The Complete Library — Big Box

Angina that changed its pattern

Owen, 61, knows his angina well — but this week it started arriving at rest.

Breathless at rest

John, 70, has spent the last two nights sleeping upright in his chair.

Crushing chest pain

Barbara, 52, has central chest pain spreading to her jaw and left arm.

Palpitations after coffee

Warren, 35, has two weeks of racing-heart episodes that always seem to follow his triple espresso.

Breathless at the letterbox

Bob, 65, can no longer walk to the letterbox without stopping — and his ankles are swelling.

Fainting at the church choir

Ellie, 65, blacked out for half a minute while singing at church — hot room, long service, no warning at all.

Post-op pleuritic chest pain

Janice is four days post-op when sharp, breath-catching chest pain sets in.

A sore throat and a smoker's cough-free cold

Gregory, 28, a football coach on a packet a day, wants something for his sore throat — the antibiotics conversation is coming.

Breathless on the stairs

Linda, 51, a music teacher and ex-smoker, has spent six years getting more breathless on exertion and now has a dry cough that won't settle.

The ear that smells wrong

Benjamin, 25, a truck driver with a history of ear infections, has two weeks of right ear pain, foul-smelling discharge and muffled hearing.

Epigastric pain, radiating to the back

Jake, 43, is doubled over with severe upper-abdominal pain after a heavy weekend.

Pain out of nowhere

Zac, 45, a lawyer on regular ibuprofen for his back, arrives in ED with three hours of sudden, severe abdominal pain that is spreading and getting worse.

Zigzag lights, then the headache

Jenny, 35, sees zigzag lights before one-sided headaches that wipe out her whole day.

The room is spinning

Margaret, 76, gets violent spinning spells every time she rolls over in bed.

The worst headache of her life

Rosemarie, 25, was struck by a thunderclap headache an hour ago. Every minute matters.

Running on empty

Bob, 38, says it's just work stress and fatigue — but the story doesn't quite add up.

More than sadness

Beth, 74, believes she is penniless and a burden. Her daughter fears it's something darker than low mood.

A decade of voices

Miriam, 35, is certain the neighbours are recording her — and it's getting worse despite treatment.

A student in crisis

Jane, 23, was found self-harming at her college. She doesn't want to talk. Your risk assessment starts now.

The weight that won't budge

Jocelyn, 45, a shift-working nurse, keeps gaining a kilo or two a year — and her blood sugars have quietly crossed into pre-diabetes.

The warning signs that vanished

Muhammad, 55, landed in emergency with a hypo two days ago — his new diet is fighting his insulin, and his shaky-hand warnings have gone quiet.

The rash and the fatigue

Mary, 28, has been exhausted for nine months — with mouth ulcers and a rash across her cheeks.

Sausage toes and a swollen knee

Frank, 52, has swollen toes, a puffy knee — and nail changes nobody has asked about.

A red-hot joint, again

Jon's joint flares keep coming back despite treatment — and his family history holds a clue.

Stiff every morning

Ellen, 44, can't wring out a towel any more — both hands, both feet, worst at dawn.

The knee that stopped the walks

James, 65, a professor who loves his walks, has a right knee that grinds, swells and now wakes him — with diabetes and blood pressure in the mix.

The shoulder that won't move

Alice, 55, a business executive and keen tennis player, has a month of worsening right shoulder pain and can now barely lift her arm.

A toddler's new wheeze

Sam, 3, has a two-day cough and a new wheeze. His mum is doing the talking.

Drowsy, confused, and vomiting

Joseph, 16, has type 1 diabetes and is now confused after a day of vomiting. His mother is at the bedside.

Pelvic pain nobody took seriously

Eleanor, 30, has three months of severe pelvic pain and heavy periods — and she's done being dismissed.