At the doctor's office

1. How often do you go to the doctor's office?
2. Do you have any friends that are hypochondriacs ?

Scenario: Brian is a serious hypochondriac and comes to see Dr.Cohen almost every week.

D :

What seems to be the problem this time?

B :

Well, I feel very nauseous and week. I think I have a temperature , my throat feels swollen, and I have a strange lump on my arm. I think I may have neumonia or cancer or some king of deadly illness.

D :

Let me take a look. Your throat is a bit red but it's not really swollen. I'll have the nurse take your temperature.

B :

Are you sure my throat isn't swollen? I feel it's twice the size it usually is.

D :

Yes, I'm positive. And you don't have a fever or lump on your arm.

B :

I swear the lump was there this morning and I feel very warm. And I was as sick as a dog last night.

D :

I'm sorry to break it to you , but you are a serious hypochondriac. First, you need to fix this illness before you can fix anything else.

B :

But I always feel ill.

D :

You do not have pneumonia or cancer you just have a small cold. The next thing you'll tell me is that you're pregnant. Take one tablet three times a day after meals and get plenty of bed rest . You should feel all better in a few days.

Vocabulary and Expressions

1. hypochondriac (someone who believes they are constantly ill)
2. nauseous (stomach distress with distaste for food and an urge to vomit)
3. to have a temperature (to have a fever)
4. swollen (to enlarge abnormally)
5. lump (a small irregular swelling)
6. pneumonia (a serious disease in which the lungs are inflamed)
7. cance r (a spreading growth in or on the body often causing death)
8. to break it to you (to tell you)
9. bed rest (to get rest in bed)

Medical tests and terms

1. ( to take your ) pulse (a regular beating or throbbing)
2. ( to take your ) blood pressure (pressure that the blood exerts on the wall of lood vessels)
3. X-ray (to examine, treat, and photograph with X-rays)
4. ( to ) sprain (twisting of a joint with stretching of ligaments)
5. ( to ) dislocate (to displace a bone from its normal connection)

Doctors' supplies

1. stethoscope (for listening to a patient's chest)
2. thermometer (for taking someone's temperature)
3. hypodermic needle (for giving injections or shots)
4. tongue depressor (for holding down the tongue while examining the throat)
5. scalpel (for making surgical cuts during an operation)