Coronation Street - Current Episode Discussion - IV

[KiwiMonkey]

The health of your child is a major worry when pregnant. In my experience, the hormones rushing around my body put the safety of my unborn baby at the forefront of my mind for the whole nine months (and for some time after). So in Leanne and Michelle's shoes I'd also be desperate to know if there was a possibility of something serious being amiss.

But if he did the test and it turned out he had inherited it the chance of his children having the condition goes from 25% to 50%, which I would imagine even more worrying. He certainly shouldn't have refused to go to the doctors, they need to know more details about the condition and get the facts. They know it's a possibility anyway. As I said once you know the result of a test you can't un-know it, so you've got to make sure that the decision to find out is right for you. Most people with this condition are not born with the symptoms and there is nothing they can do to prevent the condition either, so just the possibility of having the condition should mean that those symptoms are being looked out for. Knowing for certain will not change this unless it turns out to be negative for the condition, it only allows you to be certain that you will eventually develop the condition, you still don't know when.

[KiwiMonkey]

I think in the interest of Amy it is most important to get a test done .. and I think it is better to get the result sooner rather than later as I don´t think I could live with the uncertainty of any result for too long .. get it over and done with, then deal with whatever rather than burying your head in the sand because you are scared of the result ..

If you rush the decision you can make things worse. What if you find out you have the condition and haven't even properly dealt with just the thought of having it? How is that going to be helpful to Amy or any of his new born children? Finding out the result is not the right decision for everyone and should be treated as such. They can't prevent the condition and its very difficult to accurately predict when someone will develop symptoms, so if it's a positive result it can be more unbearable for some people than not knowing at all. It should also be possible for Amy to get tested even if Steve doesn't if Tracy is so keen to know if Amy has it.

[Dazzle]

I wasn't talking about Steve telling Amy (or even Tracy) until further down the track. I was simply commenting on the fact that he appeared not to have given any thought to the consequences for Amy (even though he was out of denial enough to have given plenty of thought to himself). That's how the writing and the acting of the scene where Liz first mentioned Amy came across.

As for the pregnant ladies: hormones aren't logical. With some time they might conclude there's no rush to know, but at the moment they're still in shock and feeling desperate for their babies.

[Perdita]

If you rush the decision you can make things worse. What if you find out you have the condition and haven't even properly dealt with just the thought of having it? How is that going to be helpful to Amy or any of his new born children? Finding out the result is not the right decision for everyone and should be treated as such. They can't prevent the condition and its very difficult to accurately predict when someone will develop symptoms, so if it's a positive result it can be more unbearable for some people than not knowing at all. It should also be possible for Amy to get tested even if Steve doesn't if Tracy is so keen to know if Amy has it.

I think you can only make the right decisions when you have all the facts .. so you need to get the test done .. only then can you prepare yourself to deal with it and get whatever you need in place should it become necessary .. surely this is better than worrying yourself for years to come whether there are symptoms indicating the start of the illness?

[KiwiMonkey]

I wasn't talking about Steve telling Amy (or even Tracy) until further down the track. I was simply commenting on the fact that he appeared not to have given any thought to the consequences for Amy (even though he was out of denial enough to have given plenty of thought to himself). That's how the writing and the acting of the scene where Liz first mentioned Amy came across.

As for the pregnant ladies: hormones aren't logical. With some time they might conclude there's no rush to know, but at the moment they're still in shock and feeling desperate for their babies.

Just because someone doesn't appear to have thought about consequences to someone else doesn't mean they haven't. Unfortunately just because Michelle and Leanne are both pregnant it does not change the fact that the decision needs to take the time that it needs. It would have been ideal if Leanne hadn't of found out quite yet, as I feel Steve would have been more able to come to a decision more quickly had Leanne and Nick not got involved, and Steve would have been able to have told her when he was more sure on what was going on himself, but of course Michelle does not realise that Steve is the father of Leanne's baby as well and probably felt that she needed someone to talk to herself, which has probably actually worked out worse.

[KiwiMonkey]

I think you can only make the right decisions when you have all the facts .. so you need to get the test done .. only then can you prepare yourself to deal with it and get whatever you need in place should it become necessary .. surely this is better than worrying yourself for years to come whether there are symptoms indicating the start of the illness?

If the test turns out to be positive you will still worry about whether symptoms are the start to that condition, some people prefer not to know and feel that they can get on with their lives fine without knowing, and as I said some people feel it would be worse to know for certain that you will get a condition than not knowing at all. It is a completely individual decision and every person is different, so every person should be given the time necessary to make that decision that is right for them.

[Dazzle]

Just because someone doesn't appear to have thought about consequences to someone else doesn't mean they haven't.

Of course that's true in real life, but in a soap we can only go by what we've been given! Steve acted as if it was the first time he'd considered Amy when Liz mentioned her. That was the way the scene played out and nothing happened to suggest otherwise. After all, soaps aren't exactly known for being subtle when adding unspoken subtext to scenes.

Unfortunately just because Michelle and Leanne are both pregnant it does not change the fact that the decision needs to take the time that it needs.

And that doesn't change the fact that their hormones are provoking a stronger response than might seem rational to those of us not in their position. All mammals are fiercely protective of their young when pregnant. I've seen a small cat wildly attacking a harmless dog for no discernable reason and in a manner that was totally out of character. It was only later it was discovered the cat was pregnant.

I agree that objectively they shouldn't rush Steve, but my point is they're not feeling very objective! Plus this is a soap and the melodrama always has to be ramped up to the max.

[Perdita]

If the test turns out to be positive you will still worry about whether symptoms are the start to that condition, some people prefer not to know and feel that they can get on with their lives fine without knowing, and as I said some people feel it would be worse to know for certain that you will get a condition than not knowing at all. It is a completely individual decision and every person is different, so every person should be given the time necessary to make that decision that is right for them.

I appreciate your opinion, but I will still maintain that unless you have all the facts, you can´t make an educated decision but that is my opinion and yes, you are right, everyone is different and need to decide what is best for them at the time

[KiwiMonkey]

Of course that's true in real life, but in a soap we can only go by what we've been given! Steve acted as if it was the first time he'd considered Amy when Liz mentioned her. That was the way the scene played out and nothing happened to suggest otherwise. After all, soaps aren't exactly known for being subtle when adding unspoken subtext to scenes.



And that doesn't change the fact that their hormones are provoking a stronger response than might seem rational to those of us not in their position. All mammals are fiercely protective of their young when pregnant. I've seen a small cat wildly attacking a harmless dog for no discernable reason and in a manner that was totally out of character. It was only later it was discovered the cat was pregnant.

I agree that objectively they shouldn't rush Steve, but my point is they're not feeling very objective! Plus this is a soap and the melodrama always has to be ramped up to the max.

I don't remember getting the feeling that Steve hadn't considered Amy when talking Liz, I would have to watch it back to be certain on that though, and I'm not the best at reading situations anyway (I'm autistic so reading people is much more difficult for me). As I've said before do you think that a positive test result would make things any easier for Michelle or Leanne, knowing that the risk of their unborn children having the condition has increased? As I said I feel it would be better if Leanne hadn't of known until after Steve had spoken to someone and decided what he was doing about the test, after that he could have told both Leanne and Tracy and they both would have been a better position and would probably be able to feel slightly better about the situation, but of course it's a soap and things couldn't work out like that.

[KiwiMonkey]

I appreciate your opinion, but I will still maintain that unless you have all the facts, you can´t make an educated decision but that is my opinion and yes, you are right, everyone is different and need to decide what is best for them at the time

I would imagine that most people do hold the same opinion as you, and in fact I would probably rather know for sure if I was in that position, but ultimately everyone is different and also going through different things. I was just reading through a guide to genetic testing where they point out that sometimes it's best to wait to do the test if you are under a lot of stress at the time, but I have a feeling that there will always be something for Steve to stress about so that would hardly work out