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Some days don't go according to my plans ... but count your blessings!

Have you ever been hit in the small of the back with a baseball bat? Or doubled over in so much pain that you are feverish and nauseous? No ... congratulations. I have - just yesterday in fact ... problem was diagnosed as kidney stones!

Interestingly this has happened to me before - though the last time it happened I was in Senegal in West Africa. (Apparently living in the tropics can be one factor that increases the likelihood of getting them.)

This is not a blog about Kidney stones per se - but it did cause me to reflect on how differently I dealt with the problem and the vastly different treatment I was given by the local healthcare facilities.

Here in the UK I had breakfast and was preparing to get my train to Derby for a meeting ... within 30 minutes the pain begins and builds slowly ... by 9:45 my wife returns from the office expecting to take me to the train station instead finds me pacing like a caged animal ... 9:50 phonecall to GP quick discussion of symptoms instructed to go to A&E ... depart for A&E ... en route stop to wretch due to nausea ... arrive at A&E 10:25 and am booked straight in ... within 2 hours I have been seen three times had two scans, blood tests, monitoring - diagnosed with kidney stones (which I must have passed by this point) ... pain has gone and am stood outside the hospital waiting for my lift home ... my wife duly obliges!!!

In Senegal ... I wait about four days as the pain comes and goes in waves ... (the thought of going to the Doctor is not a nice one as it is not a simple trip) ... eventually succumb to relentless pain and book the Doctors ... trying to describe intricate medical matters and symptoms in a foreign language is a challenge but there we are ... then follows a short walk to the bus ... followed by a 45 minute bumpy ride along a road ... arrive at surgery .. wait for harassed Doctor (my Kidney stones are the least of his worries as he has the primary healthcare responsibility for thousands in his town) ... no scans possible - (well they are but it would necessitate a long drive to another town and then back again with the pictures!) ... so I try to explain my symptoms and he pokes me in the most painful places to confirm diagnosis before dispensing me some tablets ... trip to local pharmacy for tablets ... only one in stock so have to try another pharmacist ... eventually getting both ... trip home to take drugs - drink more water and wait for nature to take it's course.

I am not complaining about either and am grateful for the care I got in each place ... If I were to compare myself to some of my Senegalese friends their answer might be different ... Wait with pain as medical costs cannot be met ... finally decide that something needs to be done ... beg for the 50p it would take to get a packed public transport bus in hot sweltering conditions to the nearest Doctor ... beg also for the 75p charge of seeing the Doctor in the first place ... wait in the baking heat hoping that - in the sea of other ill people - you will actually be seen that day ... get diagnosis and treatment ... catch packed public transport bus home whilst figuring out how to pay for the treatment you have been prescribed ... get home, beg/ask for more money from friends or family ... then decide whether to get the drugs you need to get better or feed your children, or pay the rent, or pay for school pens and paper ... you get the picture!

We once saved a 6 month old child's life ... it cost us 50p for some skin cream and 75p for some antibiotics ... our neighbour had been anxiously waiting for us to return from home leave to ask for money - we were her last resort ... needless to say - I don't find it easy hearing people grumbling about the NHS.

Reflections?
I am so grateful for the NHS ... committed people working very hard for those that they serve - day in and day out.
I am so grateful for the immediacy of that provision ...
I am so grateful for the provision of healthcare around the world ... please correct me if I am wrong but I understand that the Church is still the world's major provider of healthcare facilities.
Poverty sucks ... and leaves people with impossible choices that I have never even had to consider ... if you have never lived in the developing world you will probably never understand ... make a visit and then decide to make a difference ... share your wealth!

BTW The image of Kidney stones are a download from the web and not mine ... though I liked their descriptive names!

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