Doctor in the House | Season 4 | Episode 1
Pat (56), Paula (50), Ava (20), Regan (18) and Ella (13) Twomey live in Clane, Co. Kildare. The Twomeys are a busy household who use quick fixes. Little time is put into food preparation and two to three nights a week the family eat takeaways. Meals are often eaten in front of screens. Eldest daughter Ava is significantly overweight and has recently gained three stone in just nine months. In the past Ava suffered from bulimia and has a history of self-harm. Ava is a social care student and works part time in a nursing home. She has a poor diet, smokes and binge drinks most weekends. 18-year-old Leaving Cert student Regan has a very poor diet. She’ll only eat vegetables and fruit if they are liquidized and she snacks every evening on chocolate. Regan suffers from anxiety and finds the use of social media is having a negative impact on her moods and sleep. Ella plays GAA football and the only person in the house who regularly exercises. Like the rest of the family Ella loves takeaways and in particular spice bags. Pat is an ex-world champion kick boxer who has fallen into unhealthy habits. He was mainly concerned with Ava’s weight and health but he discovered by ignoring symptoms and avoiding doctors in the past may have led to a serious illness. Paula is concerned that the family’s lifestyle is having is having a negative impact on their health. After a week of being tested and observed closely by the experts, the family are brought to the Consultation Room. Ava discovers she is pre-diabetic, is class three obese and is in the bottom one percentage fitness for age. Paula discovers she has high cholesterol and the doctors recommend she should try to reduce this with a healthy lifestyle. Pat learns he is class two obese and that the doctors have concerns that the bleeding from his back passage he has experienced could be the result of a cancerous growth. They refer him for a colonoscopy to investigate this further. His tests in DCU showed some irregularity in his heart pattern. He was sent for further tests and he is given the news that in the studio that there are no structural issues with his heart. The family were given doctors’ orders to restrict screen time, cut out alcohol and cigarettes, do more exercise, follow a healthy diet and attend a psychologist Shocked at their results, the family head back to Clane to make some radical changes to their lifestyles. How will the next 8 weeks go? We find out when they return to the Consultation Room 2 months later.