So do you get the HRT from the GP every 6 months?

Yes, yes, oh yes.

And has it been good for you?

Yes, excellent, first time around. It makes you a different person [laughing].

Can you explain that a bit more?

Well, night sweats, terrible. And the day sweats, well from one minute to the next it can change. Once youre boiling hot and it could be freezing cold outside, then Im cold, then Im hot and cold and on. Night sweats, it’s so uncomfortable, changing all the time. Well I didn’t, I wasn’t that bad so my clothes weren’t soaked but it’s so uncomfortable. It doesn’t last long but very uncomfortable. But then I mentioned it at the surgery and they saw me. They said yes, well have a check-up, see if things are all right. Thank God, I haven’t had any problems with it. It’s just wonderful.

They send me a letter, I put it in my diary straight away and my memory’s not very good [laughing].

And is the letter always clear?

Oh yes, yes. It’s time for my appointment, they give me a date and I can come any time I think, between certain times. A certain time in the morning and a certain time in the afternoon, I think that’s, and if I go, if I can make it, that dates clear, I go [laughing].

Youve always felt, have you, that youve had the information you needed?

Oh yes, yes. I felt I hadn’t had a letter some time ago so I went down the road and asked, and she said yes, your letter is coming, it’s just a matter of process and how they do it. And they do it alphabetical order, Im not sure. So she said yes, it will come, don’t worry and a couple of weeks later it came. I get anxious if I think it’s time to go because as you get older, it doesn’t stop, does it? You know it can always occur so…

So you kind of keep abreast of things?

Yes.

And you know when your appointment’s about to come up?

Oh yes, yes. I forgot some while ago that it was every 3 years so now I know, it’s imprinted on my memory [laughing].