An 84-year-old woman who lives alone is found to have a 2.5 cm breast mass, and core biopsy shows invasive carcinoma. The surgeon has recommended wide local excision, but she tells you calmly that she is 'too old for operations' and would rather leave it alone. Her daughter telephones, insisting that surgery go ahead because her mother has become forgetful over the past year, repeating questions and missing appointments. Which one of the following is the most appropriate next step?
More from AMC
See allA 17-year-old girl presents six hours after a deliberate ingestion of tablets taken from the family bathroom cabinet. She complains of nausea, repeated vomiting…
A 28-year-old woman is brought in by ambulance 90 minutes after being found drowsy next to an empty box of amitriptyline. Her Glasgow Coma Scale score is 12, he…
A 21-year-old man collapses at the 14 km mark of a city fun run on a 34°C day. In the trackside medical tent he is confused and agitated with a Glasgow Coma Sca…
A 26-year-old backpacker is snorkelling off Port Douglas in far north Queensland in December when she feels a mild sting on her forearm, leaving only faint redn…
A 34-year-old man in suburban Sydney felt a sharp pinprick on the back of his hand while moving pot plants stacked against the house. Over the next two hours he…