that.  No rehab, no immunosuppressants, nothing.

[MooseMom]

I've never seen Desperate Housewives, but I do watch All My Children, and a character on that show received a heart transplant but you'd never know it.  She barely has a scar (and she wears lots of low-cut, beautiful clothes.)

[kristina]

I always found it very interesting that the general public remain innocent of the reality of many things,
and it is only when they come into contact with it directly that the stark awful truth hits them.

The terrible dilemma of dealing with kidney failure, and the anguish of having to go on Dialysis,
and the devastating problems which occur whilst waiting to go on Dialysis, and the life-changing effects
of both Dialysis and transplant, are not honestly and fully portrayed
so the general public would have a chance to see the truth.

This is also the same with many other health-issues.
There is obviously a reason why the truth is often hidden.
Maybe it is our nature that we generally don’t want to delve into these unpleasant issues.

Perhaps, it is because we predominantly look for the light at the end of the tunnel.
We hope, and we keep positive, about life, and this predominant thinking
keeps us away from dwelling on the negative aspects.
 
It could be a natural thing and therefore the negative aspects are not portrayed on TV etc.

In many cases with TV-programs there is considerable distortion and this is when it is wrong
because it is a lie given to the general public. If they kept the story within the bounds of reality,
even if they don’t portray the true negative aspects, this would be acceptable.

So, it is the distorted view which is misleading and upsets those of us who know the truth.

[lunadatura]

I happend to see two shows who each have a plot related to kidney disease tonight - how odd but intriguing. Unfortunately both shows had inaccurate content in the story lines.

Desparate Housewives - you can watch in on HULU - season 6 episode 11- has Susan loose a kidney due to a stabbing and had to have it surgically removed. Her other remaining kidney had a dongenital defect so she had only 5 percent kidney function remaining. She was told she needed to start dialysis and needed a surgical av shunt. She refused initially saying she could treat this with holistic means but then ended up unconscious on the hospital floor in an epilpetic type seizure (WHAT IS UP WITH THAT - how is ESRD and epilepsy supposed to be related!!).

The other show is the UNUSUALS - which I watched on netflix download - season one episode 2 -  the main criminal is the paternal head of a crime family and the family goes on a robbery spree to get money for dad's kidney surgery. There is no discussion of dialysis or UNOS wait lists. Guess the criminals never heard of medicare.

I guess educated the public about kidney disease and the actual issues surrounding ESRD dont play well on TV



Edited: Topics merged - okarol/admin

[The Lone IT from HM]

that is very unusual....don't watch Desperate Housewives, but I can see the whole crime family thing....get the money and a new body part is soon to follow.  Just doesn't work for us law abiding folks.  Unless you don't mind a trip to China or India....still there is the whole money thing.

[okarol]

A little more info:


"Desperate Housewives" 1/9 episode - Susan's family comes to town!

    * January 7th, 2011 2:51 pm ET

On the 1/9 episode of "Desperate Housewives," Susan's family comes to town -- her mother and aunt that is!  Lesley Ann Warren will play Susan's mom, Sophie, and Valerie Harper returns as her Aunt Claire.  They come to visit her while she's undergoing dialysis.

Will either of them donate one of their kidneys to Susan?  In last week's "Desperate Housewives" episode, Susan had a terrible incident after losing one of her kidneys as a result of the riot on Wisteria Lane.  Will Susan's family help or hinder her progress in recovering?

The two guest stars are expected to be on this one episode of "Desperate Housewives," so hopefully that means Susan will successfully get her kidney transplant.

The 1/9 episode of "Desperate Housewives" airs on ABC at 9:00 p.m., ET Sunday.

[kyshiag]

As a lurker whose husband has been told he'll be on dialysis by February.  I was very concerned that this portrayal was untrue.  I noticed the very clean and relaxed looking center with only 3 regular patients and thought, "Hey, that's not too bad!"  Somehow I knew it was not true.  We have not actually toured a center yet but I expect it to be more impersonal and cold.

[Jean]

Yes, that is a lovely center that Susan goes to. So quiet and clean, and nothing but nurses all around you. And of course, she comes in for treatment dressed to kill, nobody dies, and she is able to, with just a little bit of kindness pull her fellow dialyzer out of his doldrums. And, the 6 hour shift only makes her sigh a little bit. How cool is that?

[Poppylicious]

I hate it when they bring D to the tv , it makes so little of it. They have done it over here .Dialysis was a breeze , in fact it looked quite pleasant ! the person got a transplant in record time . Was back to normal in a matter of a week, did show her taking medication , then that fizzled out. Now there is no mention of the transplant and she drinks like a fish in the pub every night ! The programme for you brits ...Coronation Street , the person Tracy Barlow ..remember ?

Really?! I don't remember that. Not that I'm a big fan of Coronation Street; I tune in once a year or so.  It does explain why my MiL (an avid Corrie watcher) didn't seem too fussed about Blokey's kidney problems to begin with though. 

 

Desperate Housewives isn't back on UK screens till the end of March (I think) which is a tad annoying!

[Dry-Pack-Babe]

Is anyone familiar with the TV show DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES? One of the characters, Susan was diagnosed with kidney disease. Of course, she wants a transplant. In a recent episode, Susan used her disease to get sympathy from people.

She was in line in the grocery store and she told the lady in front of her that she had kidney disease and that she had to get to her dialysis appointment. And the lady acquiesced, allowing Susan to go ahead of her.

The scenario reminded me of a time, I stopped in a Kroger store after leaving my dialysis center. Of course, my access site was all bandaged up. I was standing behind two ladies. One asked me, "Did you give blood today?"

I chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. But actually, I went to dialysis."

She looked concern. "Oh, that's for people who have kidney disease, right?"

I nodded.

"Oh, I know a lady whose husband goes in for those treatments. He's always so wrung out. Hon, you just go on ahead of me." She moved her cart out of the way, so I could get by.

"Well, um, okay. Thank you," I stammered. The lady ahead of her allowed me to take her place. I got rung up and as I grabbed my bag to leave, one of the ladies said, "God bless, hon."

So having this disease has advantages. But I'd prefer to be healthy and just stand in long queues.

Also, in DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, a man who had loved Susan for years wanted to give her a kidney. But when he learned that he had no future with Susan, he rescinded his offer.

I seemed to recall a newspaper story about a man who gave his wife a kidney. After the transplant, she divorced him, and if I'm not mistaken, he asked that she return the kidney.  As if some judge would order her into surgery to give back a major organ.   

People do treat us deferentially because we have this disease.



Edited: Topics Merged - okarol/admin

[WishIKnew]

I don't watch desperate housewives, but people do treat us differently.  Which beings me to a question.  Do you have places in your lives where no one knows you have ESRD?  I do and I love it.  I feel like I'm evaluated not like, "well, she does a good job for someone on dialysis", but rather "she does a good job (or bad) just like everyone else".  No qualifiers.  Makes sense?  Anyone else do this?

[tbarrett2533]

I think this is the WORST portrayal of ESRD-Dialysis... where is her fistula? or her cath?? did you see the episode in the treatment room?? the guy sitting down had an upper arm fistula and was waving his arms all around...ummm hellllloooooo infiltration!!!!
Did you see how slow his pump was going.... get REAL!!

how about tonight's episode???   the basket fell off of the car and what fell out?? banana's GET REAL!!!!

This actually makes me sick!!!!

just voicing my thoughts 

[tbarrett2533]

Ugghhh and i just read on here that she has 6 hour treatments................ WHAT!!! OMG!!!!

[Rerun]

DANG, I missed it again!  I was watching the Gonzaga Basketball game.  WE WON....