Boyd

Boyd was the faith healer patient in the episode "House vs. God".
==Medical History==
Boyd took aspirin for headaches. He also drank a lot of water to stay hydrated.
==Case History==
Boyd was giving a sermon when his abdomen tensed, he collapsed to his knees, and he told his father that he needed a doctor. As he travels a lot, he eats a lot of fast food. His father told the doctors that he had been hearing the word of the lord since he was 10.
The abdominal series showed no evidence of obstruction. His most recent meal was a chicken sandwich. Boyd told Dr. Cameron that "God" told him he would meet a woman healer bearing vengeful thoughts about a man she worked with (this happened the same time as Cameron found out that Dr. Foreman had written an article about the same patient as she had). However, his urine was dilute, indicating his kidneys might not be filtering out the toxins they are supposed to. Dr. Cameron told Boyd that they would run the blood work.
Dr. Chase didn't think the patient's hearing voices from God indicated psychosis - hearing God speak is very common among the very religious. The only medical issue that showed up on the blood work was low sodium. Dr. House thought that hearing God either meant he had psychosis or was a scam artist. Dr. House thought the low sodium might indicate Addison's Disease but Dr. Chase informed him that there was no pigmentation and the potassium levels were normal. Dr. House next suggests cirrhosis, but his liver felt fine and his transaminases were normal. Dr. House told them to monitor his saline intake, no more than 1 meq/litre/hour. He told them to check the medical history for evidence of drugs or other delusions.
Dr. House went to talk to Boyd. He confronted him about talking to "God" and being a faith healer. Boyd realized that House didn't trust anyone. House noted that Boyd seemed lucid with no confusion or lethargy, which meant his hearing God wasn't a delusion. Dr. House asked about drugs and Boyd revealed taking some aspirin - he gets hunger headaches when he forgets to eat. He also told Dr. House that although he believes in prayer and faith, it doesn't mean he doesn't believe in germs and toxins. The father came in with a bottle of water. It was revealed that Boyd drank a bottle of water a few times an hour which would cause the low sodium which would cause the cramping. Dr. House felt he would be fine once his sodium rose to normal.
However, Boyd woke up hallucinating. He started wandering the halls of the hospital singing "Go Tell It On the Mountain". He came up to the hospital fountain and looked up at the sky. Dr. Chase found him and asked him if he knew who he was and where he was. Dr. Chase thought he was disoriented. Suddenly, Boyd saw one of Wilson's terminal cancer patients and put his hand on her forehead. He told her that God didn't want her to be afraid. Dr. Wilson entered and seemed upset, but Dr. Chase explained that he had just had a complex partial seizure. Dr. Wilson told him to get Boyd back to his room.
Dr. Cameron wasn't sure Boyd had a seizure - Boyd frequently signs hymns and heals people. However, Dr. Chase told them it had to be a seizure - Boyd had a lack of awareness, was repeating himself, and had no effect. Dr. Cameron suggested an infection, but Boyd didn't have a fever. Dr. Cameron next suggested it might be Wilson's disease or a glycogen storage disease. Dr. Foreman thought it might be a brain tumor, and Dr. Chase suggested tuberous sclerosis. Dr. House told them to MRI Boyd's brain. At that moment, Dr. Wilson came to confront Dr. House about letting Boyd "treat" his patient. The patient was feeling better since the run in, and Dr. Wilson was afraid she was going to get her hopes up and then crash when she realized she wasn't going to get better.
During the MRI, Boyd asked Dr. Chase why he always did thing he didn't want to do.
Dr. House entered his office and found that someone had written "House vs. God" on the whiteboard. House had 1 and God had 2. Boyd entered and Dr. House told him his MRI results weren't ready and that he should return to his room. Boyd thought House got a point for explaining the low sodium. Dr. House told him that he one point for the remark about Foreman and Cameron and Boyd figured out he got a point for the terminal cancer patient. Boyd said he enjoyed helping people, but House told him that he was just boosting people's endorphins. Boyd denied that's what was going on. Boyd claimed that God told him that Dr. House looked for excuses to be alone. He also told him that God wanted him to invite Dr, Wilson to his poker game. Dr. House went to confront Dr. Wilson, but Dr. Wilson denied he had spoken to the patient except when he ran into him in the hallway.
The MRI showed an abnormal area which showed tuberous sclerosis. Luckily, it could be surgically removed. However that would mean that once they treated him, he wouldn't hear "God" anymore.
Dr. Foreman informed Boyd about the diagnosis and told him that he needed brain surgery. Although the tumors were benign, their location was problematic. Boyd's worsening symptoms showed that the tumors were growing, and they could be fatal. Removing them would alleviate all his symptoms, including the auditory hallucinations and he would be perfectly normal. However, Boyd felt he wasn't normal and refused to have the surgery.
Dr. House got Dr. Wilson to talk to Boyd. Boyd claimed that God put the tumors there for a reason, because if he went around doing flashy miracles all the time no one would need faith. Dr. Wilson asked Boyd if he thought God wanted him to die, but the father pointed out that God often puts his chosen people through trials. Dr. Wilson pointed out that even saints have humility, and someone with that much humility would consider the possibility that they might just have an illness. Boyd agreed to the surgery.
Meanwhile, Dr. Wilson was trying to prove to his patient that she wasn't getting better. He took some images of her liver. Astoundingly, her tumors had shrunk. Dr. House told Dr. Wilson not to tell Boyd.
Dr. House asked for all of the cancer patient's medical records, but then saw the cancer patient with Boyd. He admonished Dr. Chase for not keeping her away from Boyd, but he pointed out they're friends and she thinks he saved her life. As a result, Boyd withdrew his consent for the surgery. Dr. Cuddy agreed to put the hospitals lawyers on it. Dr. House told Dr. Chase to keep Boyd in the hospital for another 24 hours even though his sodium levels were now normal. He told his team to review the cancer patient's medical files to prove it wasn't a miracle, as that was the only way Boyd would consent to surgery.
They could not find any problems that would explain why the cancer patient's tumors got smaller. Dr. Chase and Dr. Foreman decided to do an environmental scan to look for radiation sources, but they found nothing out of the ordinary. However, Dr. Chase did find men's clothing in the patient's apartment. He called to tell Dr. House because he was afraid of getting caught by the patient's boyfriend. When he found out about the shirts, Dr. House figured out that Dr. Wilson had been having an affair with Grace and he told her about the poker game and she told Boyd, and that is how Boyd knew about it.
Boyd was going to check out without his father's consent because "God" told him it was okay. Boyd's father asked Dr. Cameron to talk to him. Suddenly, Boyd spiked a fever and became delusional. However, tuberous sclerosis wouldn't explain the fever.
Dr. House still thought Boyd was a mild case of tuberous sclerosis, but that might not have caused his symptoms. The only assumed the tumors were growing because his symptoms were getting worse. However, Boyd's fever was now 103°F and rising. However, the tuberous sclerosis couldn't cause that. He's probably just got an infection. Dr. House wanted a lumbar puncture. However, Boyd claimed "God" didn't want him to take any more of man's medicine. The father would not consent either because Boyd asked him to trust in his faith in God and the father decided to leave it in God's hands.
Dr. House asked Dr. Wilson to speak to the patient again. Dr. Wilson thought antibiotics could be slipped to Boyd without him knowing, but Dr. House thought they would be useless unless they knew what he had. Dr. Wilson suggested that they not rule out the tuberous sclerosis as the cause of the fever. Although Dr. House thought the sclerosis wasn't the cause of his symptoms, it could be that the fever is the unusual occurrence and he may have just picked up an infection at the hospital. However, Dr. House realized something - if the cancer patient was exposed to a virus, it could make her tumor shrink. It's rare, but it does happen. Boyd had the virus when he arrived at the hospital, and touching her transmitted the virus to her. Dr. House thought the most likely candidate that can kill cancer cells is herpes, which meant Boyd could have herpes encephalitis. It could have caused all his symptoms as well. If he was right though, the cancer patient's liver tumors would return. Dr. Wilson wondered how Dr. House could convince them to consent to a test, but Dr. House said he didn't have to test for it.
Dr. House came into Boyd's room and told him about the possibility of herpes. The father realized that herpes was something you get from sex. Boyd denied he had had sex and pointed out he didn't have any sores when he came in. Dr. House pointed out that herpes can go latent and not show symptoms, but he must be symptomatic now. Boyd refused to let Dr. House examine him and reassured his father that he had never had sex. However, Dr. House asked the father why Boyd was trying to purify himself with water. Dr. Wilson pointed out that an examination was neither a test, nor a procedure. Boyd's father told Boyd he trusts him as much as he trusts any teenage boy and agreed to let House examine him. Boyd showed them the herpes sores, and Dr. House told him that it was treatable with acyclovir.
Later, Boyd came to Dr. House's office to apologize. Boyd still thought he heard God. Boyd claimed that House went through life knowing that what he did was right, and he knew how comforting that was. Boyd wished him good luck. Dr. House realized it was Dr. Chase keeping score, and Dr. Chase ruled it ended 3-3.
Category:Males
Category:Patients