DO YOU NEED A PRESCRIPTION FOR ANYTHING?

Back in Scotland I would often go from one year's end to the next without ever seeing a doctor, but living here in the land of preventive medicine, my primary care physician likes me to get a check up twice a year.

I have no problem with that, except for the time it takes. My doctor is excellent, but he talks so much and ambles through his appointments at such a slow pace that my 9.45 visit this morning ended up with me seeing the man himself at 11.10. What a waste of time.

He checked all the essentials, declared me to be in excellent health and finally asked if I needed a prescription for anything. I was pleased to be able to remind him that I only take one form of medication a day and my gastroenterologist supplies that. Truth is apart from Nexium morning and night to deal with what I reckon are the results of a lifetime of bad eating habits (nowadays it has a medical name and is described as a disease Acid Reflux Disease, but I won't swallow that one!), I don't take any pills with my breakfast.

I thank God for my health. And I want to do whatever I can to protect it. If I'm sick I can't do so many things that I love doing and worst of all, if I'm unable to function fully, I'll be stuck at home where I'll be the most impossible pain in the buttocks you could ever imagine.

Lomg may the doctor's prescription pad be redundant!