Roll of the die

Ou est le needle?

Christmas period in GP land, deep in the heart of Worryshire. Almost all of Dr Genesis' surgery is dealing with people with coughs and colds. Runny nose, achy, sore throat, a cough that's "gone to my chest" and, of course, there's no way they could go to work.

Dr Genesis was ill a few weeks ago. Achy all over, shivering uncontrollably, no appetite (not even for expensive chocolates). He lay in bed all evening, drank lots of sweet tea and took the morning off. But he went in for his afternoon clinic.

But then Dr Genesis has a strongly internal locus of control. He believes he is responsible for his health. So when he gets ill, he blames himself. He thinks of himself as weak. So he must regain his strength quickly.

The problem with all these patients is one of risk assessment. Fever, sweating, poor appetite, glands up in the neck. Hang on, this sounds familiar. It sounds like the patients Dr Genesis saw when he worked in a haematology clinic. They had lymphoma.

So which one of these people with a cough or cold has lymphoma or leukaemia? Hopefully none of them. If any of them do, let's hope it's Hodgkins.