300 words each prompt Mr. Reynolds, age 65, is slowly recovering from a recent heart attack. He has a history of emphysema but is having more difficulty breathing. He dislikes medications and any form of therapy. Ms. W. is a 55-year-old patient who consulted her physician because of recurrent epigastric pain and nausea and two recent episodes of vomiting, in which the emesis was dark-colored and granular in appearance. Her history includes heavy alcohol use, cigarette smoking, and persistent headaches. She has not followed all her physicians previous recommendations but has been controlling her headaches by taking two aspirins every few hours. Following tests, a bleeding gastric ulcer was diagnosed. JL, a 50-year-old woman, fell and broke the left tibia at the ankle. She is in the emergency department, waiting for the fracture to be immobilized. The leg hurts, and she notes that the ankle is swelling. A diagnosis of a simple fracture and sprain (damage to ligaments) is made.
