Chicago Med (TV Series)

Trust Your Gut (2017)

Brian Tee: Ethan Choi

Photos 

Quotes 

• Don Adams : A metabolic... disorder caused her death?

  Natalie Manning : The precise term is "ornthine transcarbamylase deficiency", or OTC. You see, Myra's liver was missing a vital enzyme that helps break down protein.

  Ethan Choi : Something as simple as eating a burger could cause toxic levels of ammonia to build up in her blood and attack her nervous system.

  Carol Adams : But Myra was a vegan.

  Natalie Manning : Which is how she was able to avoid symptoms for so long, but when she pushed herself and didn't eat - finals, the fellowship - her body started breaking down muscle, which released protein into her blood.

  Carol Adams : So, you mean she'd be alive right now if she'd just... eaten?

  Don Adams : If this disease is genetic, that means one of us gave it to her.

  Natalie Manning : Yes. Um, it is passed through the X chromosome, from mother to child, but...

  Ethan Choi : OTC sufferers exhibit totally normal liver function. That's why all of Myra's tests came back clean.

  Natalie Manning : Yeah. We were only able to diagnose her once Eric explained his lethargy and sickness after eating. We believe he has the defect, as well, and has been self-medicating with drugs.

• Ethan Choi : What happened back there... sometimes when people are grieving, they last out.

  Eric Adams : Yeah, no, that's... that's how my folks always are. Man, they-they-they think I'm, uh... I'm worthless. I don't know. May-maybe I am, but they think I want to be like this, and-and I really don't. Uh, you know, My-Myra, she was the only one who ever, like... like, really... like, like, saw me. You know?

  Ethan Choi : Yeah.

  Eric Adams : And now it's...

  Ethan Choi : What do you want, Eric?

  Eric Adams : I want to get clean. You know, I wanna, like, wake up and just feel clear.

  Ethan Choi : Okay. We'll set you up with a social worker, get you in a program.

  Eric Adams : Was... seriously?

  Ethan Choi : Yeah. You'll get the support you need, but it's up to you to come through.

  Eric Adams : Why are you doing this for me?

  Ethan Choi : I guess I'm seeing that there's a difference between a crutch and a helping hand.

• Ethan Choi : I'm gonna order an echo, check for heart vegetations.

  Natalie Manning : You're thinking sepsis, but her white blood cell count was totally normal.

  Ethan Choi : Everything was normal the last time she was here, too, but she's back, even worse than before.

  Natalie Manning : Ethan, these two ED visits could be totally unrelated.

  Ethan Choi : No, I think they missed something last time.

  Natalie Manning : Missed what?

  Ethan Choi : I don't know.

• Ethan Choi : Hey, Nat, I was speaking with Eric; the drugs, he's self-medicating. Since he was a kid, he's gotten sick after eating protein. Myra was a vegan; avoided protein.

  Natalie Manning : You're thinking that's what made her sick, too?

  Ethan Choi : Last month, when Myra was feeling confused, she was fasting while studying.

  Natalie Manning : Ketosis. Her body was starving, so it started digesting muscle as fuel, which released protein into her blood. Okay, well, that explains what made her sick last month, but what about today?

  Ethan Choi : The fellowship.

  Natalie Manning : She probably wasn't eating again.

  Ethan Choi : I think this is OTC. A metabolic disorder fits.

  Natalie Manning : You were right. The visits were connected.