Athlete's Secret Doping Saved His Life _ House M.D. _ MD TV

Jeff Worcester, this is Dr... Doctor, you're a sick person. And you are a loved one. Actually, manager, we've been together for seven years. So what's the drug du jour on the bike circuit these days? Still erythropoietin? Or are you guys just chugging battery acid? There's no way I'd touch Epo. Too many guys stroking out and dying. Damn! Ten bucks for the ticket, six for the popcorn. I do straight blood doping. Plot twist. That's a very daring confession. We've got confidentiality, right? Assuming I'm more ethical than your client. So injecting yourself with donor red blood cells for fun and profit. Any other tricks up your sleeve? Well, nothing much recently. I'm in town for a charity ride, so it didn't matter if I won. The kids just needed to see me. If you go slower, they see you longer. Let's say that our health could be affected by things we did before last Friday. Well... I usually sleep in a hyperbaric chamber. I've been pumping up electrolytes with an ivy drip. Anabolic herbal supplements, amphetamines, and diuretics. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But why would you be sick? I know that doping has risks. I know that it's outside the rules. But I do what I have to to kick ass. That my job. Don't you? Dr. House has been a firm believer in good old-fashioned hard work. Every time an athlete goes down, you guys assume it's drugs. Look, the doctors say it's probably acid reflux. Look, call me tomorrow. There's a good chance he'll be released. Okay, bye-bye. So is this fixing him? If his acid reflux isn't worse than we thought, yeah. I've got to be in Spain in four days. Shouldn't be a problem. Great. If I can just find the little bugger, she'll be able to suck it out. My legs feel weak. You're under mild sedation for the test. It'll wear off. There it is. Got it. You're fantastic. I'll pack his things. Yeah, I want to monitor him for a couple of hours, make sure he's okay. Give him time to sign a picture for me. Maybe even a jersey. To Dr. Chase. I owe you everything. It doesn't have to be that personal. Not too many eBay shoppers named Dr. Chase, huh? Still trying to unload the Barbara Walters cup. Here you go. Seriously, anything's fine. Jeff? Jeff, can you swallow it? Your anemia is caused by pure red cell placement. This is going to hurt, but we've got to talk. What the hell are you doing? He'll be fine, sort of. I just don't have time to watch him write out answers. PRCA comes in two varieties, chronic and acute. Since it came on fast, you have the acute version. He doesn't have cancer. That's the good news. The bad news is, pants are on fire. Acute PRCA is caused by drugs, most commonly EPO. Ready and action. I haven't used EPO. Okay, this time with more anger. Remember, this guy's accusing you of cheating. I haven't used that stuff. I believed it. It was simple, it was pure. Did you believe it? I guess it's silly to cast someone after the first audition. Why don't you do a reading? Read that. He doesn't do EPO. What did you think? It's a different way to go, but I don't know. I just didn't buy it. Does she handle any of your injections? You think I'm giving it to him? Test him. Gee, that's a great idea. I sure hope that EPO is not one of those drugs that's undetectable after six hours. Hey, you know what we can test for? Phone calls. Take her cell phone, push the redial button. Even money says you'll be connected to the newspaper that leaked your cancer story. Okay? Okay, I should have told you. It's not just about the races, Jeff. It's about your image, okay? If you come back from cancer, those sponsors will be all over you. Okay, so I messed up, okay? But I did not give you EPO. That stuff could kill me. Her break, suddenly doing what she has to to advance her career. Don't you have that tattooed on your tushy? I would never do anything to hurt you. Who are you gonna believe? The manager you trusted for years? I've been to college. You're fired. You're basing this whole diagnosis, everything, on the idea that I was slipping him illegal drugs. You're gonna kill him. If Dr. House is so sure, why do you need to stay? He's a very cautious man. Your breathing's better. Let the prednisone do its job. Get some sleep. Jeff, his red blood cell count plummeted to 16%. He passed out, had to be resuscitated, and he still can't move his legs. It's not possible. The drugs should be flushing out of his system. Can't leave if they don't exist. The EPO use explains every one of his symptoms. He's been lying and cheating, and now it's coming back to bite him. The only problem with that theory is it's based on the assumption that the universe is a just place. If it were, then his poor manager wouldn't have been fired for no reason. Lamb had eaten. His chest was clear. So we run an electromyography test. You're still not explaining the PRCA. What's his red count now? Had to give him a blood transfusion. He's back around 30. He needed a transfusion? He was losing blood, so I thought maybe he needed blood. Go forth and scan his neck. His neck? Or repeat everything I say in question form. You found a fun moment. How'd you know to look in his neck? Thymomas usually present in the chest. I knew it wasn't in his chest. All we've done since he checked in is look at his chest. All the more reason not to think... There are 2 types of PRCA. Acute comes on suddenly. Chronic takes its time. We all thought Jeff's was acute because it happened right in front of us. What if it had been there for months, maybe years? There's no way. It would have kept him from racing. With that kind of anemia, he would have needed constant... blood transfusions, which he was getting in convenient blood-doping form. He was treating himself without even knowing it. Up to half of patients with chronic PRCA have a thymoma. And up to half of patients with a thymoma... have always wanted to do this. I'm not getting any better. Does that mean I'm... You are healed. Rise and walk. Are you insane? In the Bible, you just say, Yes, Lord, and then start writing on it, praising it. First you tell me I've got cancer. And then you tell me that my manager... What did you do? No, what did you do? Lord, thymoma is a tumor in the thymus gland. It's a bit of a wimp, but he hangs with tough guys. PRCA and an autoimmune disease called myasthenia gravis. MG causes muscle fatigue, including respiratory problems and difficulty swallowing. And it can hit you that fast? The treatment for PRCA is blood transfusions. The treatment for MG is hyperbaria. You were doing both as part of your regular freak show. You took a break, everything went to hell. It's just not an uncommon reaction in Jersey. So... the whole thing with my manager... Oops. No. No, Ipo. This has nothing to do with anything you did. You can let her know she's in the clear. I could. Or... 10% of an I.D. contract is a hell of a lot of cash. You don't need your thymus. We take it out, everything else is manageable. Manageable. I thought you just cured me. Ah. This is just diagnostic. Tensilano raises the symptoms of MG for five or six minutes. Times less. This is exactly why I created nurses. Clean up on aisle three.