Happy just to relax

Dr Genesis has wanted to be a doctor since watching Sam. I suppose he wanted to be a hero. And to be well versed in human physiology. I suppose I am now, although sometimes my knowledge of the human body seems too simple. But then compared to the average Joe in the street, Dr Genesis' knowledge is vast. Most people don't even know where their liver is. I thought at medical school that once I qualified I would know a lot about the body and have a zest for knowledge. But now I find that I'm not that interested in esoteric diagnostic medicine. Most of it isn't thought-provoking. A lot of it is just running dozens of tests and hoping one will come up positive.

So when an elderly lady came in, having fallen over, with a few cuts and bruises on her legs, Dr Genesis didn't take blood. The lady was in her 90s, with advanced dementia and had been bed bound for two years. What would the bloods show? Mildly impaired renal function, a slightly high CRP, a mild anaemia? I knew it was cheeky. How would I explain myself at the ward round the next day?

As it was, in the morning I found that Mad Female Medical Registrar (every hospital has them: they are single, irate, not that attractive, totally obsessed by detail and unlikely to ever settle down with a husband and children, even though that is actually what they really want...) had taken blood from the old lady at 1am. Guess what they showed?