Bent in Two Directions

Bent in Two Directions is case #17 in House M.D. - Critical Cases.
Sophie Franco, a famous oceanographer, was admitted to Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital after being evacuated from her yacht when she started wheezing and gasping for breath.  She also showed signs of skin irritation.  She was accompanied by her husband Anton and a co-worker, Chuck.
Chris Taub was thrilled to be working on the case as he was a big fan of Franco. Thirteen thought the symptoms pointed to an allergy, but all the scratch tests were negative.
House ordered a blood analysis. After using 5 ward favors, 30 chem meds and $1,200 of the budget, they ruled out infection as a cause.
House then ordered a round of imaging. After using 50 gland meds, 5 ward favours and 11 tongue depressors, they were able to rule out brainstem trauma.
A further round of imaging together with 20 digestive meds and $1,200 of budget showed that there was no pulmonary embolism.
Given Sophie's diving, House decided to treat for decompression sickness with 6 ward favours, $1,300 in budget and 20 oxygen masks.  However, Sophie's rash got worse, and her throat closed up altogether.
Sophie went code blue and had to be defibrilated.
Given the lack of a viable diagnosis, House ordered an environmental scan. The team found some dusty photos showing Sophie and Chuck in intimate positions, and after using $1,800 of budget, 20 head meds and 20 IV bags, they also found traces of cocaine. This ruled out any form of toxic exposure.
Given the cocaine, House decided to treat for drug addiction with $1,200 of budget, 6 ward favours and 20 chem meds.   However, Sophie didn't feel much better, and she complained her symptoms seemed to disappear and reappear.  It was clear she wasn't getting better on treatment.  Then her eyes started itching.  When they brought up the possibility of cocaine, she claimed that she didn't know what they were talking about.
Sophie went code blue and had to be defibrillated again.
Anton was asked about the drugs and admitted they were his.  House ordered another blood analysis, and after using $1,400 of the budget, 11 syringes, 20 head meds and 6 ward favors, they found the samples were clean and ruled out drug addiction.
Given her relationship with Chuck, House ordered another blood analysis.  After using 6 ward favours, 20 gland meds and 44 rolls of gauze, they ruled out STDs.
As Thirteen first suggested, they treated Sophie for allergies with $1,500, 7 ward favors and 50 body meds.  She soon started to feel better.  They tested Chuck's semen and found it was the allergen.  She admitted that after she started feeling better before, she and Chuck had fooled around, exposing her again.  It turned out Anton was aware Sophie was sleeping with Chuck as they were in an open marriage.
Category:Critical Cases