Chicago Med – Mama Said There Would Be Days Like This - Review

In this episode we see the ongoing development of the relationship between Dr. Archer and Dr. Asher, how fame is affecting Dr. Marcel and his care for patients, the rekindling of an old flame, and also how lack of follow up care can affect how patients cope over the longer term. We also learn that we will be losing yet another member of the Chicago Med family.

Dr. Marcel, Dr. Halstead and Maria Piscotta

Dr. Marcel is struggling with his new found fame, and Dr. Shentu and the PR department are enjoying having him make many appearances, but Dr. Marcel does not seem so sure.

Maria Piscotta comes into the ED by ambulance and says she will only be seen by Will. She is an old friend of his from the neighborhood and she was moving a stove in her kitchen and her arm was crushed. Will gets an x-ray and a CT/angiogram of her arm and it shows that she has an aneurysm forming where her artery was damaged, and he calls in Dr. Marcel to consult. Maria is so excited to get the handsome famous doctor, and he convinces her that they should do a more aggressive repair.

Will is hesitant and wants to go over other options like stenting with her again, but Crockett says this will be a better long term outcome and what she wants, and Will says she has just been taken in because he is the hot shot doctor from the news. In the OR as he finishes the repair and is about to close, Dr. Shentu arrives and says that Dr. Tanaka-Reid can handle the closure and that the lieutenant governor needs to have gall bladder surgery and wants Crockett to do it. Crockett leaves the closure to Kai and goes to complete the other surgery.

When he completes the other surgery, he gets a call to the ICU and there is an issue with Maria’s arm and there is now no pulse and it is cold and dusky. Will is furious when he finds out Crockett left before the closure was complete and reminds him that his priority should be his patient. They go back to the OR and discover that it was a vasospasm and not an error that caused the complication, but Dr. Marcel tells Dr. Halstead that he was right, and that he got caught up in the attention, and Dr. Halstead says he is a good surgeon.

Ever since the departure of Dr. Manning, there has always been an odd tension between Will and Crockett, and it was nice to see that at the end of this episode, they are starting to find common ground. There almost seems to be a bit of back and forth jealousy between the two of them, and so it will be interesting to see where things go for these two characters this season.

Dr. Choi, Dr. Charles, Sharon Goodwin and Penelope Jacobs

The beginning of this episode surely had “Chexton shippers” cheering as it appears that Ethan and April spent the night together after meeting at the bar. Ethan is leaving as she is still sleeping and leaves her a note saying he can’t wait to see her tonight.

Penelope Jacobs comes running into the ED yelling for help and hands her baby to Dr. Choi, and tells him she is afraid she will hurt him. Dr. Choi discusses with Goodwin and Dr. Charles that the baby is well cared for with no signs of abuse or neglect and Penelope is dehydrated and anemic so he would like to hold off calling DCFS until they can fully assess the situation, and they both agree. Dr. Charles goes in to speak with her and she tells him that she has not been herself, her moods have been all over the place and she has been having ringing in her ears and that she had these overwhelming feelings like she might hurt her baby. She has no support to help her as the father is not in the picture and she has no maternity leave so has been working from home and caring for the baby full time.

Dr. Choi says that he can work up the ringing in her ears and Dr. Charles wants to see Penelope interact with the baby, and Dr. Charles and Goodwin say they will supervise. Penelope is okay at first but when he starts to cry loudly she says it is like a drill in her head and she tells Sharon she needs to take him and suddenly she gets a severe facial droop and weakness. She is sent for tests to rule out a stroke and it appears that she has a Bells Palsy, and they discuss that the baby’s cry must have felt excruciating in her head and it was no wonder that she is was at the end of her rope. Dr. Choi says that they will be able to treat her symptoms but Dr. Charles says they will not be out of the woods yet.

Dr. Charles and Dr. Choi discuss with her that her intrusive thoughts are actually normal but that no one ever talks about it, but she says that a good mother should not feel that way. Sharon goes in to talk to her and they discuss the challenges of being a mother and Sharon shares a story of when she felt overwhelmed with one of her kids. They discuss that everyone talks about the joy, but no one talks about how hard it is to be a parent. Sharon offers to help connect her to support, and reassures her that she did not have an easy start but that she has no concerns about her and that her son is a lucky boy.

It is really wonderful to see how Dr. Choi has changed over the years with his attitude toward mental health patients. At the beginning of this series, one can recall his desire to force treatment on a severe anorexic and wanting to place a plastic surgeon who had body dysmorphia and was performing surgery on himself on an involuntary psychiatric hold. But once he worked through some of his own issues with Dr. Charles, and even more so now after his recent scares with his own health, it is fascinating to see how his approach and understanding has completely changed and the wonderful trust and relationship he has with Dr. Charles make them a great duo. And of course, who doesn’t love to see Sharon Goodwin flex her nursing muscles and jump in to help a patient. She has such a wealth of experience and we have seen so many times over the years how she is able to find ways to connect with patients and help them to normalize their conditions, whether is was a Hawaiian restauranteur with Diabetes or a woman who did not want to be tested for AIDS. Seeing the motherly side of Sharon is also so wonderful, as she was truly what this young woman needed to be able to begin to heal.

Dr. Asher, Dr. Archer and Caitlin and Steve Mills

Dr. Asher is called in to see Caitlin Mills who is 9 weeks pregnant and has been having spotting. They have been trying for some time to get pregnant and so they are quite concerned. Sadly, Dr. Asher has to tell her that the pregnancy is ectopic, which means it is outside the uterus and she will have to have the pregnancy terminated. She discusses a few options with the patient, who would like the least invasive procedure, so they run lab work to see if they can give her some medication, but her lab values will not allow that as an option.

Dr. Asher wants to do a laparoscopic surgery but the supply chain issues mean the equipment is not available. Caitlin’s pain increases and it looks like the tube has ruptured and Dr. Asher feels it now needs to be open surgery, but Dr. Archer says he has done the surgery before without the video set up and he will assist her so that they can do the surgery laparoscopically. While in the OR though, he is in pain and has to have Dr. Asher take over.

Caitlin comes through the surgery with no complications but Hannah confronts Dean afterwards, and Dean denies he was in pain and says she had a better angle, but she tells him that he needs to know it is okay to ask for help, and if he does not want her help, that is fine but he needs to get checked out by someone. We then see Dean take some pills, clearly in pain. This is such an interesting development as there are so many ways that the Chicago Med writers could take this storyline. After how judgmental he was of Hannah and her addiction, perhaps they will go down the path of Dean becoming dependent on his pain meds as he heals, and Hannah will need to help him or need to confront him. It will definitely be interesting to see where the storyline goes, but it certainly is nice to see him being kinder to Dr. Asher.

Dr. Taylor, Maggie and Samir Baqri

Vanessa goes in to treat Samir Baqri, who helps to organize travelling physicians to set up clinics all over the world. He has been fatigued with muscle aches for a few weeks and tells her he is living off of coffee and protein bars as his job is so busy right now and he needs to be better for his trip. Initially there is nothing significant other than some anemia, but then he gets weakness and cramps in his legs and then they notice a rash on his legs.

Vanessa runs an additional test that did not show anything other than severe osteopenia in his bones. Suddenly he begins bleeding from an old scar. She has a hunch and it turns out he has scurvy. They let him know they will be able to treat it in time and he will be able to do his trip and he asks to speak to Vanessa privately. He offers her a job with his team and she accepts.

Vanessa tells Maggie that she has accepted the job in the Philippines and that she will work it out with her residency but she feels she needs to do this and that it will allow her to be the kind of doctor she wants to be and that this is her calling. Maggie is very upset at the idea of Vanessa leaving.

This was another sudden shock for Chicago Med fans, as we have come to love Dr. Taylor and the storyline and relationship with her and Maggie over the last few years. Hopefully this storyline will leave an opening for Vanessa to return in the future, but for now, we will certainly all miss her in the present.

What did you think of this episode of Chicago Med? Share your thoughts in the comments below.