OET Listening Part A: Preoperative Medical Interview

So, Mrs. Wilcox, you tell me you've had high blood pressure,

so are you taking any medications for that?

Yes, erm... a blue one and a white one.

And do you know the names of the tablets?

Yes, so one's thiazide.

and the other one's lisinopril.

Perfect, thank you, that's very helpful.

And have you had them this morning?

Yes, that's what the nurse told me at the pre-assessment, yes.

So is that all right, just with some water?

I usually have them before breakfast but she said no food at all this morning.

Excellent.

And apart from the high blood pressure, do you have any other medical problems at all?

Err... yes, I take some blood-thinning drugs

because I had a small heart attack a bit ago, so I'm taking aspirin,

and at the pre-assessment they said to keep on with them,

so I had one this morning like I usually do.

They told me to stop the other one...

I can't remember the name...

Ahh... Warfarin?

No, it begins with c...

err... clop... clopidogrel.

They told me to stop it a week before the operation... 7 days.

Fantastic.

So I stopped last Tuesday.

Now, tell me a bit more about this heart attack.

How long ago was that?

Err... two years ago; my GP picked up on it.

Did that all go...

Yes, err... pretty good.

And why did you go to your GP, were you having chest pains?

They weren't chest pains, they were...

I was just getting a bit breathless and it was difficult for me to tell what was going on but...

Dr Scott picked up on it when I went to see him

and he sent me to the cardiology team.

Right.

Did they say you'd had a heart attack?

Yes, they told me I'd had a small one

and so I had some stents put in... a couple of them.

And since they were done...

Yes, I've been better.

I don't feel so tired all the time.

And what can you do in terms of exercising?

Well I can do anything... anything really.

Tell me what you can do.

Well, we have stairs at home,

and we don't have a loo on the ground floor, it's on the first floor,

so I'm up and down a few times a day.

And walking on the flat's fine?

Yes, that's okay.

Any problems with your ankles swelling?

Well, this one... it swells up if I've been standing.

I had my veins done, my varicose veins.

But the other one's alright.

I sprained it quite badly last year but it's fine now.

Right.

Can I just ask you a few other questions about your heart?

Sure.

Have you ever had any palpitations at all... when your heart goes boom boom boom?

No.

You've never experienced any of those?

Well no... no, not really.

I mean if I run my heart beats a bit faster

but that's normal isn't it?

Sure.

Anything else... any digestive problems?

No...

Well... if I have a heavy meal late at night,

if I have pastry or something,

I sometimes wake up in the night feeling a bit... like heartburn,

but if I take an antiacid it's fine.

Right.

So in general you sound to be in pretty good shape.

Now, in a minute I'll tell you about exactly what type of anesthesia we'll be using.

But, first of all is there anything you'd like to ask me...

Do you have any concerns about anything?

Erm, well, I suppose the main thing is after the operation...

when I wake up...

I mean, will I be in a lot of pain when I come round?

No, you'll be given morphine during the procedure and that will still be working when you wake up,

and then when that wears off you'll be given something else.

There'll be someone keeping an eye on you.

Okay.

The other thing is... I've heard that if you have crowns in your mouth

they can get damaged if they put in an air tube.

Well, it's unlikely but we'll take special care.

So which teeth are we talking about?

Err... these two.

Okay, the two central incisors.

And do you have any other teeth with crowns or implants.

No.

Okay.

So what we have planned for you...