Boston Med

Tom Alden is a 50-something former fisherman who lived life as "the indestructible American male" in his surgeon's words. That is, until he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Coming to terms with his own mortality is tricky psychological terrain for this confident and supremely self-reliant man. His surgeon, David Berger, is as good as they come but knows Tom's chances of survival will be affected by how far the cancer has spread. Amy Rezak is one of only a handful of female trauma surgeons at major hospitals. Gunshot wounds, car crashes, patients who are sometimes hopelessly maimed or injured, are typical in Amy's line of work. An adrenaline junkie with a dark sense of humor, Amy has what the military refers to as "command presence" in her OR. Her personal life is another matter. Like many other residents, she would rather go home to a relationship, if she could make one work, than an empty apartment. Caitlyn MacPhee is a 4-year-old little girl who is choppered to Children's Hospital Boston in the middle of the night with bleeding in the brain. Her family alternates between moments of frustration and gratitude toward hospital staff as they try to cope with a situation that most parents hope to never experience.

Kelly Wright is a study in contradictions. She is a gay Texan and a second year resident in Ob-Gyn. Working in women's health, she says. People assume she is liberal. In fact, she is a devout Christian who won't perform abortions unlike most of her fellow residents. A case in which a woman died in childbirth, and the break-up of an important relationship have colored her first years of residency and led to career doubts. Mike O'Donnell is from a working-class Boston neighborhood, loves the Red Sox and is a doting father and devoted husband. Like Amanda, he has also been voted "nurse of the year." Viewers will watch him save a little girl's life and win the lasting gratitude of a shaken family. Kim Parks is a cardiologist assigned to work with heart transplant patients. One of them is Marvin Pollet, a middle-aged detective from Louisiana with a rare disorder affecting his heart that will kill him if a donor heart can't be found. He may be too sick to be eligible to be listed for transplant, and Parks who becomes emotionally involved with Marvin and his family has to lobby colleagues to get him on the list. It is a powerful story about the bond that can form between a patient and a caregiver.

Rick Reish is a first year surgical intern, who despite his boyish looks, tries to protect an unruffled demeanor. He takes a compassionate approach to patients and hopes they will respond politely. However, things don't always go smoothly for the rookie doctor. In one instance, he has a comical encounter with a mother and daughter asking him to prescribe a strong narcotic. When Reish refuses to grant their request, the women become abusive and he is forced to retreat. Will Curry is a second generation African-American surgeon. He has trained at top institutions and is an attending at one of the nation's best hospitals. Yet, acquiring these credentials did not stop a patient from mistaking him as a janitor. In this episode, Curry performs a nearly inconceivable brain surgery on a young father with a tumor that will kill him if it is not resected. Amanda Grabowski returns in this episode with a case that leaves her unsettled. We also learn more about her personal life and hopes for the future.

A surgeon tries to perform a double-lung transplant on little sleep.