Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott apparently spent Christmas Day in hospital - news link here.So thats one thing I have in common with him, kidney stones.
That news link by the way is a load of bollacks, written (probably) by a prospective Conservative parliamentary candidate - talk of him recieving exceptionally fast emergency NHS treatment and being treated to christmas dinner while he was in hospital as if they made an exception for him is rubbish - they did exactly the same thing for me.
When I awoke with a pain to eclipse all other pains back in September we spoke to an NHS Direct operator immediately who correctly diagnosed that my condition was not life threatening but who dispatched an ambulance none the less - within an hour I was in said ambulance receiveing pain-killing treatment, if it had been life threatening then I would have seen them within seven minutes - thats standard treatment in the NHS and its no different if you're name is John Prescott MP.
I was treated in the same way as John Prescott seems to have been treated in that I was given enough pain killing drugs to kill the pain completely and ease the muscle spasms which are actually the cause of most of the pain - and afterwards, like Prescott, I was treated to a complimentary meal, and very nice it was too.
Like John Prescott I have nothing but praise for the NHS employees who attended to me, fortunately apart from a bit of soreness I have not had a repeat dose of the ailment and as no stone appeared on my x-ray I suspect that it was a condition that has a long complicated medical name but basically involves a build up of silt around the uretha causing a temporary blockage, muscle spasms and plenty of pain, pain like you've never felt before, but not life threatening, although when the NHS Direct operator explains that to you, you don't believe her as death would be an acceptable release from the pain if offered - pain killers and muscle relaxants ease the blockage and the silt is passed away with lots of water - end of problem (I hope).
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And while Prescot was writhing in agony in NHS facilities, his mate Tony Blair was travelling to Miami on the second leg of his blagged christmas holiday, when his British Airways 747 ran off the runway in Miami - full story.
British TV news reports made the most of the "drama" but in fact all that happened was that the pilot drove off the edge of the runway while taxi-ing to its parking position and had to be hoisted back onto the tarmac so that it could park under its own power, embarrassing for the pilot but its likely that no-one else noticed.
What is more interesting is the fact that the Blairs have made an art out of blagging free holidays in the years that they have been in power. Barbados is their regular christmas destination where they stay at a villa owned by Cliff Richards who presumably doesn't need it during December, but this year the Blairs not only blagged Barbados but managed to tag on a few days in Miami staying at Bee Gee Robin Gibbs apartment - nice perks if you can get them Tony.
I used to manage a few days at my mother in law's house in Whitley Bay from time to time at christmas.
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