Whilst several of my colleagues have been at the annual AMSA conference in Melbourne, this week has been a good chance to not only indulge in some relaxation, but also to catch up with my family. Tonight, my grandfather regaled me with the following story that is at least fifty years old;

"I remember, when I had just finished university, I was at the local hospital for some operation or another, and my friend was a first year house officer .

He came to me, just to say G'day, but in passing mentioned that the chap in the bed next to mine was displaying some very odd symptoms and he couldn't work it out. The chap had been in for nearly a week and they were stumped.

The next day, I had the answer. At around 1am, there had been a rattling below our window, and the chap next to me had woken with a start. He'd clambered to the window and grabbed a piece of string and hauled up a bottle of whiskey. By the morning the whiskey was well drunk, as was the chap, his symptoms having returned."

This reminded me of an excellent anecdote from the preface of the first edition (1985) of the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine (my current favourite)...

One should not miss alcohol withdrawal as a reason for post-operative confusion.