UK_Paul's - Slingshot Build & Other Adventures -

Now the doctors set to work trying to find the cause of all the problems.

The doctors had quickly concluded, at this time, I had a urinary tract infection and that antibiotics would sort things out, very quickly. That all sounded great and I was discharged 3 days later. All looking very good and positive.

During this time I was handling probate, for my mother's death. This required regular visits to check the security of her home, to cover insurance requirements. Two days after my hospital discharge, I was visiting my mothers home. I had checked out some dodge fuses in a fuse box, high up a wall and felt a little unwell after all the stretching to reach up to it... The next thing I remember was that I was laying on my mother's front lawn with one of her neighbours looking over me. I had passed out and they had spotted me laying there' when they returned home.

You guessed it...

The pain had returned and it was back into casualty again!

Quote from gpcustoms

Are you getting frequent flyer miles? Keep the demented humor. I found that it helps to laugh at anything and everything young Jedi

I don't know about frequent flyer miles but one of the ambulance crew, (on the next admission, after this. - Yes we still have more coming) was a guy that I had last spoken to, over 30 years ago, when he and I both had very different careers. It just proves that it's a very, very small word that we live in.

So it's now around the start of September and I'm back in hospital again' just a few days after being discharged. Everything has started all over again. Or perhaps more accurately, everything still has not got any better. This time the stay will be about a week (if I remember correctly).

Then, just like last time, the symptoms had reduced, after copious amounts of different opiates. Once again I was discharged and told that the antibiotics were working well and all I needed was a check-up with my local doctor, in a few days.

Three days later I had my scheduled check-up, with my General Practitioner.

You guest it...
I arrived at my doctor's surgery, driven by my wife Elaine, as I was unable to drive myself. They helped me into the surgery, I was shaking, (trembling with cold, as I had been, when I was in Australia, 7 months before, when it all started), running a fever, I couldn't concentrate, unable to sit because of the pain, in my prostrate and generally feeling as if I had been run over by a fleet of, fully loaded, trucks. They put me on a bed in one of the rooms, at the surgery and the doctor came into see me, rather than me go to him.

That was it!
He went, to the phone on the desk and called 999 (that's the same as 111 for you in the US). Time to head back to casualty again, with sirens and the blue lights flashing away, as we went.

This was all getting a just little too monotonous now.

This time I wasn't going home until I was actually getting better!

The pain was greater than I'd had with this before, however in retrospect, I perhaps didn't complain enough. In Britain they ask you to describe the pain in a range from 1-10 (10 is bad). I would regualy say "Seven" when asked, so they thought that perhaps it was not too bad.

It was only when I explained that I'd had previously experianced very much more pain and pushed through it, that they realised that to me 7 probhably meant 10 to the next man.

The explanation came out when I told them that I'd carried myself 1/4 - 1/2 mile, while I was up in the Arctic Circle, with my left knee joint broken and my knee-cap sitting at the rear of my leg (now that's a 10!). Fortunately one of the people that I had got myself to, then administered me with some realy good (military issue) morphine and took me the 500+ miles to hospital, where they then set about to rebuilt me. Now, that was what I'd call real pain.

So, now back to the UK hospital admission:
More antibiotics, lots and lots more morphine based drugs, (see... it's not all so bad), lots of scanning and camaras getting pushed into places that I'm not going to talk about.

This admission lasted for about another month and much to there annoyance I refused to let them discharge me untill things were definable getting better.

Eventualy things did start to improve and I went home again. This time I continued with more checkups and antibiotics for an additional two months.

It finally appeared to be working and everyone concluded that this dam virus had been nesting itself in my prostrate gland and then attaching the rest of my body. (More scanning and camara visits would appear to have confirmed this later).

• Now it was time to start some recovering.

Quote from Jonathan Thompson

I will assume you are planning on getting back to the Arctic Circle story at another time...

Perhaps, if I do, I may just have to kill you.

Quote from Jonathan Thompson

I will assume you are planning on getting back to the Arctic Circle story at another time...

I've decided that I'll tell you, a little about, who fixed me up, but that's all your getting.

Copy the line below, or use Google:
http://pressreleases.responses…eter-bray-to-share-story/

There is a lot more to this man than you'll ever find on the net.

The next time I got to see Pete Bray again was, a long time later, when I was backpacking, in Ireland and as he landed, in a kayak, one bay south of his actual planned destination. I was standing at the top of a steep hill/cliff and wached a local farmer walk out to him, on the beach below, as he put his boat, coverd in solar panels and sponsorship ashore. All of his suport team were approximately 1-2 miles further up the coast. (That's was typical of Pete). It later turned out that this was the end of his, epic, Atlantic crossing, that you can read about with the above information.

I'd not seen him for years and at that time, I didn't realise that it was him, below me, on the beach. I was just watching him, from a fair distance and only found out a few days later, when I met up with some mates, that knew the full Arctic/leg story. We then got put back in touch, with each other, again.

This guy is a very special person indeed and I owe him a lot.

Quote from dangerdarrell

Just read Pete's story. That is one tough guy!!!

Yes & he has a heart of gold. He does amazing work for disabled survice men. I have watched him take a guy, with no legs, on a 125 mile, non stop canoe race, with 77 portages (Portage: That's a "getting in & out place"). Each time, he just picked the bloke up, out of the kayak they were both in. Carried him, to the next point, then went back, got the boat and continued on with the race. He treated and worked with him just as he would any other person and pushed him just as hard.

But you would never want him against you.

The SlingShot story now continues:

As things started to improve Elaine and I decided that we needed to get on with things and organise a test drive, for her.

I checked out the dealer's and I knew that we were off to London to see a couple of bands playing. Therefore I tried to book a test drive with a dealer, not too far from where we used to live. This would have been good as I could meet up with old friends whenever I needed to return for servicing.

I spoke with the salesman and arranged the day.

Two days later the email confirmation came back with a different date on it. when I phoned up to question the date, it turned out they were off to a show on the day I thought that I'd booked and they had assumed the next day. (Oh well, stuff happens). We had now booked our hotel and couldn't change things, so (as we would say in London) "We 'ad to blow 'em out" (ie. We had to miss them out, this time, for the test drive).

So: Plan B. This was to arrange a test drive with the guy that organised the Mallory Park day. I spoke with him on the phone, then tryed to arranged a test drive. He was very helpful and was the man that had been trying to supply me a Slingshot, for Elaine to have, for a weekend. We agreed that we would arrange a day at short notice and that was exactly what we did.

Quote from dangerdarrell

Man. It sure is hard to get a ride in a SS in England.
My wife is checking on going to the Ireland office of her company for a year. Hopefully it will work out. Have to see how much trouble it will be to get my SS over there. I could probably make a fortune selling it there. Then I could pick up another when I get back and start all over.

Only one SlingShot in Ireland right now...
It's in the north and unsold. Nothing is yet in the Republic of Ireland, at this time.

It gets completed but the story will tell all, as it works it's way through.