ArcPy Update Cursor after nested Search Cursor giving tuple assignment error?

Question

I am running ArcMap 10.4.1. I am running a script that uses a DA search cursor nested inside an update cursor to assign variables from values in a table. The script then writes those same variables to a feature class in the update cursor. I have done this many times in the past, but now I am getting a tuple assignment error when I try to assign row values in the update cursor. I know tuples aren't mutable and I am not trying to assign values in the search cursor. What is the problem here? This syntax has worked many times in the past.

The script fails on the first attempted row assignment after the search cursor:

row[2] = tblAppAdd
TypeError: 'tuple' object does not support item assignment

Here is the script portion (edited for length):

with arcpy.da.UpdateCursor(u'lyr_patientsPts', fcFields) as fieldsCursor:
    for row in fieldsCursor:        

        appID = unicode(row[1])

        # This is a custom function I found to simplify writing SQL search statements
        # for the where_clause in the search cursor.
        tblWhere = WhereClauseFromList(tblPatients, u'APPLICATION_ID', [appID])

        # Get values of the fields in the table to put into the points feature class
        with arcpy.da.SearchCursor(tblPatients, tblFields, where_clause = tblWhere) as tblCursor:

            for row in tblCursor:
                tblAppAdd = unicode(row[2])
                tblAppCity = unicode(row[3])
                tblAppState = unicode(row[4])
                # ... etc there are ten more fields

        # Write values from table to points feature class
        row[2] = tblAppAdd
        row[3] = tblAppCity
        row[4] = tblAppState        
        # etc

        fieldsCursor.updateRow(row)

Answer 1

First, you reassigned row. Change row to srow for the search cursor and row to urow for the update cursor.

The error you're getting is that you're trying to update the search cursor object (since it got reassigned). The arcpy.da.search cursor returns a tuple, and update cursor returns a list.