Summer 2020. Covid had wreaked havoc with outpatient appointments, but the correspondence in Ted’s notes told a different story. His cardiologist’s mounting frustration was evident in each successive letter: investigation after investigation had drawn a blank. Dr C—’s final missive admitted he’d run out of ideas: Ted’s chest pains defied diagnosis. He hadn’t explicitly discharged Ted, but us pushing to get a further appointment was unlikely to get us anywhere.
“Let’s look at your medications,” I said. “Sometimes when there’s a puzzling symptom it’s a drug side-effect.”
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