I still get up in the night, only about twice. Well, I don’t know whether it’s the PSA, whether it’s my prostate or not, because it’s always the same time. I think it’s a habit because about two o’clock in the morning I get up, go the loo, come back, and I get up again at about half past five, six o’clock. And I reckon it’s a habit. I don’t think it’s down to this, you see. It can change that sometimes, if I’ve been very physical in the garden or something like that and I’m really tired when I go to bed, I’ll sleep right through. So I don’t know. I don’t think there’s that much to worry about in that sense.

And when I told the consultant, I said, I’m still getting up two or three times in the nigh, he said, Well, that’s all righ, you know, it’s not a problem is it I said, Well, no, it’s just it disturbs your sleep a bit So he said, Well, it’s all right He said, Most people get to your ag, he said, When they get to your age they’re up in the night anywa , but he said, What about the day time I said, Well, I’ve no problem with the day tim.

I notice that it might be me. I don’t know because I notice things can affect me. If I drink tea, if I have a cup of tea, that immediately goes through me. Coffee is not so bad, that takes longer. Beer takes longer and wine takes longer, and I can drink milk all night long and it doesn’t make any difference, but tea, and I drink quite a bit of water. That was something they told me at the hospital, Drink lots of wate. And I do drink lots of water. And they also said it would be a good idea not to drink much water after dinner at night, you know, which I’ve have to do now, have your drink, whatever it is, and then don’t have anything else, see. And that’s pretty much what I do actually.

I still have trouble in the morning, I go to the toilet and it feels like I’ve got to go again, that always happens, that’s in the morning. I don’t know why that is, even when they were testing me afterwards I still found that it’s still, I’ve never emptied my bladder. There’s always something there.

And that’s been continuous has it?

That’s continuous. That’s still doing it, so they haven’t cleared that up.

Ray’ I have bladder problems and they’ve tried to cure it and they’ve tried all sorts of things.

It hasn’t, it doesn’t seem to work, and they did say to me at one time, they’re sorry but they’re afraid it’s an after effect of the radiotherapy. They said, If we blow out the cancer with radiotherapy, that has gone but you’ve still got this symptom, which we can’t do anything very much about They tried and it doesn’t work.

Okay. So what exactly happens that is affecting you in terms of your bladder?

Ray’ I could get up now and go along to the loo. In the middle of a conversation you suddenly want to go to the loo.

Wife’ There’s the urgency.

Ray’ So, it’s always, and it’s no good saying, Oh, I’ll go to the loo in a minute it’s happening, it happens right, straight away. You’re, as I say, be in the middle of a conversation like this and I’ll just say, Excuse m, and I’ll have to dash off to the toilet.

Wife’ So it’s a bit prohibiting where you can go. How far you can go. How long you can go outside.

Ray’ If you want to go out for the evening it can be very difficult because you’ve got to make sure your bladder is empty before you go, have a seat in the row where you can get out and things like that. And if you go out for a meal, halfway through the meal you may have to get up and go to the toilet.

How do you think it is affecting your life nowadays to continuously have this problem?

Ray’ it’s difficult.

Wife’ it’s restrictive really.

Ray’ it’s very restrictive. I mean we’ve got relatives in [county] and I wouldn’t now do the journey to [county] unless I’ve planned out beforehand where every loo is on the way.

Wife’ [laughs]

Ray’ Which doesn’t makes aSome people plan their trips via the pretty way, some people the fastest way, and I go by loads of loos.

Were you able to get access to disabled toilets if you wanted to?

Wife’ It all depends where you are.

Ray’ Yes, it is, I mean.

Wife’ In different counties that is run differently.

We went to Ray’s sister’s golden wedding do, our son drove our car for us and half way there, there was a disabled toilet but it was 20p in the slot, so if you hadn’t got your 20p it was difficult. And by the time we’d opened it, he’d had problems before.

So it really depends on.

Wife’ Well, there the toilets that were there previously I noticed was a woman coming out but she had a key, because they were issued locally, but for visitors it was all this paying slot. People outside the county or wherever.

Ray’ So it does affect your life in so much as on simple things like that, which normally you wouldn’t think about.

They begin to take precedence over other things.