No I'm not Pregnant

After having ignored me for most of my life, the NHS seems to have realised that I exist and is seriously trying to get its hooks into me.
 
Firstly there were the 6 monthly blood tests and reviews and annual retinopathy checks because of my diabetes. Seems reasonable to me, someone has to check that my eyes are not giving up the ghost and that my feet aren’t about to fall off.
 
Then came the flu jabs. I get a nice little letter from the doctor offering me a free flu jab. It appears that I am now classed as “vulnerable”, firstly because of the diabetes and now because of my age. Ok, I can live with that.
 
But then when I reached 60 they started to get really serious. It started when an envelope with a nice big NHS logo on it dropped through the letter box. I thought it just another retinopathy appointment, which seemed a bit strange because I’d not long since had one.
 
Nope, it was an invitation to take part in a Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. I’m due another invitation this year so I’ll leave that subject for another time.
 
Then last year, on reaching 65, I got another little invitation. This time it was for AAA, “why should I want to join the American Automobile Association?” I thought. Trust me, I got it wrong, it was for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm screening. Apparently the risk of getting an AAA goes up as I get older and men are more likely to get one as women. So off I toddled to a clinic Nettleham.
 
It’s a non invasive check, just an ultrasound scan. It seems that I have a small one, nothing to worry about, very little chance of it going POP, but just to be one the safe side come back next year and we’ll have another check.