They say it is the worst pain you can experience. That’s hard to prove, but the pain I’ve had from kidney stones on several occasions has certainly been the worst for me. As a small-town general practitioner, I had seen and treated dozens of cases before I had my first attack, which happened during a night shift when I was covering emergencies over a wide area centred on North Oxfordshire. I felt a niggle in my left flank, which wouldn’t go away, no matter which way I turned. I got up and moved around, but it kept on getting worse. I started sweating and was sick a couple of times. Finally, I had to wake the driver and get a peacefully sleeping colleague out of bed to give me a shot of pethidine and replace me at 3 a.m. The shame felt as strong as the pain. A couple of …