Don't Ever Change (House)

"Don't Ever Change" is the twelfth episode of the fourth season of House and the eighty-second episode overall. It was also the last episode to air before the mid-season break due to the writer's strike halting production.

Plot

A woman (guest star Laura Silverman) is admitted to Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital after collapsing at her wedding. The team does an MRI. After the scan, the patient stands to go but crashes almost immediately. As soon as Foreman puts her down into her wheelchair, she stabilizes. House has Foreman stand her up again, and she crashes, but as soon as they put her back down, she again stabilizes.

The team runs a battery of tests, but they remain puzzled. After searching the patient's home, the team discovers that she had been a music producer living in the fast lane until relatively recently. House believes her new religious observance is a sign of altered mental state and a symptom of a disease.

After further questioning of the patient, they find out that she began to follow Hasidic Judaism half a year prior the incident. Even after more tests, nothing can be found, and the patient's condition continues to decline. Just as she is about to be rolled into surgery for internal bleeding, House has an epiphany while talking with the team. House has her stand up and waits for her to crash, then presses in a spot around the lower part of her rib cage, which stabilizes her. He tries this again, then confirms that the patient has Nephroptosis, also known as 'Floating Kidney', which caused all her symptoms.

The secondary plot revolves around House's attempt to convince Wilson to call off his relationship with Amber Volakis, even recruiting Cuddy to help him. It is also suggested that "Thirteen" is bisexual by both Foreman and House himself, at different points in the episode, which "Thirteen" does not deny.

External links