Zoë was also able to get some bridging treatment through her GP surgery in the form of regular blood tests to make sure that what she is taking is actually working and, more importantly, not harming her. But this treatment was hard for her to access – after struggling with her local surgery's practice manager, who refused to speak with her and let her change GPs, she managed to get through by gaming the system. "The only way I've gotten any traction out of the NHS is by phoning up, pretending I just need an appointment for the day for a random reason, and saying it's personal. I'd ask for a female GP at my surgery and then go in and just plead my case with them and say, 'Look, I know you're not my assigned GP but he is blocking my treatment. Can you do anything?' It's been like that every step of the way. Every time I thought, Oh this will finally work out, finally maybe this step will work, it hasn't." Fortunately, this pleading of her case worked, and two female GPs are working with her to get quarterly blood tests while she self-medicates.