Why General Hospital Fans Find Willow's Health Plight To Be 'Insulting'
Fans have been furious that the pregnant Willow Tait (Katelyn MacMullen) has kept secret the fact that she has leukemia and refused treatment for fear of harming the baby on "General Hospital." She only recently told her husband, Michael Corinthos (Chad Duell), about her illness. Michael has been trying to get her to let people know so that they can find a bone marrow donor for a transplant that could save her life, per Soaps She Knows.
To make matters worse, Michael's mother, Carly Spencer (Laura Wright), has known for quite some time that her rival, Nina Reeves (Cynthia Watros), is Willow's mother. Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison) is the only person she told about the possibility, but she asked him to keep quiet about it until she could prove it with a DNA test. She got one without Nina or Willow knowing about it, and the two came up as a mother/daughter match. Carly then lied to Drew, telling him that Nina was not Willow's mother, according to Celeb Dirty Laundry. In an effort to help Willow, Drew has been searching for her biological parents, and Carly has hindered his investigation — even going so far as to bribe a woman named Denise Makenzie (Alice Rietveld) to provide Drew with false information regarding Willow's parents when they lived in a commune during her youth (via Soaps).
Now the clock is ticking for Willow, and fans are beside themselves about the decisions the characters are making.
Fans are outraged on Twitter
"Willow isn't only fighting for her life... she's fighting for her family," said the most recent Twitter post from "General Hospital." Viewers were very verbose about their feelings concerning Willow Tait's story, with one bewildered fan writing, "I am so confused by this storyline. How is it possible for a pregnant woman with stage 4 leukemia to keep her illness private? IRL, her body would be completely worn out, her face would be hollow, and she would be sleeping or puking all the time. I don't get it."
Not only do the majority of viewers believe Willow's portrayal of leukemia is unrealistic, especially while pregnant, but they also feel she is being selfish by not coming clean about her leukemia. Another outraged fan posted, "She's not fighting anything! She's holding off on any chance of treatment because she doesn't wanna inconvenience her family. This is exhausting and an insult to people (especially women) who have battled cancer. Do better!"
Since "GH" recently told the story of a teenager's experience with cancer with much grace and thoughtfulness, fans don't understand why Willow's story isn't being given the same treatment. One irate fan wrote, "I can't believe that you guys are writing the story where she doesn't tell her family. What are you saying to other people that have cancer? This is a terrible way to do the storyline. I actually find it to be quite disgusting to people with cancer."
Hopefully, the sudser will find a way to turn this storyline around before they alienate more fans.