Magic Light

“I want your expert advice, doc,” said Nurse Zulu. “Can you see this patient with me? I don’t know what is going on.” The patient was a 15 year old girl who had been complaining of bellyache for the past two weeks. She had been seen last week and given some antacid tablets for indigestion,…

We all make mistakes

Her gnarled hands lay in her lap, looking painful. The knuckles were swollen, the fingers distorted and the palm muscles which controlled her thumbs were wasted. I made a diagnosis of long standing, “burnt out” rheumatoid arthritis. No fancy finger joint replacement for her, too late for physiotherapy, all I could do was to prescribe…