Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Pitt season 2, episode 3.
The Pitt Season 2 continues to welcome new patients to Pittsburgh Medical Trauma Hospital as July 4th sees the ER become busier. Dr. Robby and the team went through an extremely difficult change in Season 1, which saw them manage dozens of patients, including the victims of a mass shooting at a festival, and it looks like Season 2 is on track to be just as action-packed.
July 4 set up The Pitt season 2 has prompted many people to engage in revelry and reckless behavior that results in busier emergency rooms, but Dr. Robby’s team is now under additional stress as Westbridge closes its emergency room to accommodate new patients. So with dozens of patients already passing through, it’s worth checking in to see how everyone is doing.
Margaret Walker – Hypochondriac
- Status: Stable
The first patient we meet after Dr. Robby’s shift begins is Mrs. Margaret Walker. Dr. Robby and Dr. Shen, who is due to clock in from his night shift, meet briefly with Mrs. Walker and discuss her many concerns. However, despite his fear of being in imminent danger of death, there are no clear signs that anything is seriously wrong.
To give Ms. Walker some peace of mind, Dr. Shen suggests prescribing 500 mg of cyanocobalamin. To which Dr. Robby insists that they increase it to 1000 mg. Once out of the room, they confirm that the shot is actually just B12. It appears that Ms. Walker suffers from hypochondria and finds comfort in attention, which may also explain why she wears a waitress uniform for a long-gone restaurant. She is not seen again after the first episode, which is probably a sign that she has been released.
Mr. Burgess – Leg Cramps
- Status: Stable
Next, Dr. Robby and Dr. Shen are introduced to Mr. Burgess, who arrived at the emergency room after complaining of leg cramps. As they meet Mr. Burgess, the man is unable to say anything, while his wife takes control of the situation. When asked about the medications he is currently taking, she then pulls out of her purse four large plastic bags filled with various pills and vitamins.
Mr. Burgess is not seen again in the episode, and it appears that the large concoction of unprescribed medications may create some unfortunate side effects. Like Margaret Walker, Mr. Burgess does not return after episode 2, emphasizing that his condition is stable at this point in the series.
John Doe – Chest puncture
- Status: Recovery from surgery
Then, after Dr. Robby meets with Dr. Baran Al-Hashimi, an urgent case is rushed from the ambulance to one of the available trauma rooms. The man is called John Doe and the ambulance crew informed doctors that he was a dishwasher who had suffered a serious chest injury from a knife, although it was unclear whether it was accidental or an assault.
While the man initially had a pulse, two blocks before their arrival his pulse stopped. Dr. Robby and several others spring into action, with Dr. Robby allowing the residents to take the lead while he gently guides them. Immediately, they make an incision in the left side of the chest, opposite the injured area, to examine the extent of the damage.
It soon becomes apparent that visibility is poor and they become clamshells, which means cutting the sternum and completely opening the chest cavity. Once inside, Dr. Robby advises a risky move known as the hilarious flip, and with his calm and gentle guidance, the team manages to regain control of the situation.
However, there is still heavy bleeding, and once they perform internal defibrillation to restore the heart to a normal rhythm, they give the patient several blood transfusions to make up for all the blood lost. The patient is then sent upstairs for further treatment and care in Episode 1, after emergency room doctors literally bring him back from death.
In The Pitt season 2, episode 5, Dr. Robby asks Dana about this patient’s condition, and she lets him know that the surgery went well and the patient was admitted, but he is still sedated at this time.
Kylie Connors – Chin Laceration
- Status: Stable
Kylie Connors is a 9-year-old girl who was brought in by her father’s girlfriend after she fell down the stairs and suffered a serious laceration to her chin. She also chipped one of her front incisors, although this appears to be a much less serious injury.
While under the care of Dr. Trinity Santos, large bruises are discovered on Kylie’s back, along with several other injuries around her body. Checking her records, they learn that Kylie has been seen multiple times at West Pittsburgh Hospital, raising obvious red flags for Santos. Upon further examination, she also discovers that the girl’s urine contains a lot of blood.
Santos consults with Dr. Robby before involving social services, and his story will likely continue in future episodes of The Pitt season 2.
In episode 2, Santos asks social services to check in with Kylie and her father’s girlfriend, while Dr. Robby has a quick chat with Kylie. Robby and Santos notice that the girl has a high tolerance for pain, as she does not flinch when pricked with a needle. Santos agrees to monitor the patient closely and eagerly awaits her father’s arrival.
In episode 3, Kylie’s father finally arrives, and while Santos continues to suspect abuse on his part, she is soon silenced when a test returns a result confirming that Kylie has immune thrombocytopenia, or ITP. This autoimmune disease makes Kylie more susceptible to bruises and injuries.
Liam Sanders – Severe leg abrasion
- Status: On the run
Liam Sanders arrived at the emergency room after a serious fall from his bike, which caused serious leg injuries. It concerns a 26-year-old who was cycling through his neighborhood without a helmet, even though it clearly wouldn’t have saved his legs.
Initially, Sanders is assigned to Langdon, but when Dr. Robby sends Langdon back to triage, he passes Sanders to Dr. Melissa King. Clearly, Sanders is pleased with this change, as he begins flirting with Dr. King, although she fails to understand his advances.
In episode 2, uniformed police officers arrive at the emergency room looking for a man matching Sanders’ description, and Sanders quickly runs away, knocking Dr. King to the ground in the process. It turns out this young man recently robbed a liquor store and may have been hiding from the police in the emergency room.
Candace O’Grady – Intractable Vomiting
- Status: Stable
Then the nurses inform the doctors that a patient named Candace O’Grady was brought in by her agitated and rather exasperated son, Richard. However, Candace and Richard don’t appear on screen until much later in the episode. Dr. Mohan visits Candace, who sends her son out of the room after harshly answering questions.
Candace is 82 years old and informs Dr. Mohan that she has been off her medication for an extended period of time because she has found a new way to treat her problems: marijuana. After experimenting with the drug with a friend, Candace developed the habit of regularly consuming 12 or more marijuana cookies each day. This is probably where his problem comes from.
Candace does not appear after episode 2, suggesting that her condition is stable and treatment is quick and simple.
Michael Williams – Brain Growth
- Status: Waiting for processing
Dr. Cassie McKay has the chance to meet Mr. Williams, a middle-aged man who fell and injured his nose, causing a pretty intense nosebleed. Cassie conducts a thorough examination, during which she discovers that Mr. Williams is also suffering from severe pain in his right wrist.
However, Mr. Williams appears extremely aggressive and confrontational, saying he wants to leave and avoid any additional unnecessary accusations. Despite this, Cassie persists to provide the best care possible. On repeated visits, she begins to notice that Mr. Williams also appears to be exhibiting symptoms of a possible concussion, or at least short-term memory loss.
With Mr. Williams’ mood swings, Cassie must approach carefully, but it appears the patient is suffering from more than a bloody nose and injured wrist. Mr. Williams was sent for a scan and he appears to have calmed down in episode 2.
In The Pitt season 2, episode 3, Dr. McKay retrieves the scan results which confirm that Michael has a growth on the frontal lobe of his brain. In order to accurately determine what the growth is, he will need a brain biopsy, but Michael is much more willing to follow the doctor’s advice after learning of his condition. That’s when his ex-wife, Gretchen, arrives at the hospital.
Gretchen has since remarried, but she still cares about Michael, and when she learns that growing up may be responsible for his mood swings and general change in attitude, she is clearly shaken.
Mr. Ethan Bostick – found altered in assisted living facility
- Status: Deceased
In the morning, as patients arrive from the assisted living center, Dr. Whitaker is introduced to Ethan Bostick, a 79-year-old man who was found impaired that morning. He is also informed that Mr. Bostick has a POLST, Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment. This means that Mr. Bostick does not want to receive CPR or intubation.
After a series of general examinations, Mr. Bostick developed a V-tach, an abnormal and rapid heart rhythm. Because of POLST, they have no way to treat the disease, and so Whitaker and new medical students Joy Kwon and James Ogilvie simply stay in its wake.
Mr. Bostick is pronounced dead in Episode 1, and Whitaker takes the time to offer the man a moment of silence, asking Kwon and Ogilvie to do the same.
Digby – Plaster Removal
- Status: Awaiting further treatment
Upon arriving at the emergency room, Dr. Robby noticed that there was a particularly foul-smelling man in the waiting room, and throughout the day the stench seemed to get worse. This led some people rings present in the waiting room begging for attention to the man in order to get him out of the waiting room.
The ER staff obliges, and although Digby only needs a cast, he is escorted to an outdoor shower where he can wash the dirt and grime from his body.
In episode 2, when Digby is now clean, Dr. Mohan steps in to help remove his cast. While Digby described his arm as itchy, the new nurse, Emma, was not ready to see an infestation of maggots devouring his flesh. Mohan and Dana take it in their stride and prepare to freeze the offending maggots.
In episode 3, Digby is treated with antibiotics and intravenously to prevent infection and treat any general problems that may arise due to the infestation. the arm. He is also given food and Dana encourages him to seek more regular care.
Sister Grace Matthews – Gonorrhea
- Status: Stable
Dr. Victoria Javadi treats a patient suffering from severe conjunctivitis. Sister Grace Matthews, a nun, seems very happy to talk with Javadi and even feels comfortable asking about religious beliefs. However, Javadi is clearly more interested in her medical needs.
As of episode 2, the results indicate that Sister Grace’s eye infection was actually a serious case of gonorrhea. While Santos laughs at the irony, Javadi and Mohan take the matter seriously and inform their patient of the problem. She lets them know that she often volunteers at a homeless shelter, cleaning dirty sheets, and that they usually don’t have basic medical equipment like gloves.
With a series of medications issued to treat the illness, Mohan offers Sister Grace boxes of gloves to take with her to prevent further infections while she volunteers.
