Oliver

Oliver is a patient whose parents had him wear a mask because of his compulsion to eat non-food items.

History
Oliver came into the practice with a stomachache. Cooper was surprised that he was wearing a hockey mask that was locked over his face. He said his parents don't let him take it off. His parents explained that he was eating non-food items. It had started when they got married the previous year and had gotten worse.

Cooper removed the mask and started to examine Oliver. Cooper said eating things like he does is usually pica. He asked Oliver why he did it and he said he didn't know, but he couldn't stop.

Cooper consulted with Sheldon, who said it could also be OCD or nutritional deficiency. He agreed to see Oliver to try to figure out the problem.

Sheldon asked Oliver about Scott. He said that he likes Scott. He never had a dad before, so he gets to do cool things with him. His mom is the one who got him the mask. He said it's uncomfortable, but it helps him stop with the eating. He says he doesn't even think and he does it. While they were talking, Oliver started eating the potpourri on his coffee stable.

Sheldon gave him vitamins and sent him home. He ate dirt, so his mother came back in the next day. She was worried about it scaring off Scott, who had been patient through the whole thing. Cooper convinced her that she needed to let them work on figuring out what was wrong with her son so they could fix it.

Oliver and his parents came into the ER. They'd had an argument about Oliver and he overheard and ate something. They had to pump his stomach. He had eaten some moldy lawn furniture cushions. While getting him settled into his hospital bed, Cooper discovered Oliver's mother eating toilet paper. She also had pica.

She talked to Cooper about it. She said she'd had it since she was a child, but only when she was nervous or sad. She got it under control, but with Oliver being sick, it was too much. He said that Oliver was feeling alone and knowing that his mom had struggled with it too would have helped him. His mother had difficulty, but told him that she also had pica.

Oliver was upset that his mother had lied. Cooper explained that she was scared and had made a mistake. Oliver said he wouldn't forgive her. He told Oliver about a time his parents had made a mistake and he refused to forgive them. He said that even as an adult, he hadn't forgiven them for it. He advised Oliver not to be like him, to forgive his mom.

Familial
He never had a dad until his mother married Scott Nelson. He liked Scott. When he found out his mother had lied to him about having pica, he said he wouldn't forgive her, but Cooper advised him that he should find a way, for his own sake.

Notes and Trivia

 * He was 10 at the time of his diagnosis.