Well I never

Bit late today, had to get some tablets from the chemist, long story but about two weeks ago I fell UP the stairs and damaged some ribs, didn’t bother to go to the doctor because there is bugger all they can do so soldiered on.

A couple of weeks later(yesterday); went to the doctor because I was fed up with not being able to breathe or sleep and collapsing in a heap every time I sneezed or coughed, yes I know…….

Got me painkillers, and have just taken a couple, then I made the mistake of reading the blurb inside the box-and of course the first thing you look at is the side effects:-here is a sample-runny nose, skin rash or itchy skin, drug fever?, dry mouth, feeling or being sick, loss of appetite, bile duct spasms, pain and difficulty in passing urine, slow heart rate, confusion, drowsiness, hallucinations, dizziness, mouth ulcers, excitation, fits, headache, blurred or double vision, and the best one of all-constipation.

And yes I know these are only possible side effects but ain’t modern medicine wonderful!

If this post suddenly stops you will know they have kicked in.


First up a bit more health news:

What’s this ear?

From the Telegraph A man who had one of his ears cut off when he was attacked in a park had it stitched to his stomach in a bid to save it.

Paul Gibbs, a student from Leeds, was attacked by three men as he camped out with a group of friends last year.

Because the ear was not found for 17 hours, surgeons could not immediately reattach it.

Instead, doctors stitched it inside his stomach so some of the tissue will re-grow. The plan is to then reconstruct the ear using some of the cartilage from 26-year-old Mr Gibbs's ribcage.He told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "It's just a question of waiting for the operation."It is going to hurt but I want it done.

"But I'm strong-minded and feel like I am making good progress."

When asked how he was he said “What?”

No room at the maternity unit

A woman gave birth in a car as it drove along a motorway after being sent home twice that day by a hospital because she wasn't ready.

Rebecca Longley, 20, delivered Aaliyah herself as boyfriend Andrew Mildenhall tried to stay focused on the road ahead.

The couple had first gone to the hospital that morning and then again in the evening but were told both times that Miss Longley wasn't ready to give birth.

Two hours later the beauty therapist's waters broke but when she phoned the same hospital, medics advised her to stay at home.

Ten minutes later the couple decided to take matters into their own hands and head back to the Royal Hampshire County Hospital, in Winchester, Hants.

But before they got there Miss Langley went into labour and gave birth to 6lb 1oz baby girl Aaliyah on the front passenger seat on the M3 motorway.

The couple have now called on the hospital to review its admissions procedures.
Miss Longley, from Hamble, Hants, said: "I really had no idea what to expect because it was my first child. I had a real mix of emotions.

A hospital spokesman confirmed that Miss Longley was sent home twice but said that the advice was given because of the slow progress of her labour.

He added: "Labour is different for every woman.

"We would describe Rebecca's labour as totally natural, albeit rapid once it had begun."

Aaliyah made her entrance just before 10.30pm as Mr Mildenhall drove along the motorway in his Peugeot 206 car.

Should have bought a Jag it would have been much quicker.

Never mind the new bed, where’s my million!

A woman in Tel Aviv, Israel, mistakenly threw out a mattress with $1m hidden inside, setting off a frantic search through tons of garbage at a number of landfill sites.

The woman told Army Radio that she bought her elderly mother a new mattress as a surprise on Monday and threw out the old one, only to discover that her mother had hidden her life savings inside. She was identified only as Anat.

When she went to look for the mattress it had already been taken by garbage men, she said. Subsequent searches at three different landfill sites turned up nothing.

Yitzhak Borba, the dump manager, told the radio station that his staff was helping the woman, saying she appeared "totally desperate." He said the mattress was hard to find among the 2,500 tons of garbage arriving at the site every day.

He said he increased security at the site to keep would-be treasure hunters at bay.

For her part, Anat said it could be worse. "People have to take everything in proportion and thank God for the good and the bad," she said.

I do like an optimist.

And finally:

No escape from the council-even when you are dead.

Jennifer Williams, 70, received a letter from the council, addressed to her late father George Weaver, asking him to renew the lease on his granite plaque

They warned Mr Weaver - who died in 1998 - that if he failed to renew the lease on his plaque within three months it would be removed.

Jennifer's husband Ross, 71, criticised the council for its "gross insensitivity".

He said: "They're writing to a dead man, asking him for £440. It's disgusting. My wife's ill already, and she was so upset when she opened the letter.

"She's hardly slept since with worrying about it. The council have been grossly insensitive.
"Surely someone must have realised that they were writing to a dead man.

Ross and Jennifer paid £440 for a plaque which read 'George Weaver, Gone But Not Forgotten' when he died after a short illness aged 78.

He was cremated at Astwood Cemetery in Worcester and the plaque was erected on his memorial.

Ross said: "I went into the office at the time and they offered me this plaque, but nobody told me it was only for 10 years.

Ian Yates, parks and cemeteries manager at Worcester City Council, said: "We will investigate the background, and we will be in touch with Mr Williams directly.

"There's a lot of notes and records going back 10 years we need to double-check, and we'll be getting on with that straight away."

A ‘monument to inefficiency.

Angus

NHS Behind the headlines