What a weekend. A few weeks ago my son asked me if I wanted to go to Wembley Stadium , home of football (soccer to Americans) for the Johnstone's Paint Cup Trophy final (Division 3) Bristol City v Walsall. He’s a City fan. As I’d never been, I agreed. Further down the line I volunteered to drive a 16 seater van with him and his friends out of safety concerns as none of them had experience with that size and I did. So it was a Sunday gig..
Saturday night and my breathing deteriorates (I'm about 20% LF) and I’m in trouble, popping preds (25mg) thinking of calling an ambulance. Begin a AB course in case it’s an infection. Think of cancelling everything. Finally at 2am the preds work and I try and sleep, but the pred…! Wake up after 3 hours sleep, breathing ok but I pop 10mg for the day ahead, we pick everybody up at 9am and off we go, cans of beer being opened (they all in their 30’s), chanting football songs up the motorway! Frequent pee stops, all that beer! My main worry was the walk from the reserved parking to the stadium (and back) and so it proved. Thankfully there are lifts for the disabled at the stadium, all those stairs and sloping walkways would have killed me. Finally made it (+ another 10mg) and it was fantastic. 73,000 attendance, 2nd biggest in Europe that weekend. City won 2- 0, everybody happy inc me and drunk (not me!). Walk back in the evening chill was a killer but made it with Gabriel’s help, stopping for breath a lot. Then huge traffic jams coming out of London and and a long drive down the M4 with frequent pee stops again. Back into Bristol at midnight , drop them off at Asda car park (round of applause, everybody in the van chanting my name!) home and in bed before 1am.
It could all have gone horribly wrong with me. I feel ok this morning but could have easily picked up a chill and that means hospital, or worse. However, there is also a sense of accomplishment, I did it! Was I stupid? Yes. Did I have an experience I'd never otherwise have had? Yes!
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notlocal
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I'm just pleased you had the experience & you enjoyed it even if it was a struggle. It could have gone horribly wrong however it didn't. Better than watching Sunday morning tv Do you feel that you have accomplished something? I think the answer is yes
Well done notlocal. A great achievement plus another Gold Star for driving in London. I used to do the M4 drive to Gloucester regularly and for some reason I found it seemed the most endless and boring of Motorways. xxxSuzy
Good for you Notlocal - sometimes you just got to do things and enjoy yourself even if it does push the boundaries a bit .
I decided to splash out and take my kids (adults) & partners to watch England play Wales at the Millennium Stadium (part of bucket list). I have been to all the other stadiums but never Millennium and daughter only lives 25 miles from it ? Seen England play 9 times and never seen them win anyway though at times a struggle what a fantastic day we all had what a fantastic stadium and the usual rugby banter. and the unexpected win was an added bonus it was a day I will never forget and well worth a bit of discomfort
Good morning Notlocal, Well done, you must be a very determined chap. Most people would err on the safe side and not go. Delighted you enjoyed it so,you must have been exhausted after such a day,driving such a distance can be very stressful, congratulations it certainly was a big achievment, Best wishes, Bulpit
You've only got one life to live and you've done what you wanted to do. Good on you. Yes! It could have gone wrong but that applies to anyone. You're happy. That's the main thing. X
Well done Notiocal ! , whilst I admit I'me not into footy myself, BUT the fact you battled on to do what you wanted to do is a TRIUMPH ! - the trick is with this dam illness, is NOT TO LET IT RULE YOU ! as a pal of mine who has Cancer says - " I Don't SUFFER from my disease - I just LIVE WITH IT AND MANAGE IT " ! - Good positive thinking I recon - Best of luck and carry on ! ......
Of course you did the right thing. You kicked your lung condition into touch and showed it who was boss. Okay, it will come back to bite you on another day, but you didn't miss out on an experience you were looking forward to and a big bonding session with your son. This is how we should live our lives by grabbing every chance of happiness and fun. Let's face it we can get sick for no apparent reason, sitting in the house all day, so even if a journey/event tires us, so what ? Well done on sticking to your guns and not giving in.
Well done you. It sounds very similar to my experience a few years back when I attended the final of the FA Trophy game between Mansfield and Darlington. Despite thoroughly researching the disabled facilities and pre-booking a disabled parking spot we ended up about as far away as it is physically possible to be from where we had tickets and the disabled bays were further away from the stadium than the normal bays. On the day I could have paid £2 less and parked closer to my seat by not using the disabled bays! The hot dogs were £6 each and ice-cold fizzy "beer" nearly £7 a pint. To round off a truly memorable (for all the wrong reasons) day, we lost 1-0 with a goal in the 122nd minute, and like yourself took nearly 2 hours to drive a few miles from the stadium. That stadium could have been built for a third of the cost at the NEC offering easy multi-motorway access to the whole country but they chose to put it in an inaccessible hell-hole.
Luckily one of our number had bought parking in a trading estate about half a mile away as disabled parking was sold out. I've stopped drinking since my hospital adventures in January so that wasn't a problem. I don't like the sound of that extra time! And then losing! Traffic was horrendous on the N Circular though. Guys in the back were emptying bladders in the bushes and getting back in the van which hadn't moved an inch...
For some reason I had a bad do when first tried prep. only few weeks ago with antibiotics. Couldn'sleep and started to get shakes and overactive mind. Maybe too many at first 6 per day. Informed doc. Waiting for a response?
Some people are more sensitive to pred (aka the devil's tic tacs ) and your reaction isn't unusual at all. I think it depends what time of day you take them also. I'm a bit pred dependent and it's a constant battle to wean myself down, then my breathing goes and I pop more to keep my airways open but generally I'm on 5mg a day. 6 a day plus ABs for 5/7 days is standard if you've got an exacerbation coming on and I wouldn't worry. Shakes and overactive mind is just a price to pay on this journey.
You did something to be really proud of! If you could have seen ahead how you would feel and what problems you had then you would have probably cried off. You overcame everything and are still here to tell the tale.
well done notical,, we need all inspirational stories, as we must all fight the "good fight" , sometimes easier said than done,,, but POSSIBLE best of luck to you my friend
kindest regards jimmy
p,s next time you go,,, ill give you a few catheter bags one for the pee stops [you can just sit there ] and another [new clean one ; put the beer in that, tube in mouth,,, prob solved sing your heart out then , not even moving from your seat [ i can even give you plenty devils tic tacs, :)]
best of luck notical,, jimmy
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Do you feel that you have accomplished something? I think the answer is yes 
anyway though at times a struggle what a fantastic day we all had what a fantastic stadium and the usual rugby banter. and the unexpected win was an added bonus 
Traffic was horrendous on the N Circular though. Guys in the back were emptying bladders in the bushes and getting back in the van which hadn't moved an inch...
