RT Book, Section A1 Murtagh AO, John A1 Bird, Sara SR Print(0) ID 1163950129 T1 Growing old T2 Murtagh's Cautionary Tales, 3rd Edition YR 2019 FD 2019 PB McGraw-Hill Education (Australia) Pty Ltd PP Sydney, Australia SN 9781743767443 LK murtagh.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1163950129 RD 2024/04/23 AB In early days of country practice I was approached by Tricia, who was concerned about her 67-year-old mother Linda, who lived alone in a small settlement. The problem was that Linda was unpopular and isolated because of her sharp tongue and irrational behaviour. Her husband had decamped years ago and her son-in-law refused to visit her. A recent concern was her forgetfulness and tendency to misplace valuable items such as money. She also had an altercation with her neighbours whom she claimed were interfering with her ‘chooks’ and stealing eggs—a claim that was denied. I agreed to call on her on my bimonthly bush rounds to monitor her mental health and medication compliance. My predecessor had noted that her ‘odd’ behaviour was probably caused by fluctuating blood sugar levels because of her diabetes.