Fwd: Our Cal46, SATORI's 40th birthday & Tom Story Rant

Note: forwarded message attached. Happy Holidays Cal Pals, I had intended to mention this last month, as she was officially launched in Nov., Newport Beach as Jack Jensen's personal boat. After several coastal trips, Alaska, Mexico, he and Nancy took off on a circumnavigation. He had a serious blood disease and would fly back to Long Beach to be treated by a close friend Doctor. He just made it back to Newport Beach in 1981 and passed away at a very young 57. Dates may be slightly off. I had wanted a Cal 46 since I had first seen Hale Field's FRAM, a prototype. I heard SATORI was available in Feb. 1982, so made an appointment to check her out. At the time I had been divorced several years, was living in a nice place on the beach at Belmont Shore - life was good - girls galore and I could row my skiff across Alamitos Bay to my Col 36. A long term friend down in Newport had been trying to get me to come and meet a cute blonde. What, drive 17 miles to meet another woman? Well, what the dickens, I was driving to Newport to see the Cal 46, so called my friend and set up dinner at his house and meet the broad. Well, I took them both and still have them! Almost 26 years later, Bobbie is my best friend, perfect wife and we both love SATORI. We have cruised nine of the last nineteen years ending up here on Bayou Chico, FL with a house, dock, guest house and SATORI in our back yard. We had plans for another Caribbean cruise next year and the s--t hits the fan. I had a rapidly deteriorating arthritic hip, finally got around to having i treplaced with a titanium prostheysis 13 Nov, released from the hospital 15 Nov, and walking without PAIN or crutches by the 21st.YEAH! The day after Thanksgiving, noticed some probs with incision, back to hospital, massive doses of antibiotics, three more surgeries to open and clean the hip. The antibiotics damn near killed me, shut down my kidneys and destroyed my inner ear function, so no balance, constant naseau, etc. I am writing this as I am hooked up to a kidney dialysis machine, four hours, 3 times weekly. Check out www.gentamacin.com The Docs are sure my kidneys will recover, but the vestibular function is dead. I will be on a walker or wheelchair from now on, can never drive a car again and boat operations is unsure. DAMN! I do not give up. The weather has warmed back up to the 70's, so this afternoon we are trying to get me on our pontoon boat for a bayou cruise. Just when all is perfect in our life, new 4,000SF house, 500 SF guest house, 135' dock, 3 cars, 8 boats all free and clear, some Docs have nearly killed me and crippled me for life. I've never approved of the so called "frivilous" law suits, but this is not frivelous. I am getting a hungry lawyer, meaner than a Pit Bull with AIDS and teach them to be more careful. Yes, I am bitter. I am trying to design a way of getting on and off SATORI as well as BRAVURA our Cal 25. Then there is the Ski Nautique I have for the granddaughters, my Whitehall skiff.... Sorry to rant on you friends, but I would wan to know if this was happening to you. Tom and Bobbie Vandiver, Bayou Chico, FL

--- In Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com, Tom Vandiver <bshmarine@...> wrote: > > Note: forwarded message attached. > > Happy Holidays Cal Pals, > > snipped >We had plans for > another Caribbean cruise next year and the s--t hits > the fan. I had a rapidly deteriorating arthritic hip, > finally got around to having i treplaced with a > titanium prostheysis 13 Nov, released from the > hospital 15 Nov, and walking without PAIN or crutches > by the 21st.YEAH! > > The day after Thanksgiving, noticed some probs with > incision, back to hospital, massive doses of > antibiotics, three more surgeries to open and clean > the hip. The antibiotics damn near killed me, shut > down my kidneys and destroyed my inner ear function, > so no balance, constant naseau, etc. I am writing this > as I am hooked up to a kidney dialysis machine, four > hours, 3 times weekly. Check out www.gentamacin.com All the "mycin" drugs had trouble with ototoxicty, ear complications. At one time they were all we had. Streptomycin was the first drug that worked for tuberculosis but it caused deafness in some people. There was a variant of it called Dihydro streptomycin that caused vertigo, like you have, and it was worse than the deafness. Gentamycin is safer but it must be monitored with blood levels. These are called "peak and trough" levels to show that the drug is clearing. Also, the levels will pretty reliably avoid the renal consequences. If you were not being checked daily, you were definitely mistreated. The pharmacists now all calculate the dose levels of these dangerous drugs by using a computer program. I didn't even order a dosage level, just asked the pharmacy to calculate it. I saw a few people in the early days who got an odd echoing of sounds for a while but they all recovered and I can't recall a patent with permanent deafness. The vertigo complication is rare but if you had kidney failure too, you must have had something go very wrong with the treatment. > > The Docs are sure my kidneys will recover, but the > vestibular function is dead. I would wait a while before saying anything definite about this. >I will be on a walker or > wheelchair from now on, can never drive a car again > and boat operations is unsure. DAMN! I do not give up. > The weather has warmed back up to the 70's, so this > afternoon we are trying to get me on our pontoon boat > for a bayou cruise. > > Just when all is perfect in our life, new 4,000SF > house, 500 SF guest house, 135' dock, 3 cars, 8 boats > all free and clear, some Docs have nearly killed me > and crippled me for life. I've never approved of the > so called "frivilous" law suits, but this is not > frivelous. I am getting a hungry lawyer, meaner than a > Pit Bull with AIDS and teach them to be more careful. You may very well have a strong case. Some of your symptoms may also get better or go away. This is awfully fast to have such a definite prognosis. That comes from 40 years in this (MD) business. Good luck Mike Kennedy Sr Conquest Cal 4o # 96

Really sorry to hear that story, Tom. Sure hope you get your balance back and get back on the boat. We'll be pulling for you. Regards - Nick

Tom, The body has a way of healing itself. We all pray you'll bounce back into competitive form. Best wishes, Bruce Stirling

Tom: Hear hear! I second Nick's message. Hope you find your balance and get back on the water! Have you found a good lawyer yet? Janet Plume, Editor/Gulf Shipper 826 Fern Street New Orleans, La. 70118 504-866-7076 cell: 504-250-4539 email: jp… [at] joc.com We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Nick Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 5:28 PM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [Cal_Boats] Fwd: Our Cal46, SATORI's 40th birthday & Tom Story Rant Really sorry to hear that story, Tom. Sure hope you get your balance back and get back on the boat. We'll be pulling for you. Regards - Nick

Tom Vandiver wrote: > Just when all is perfect in our life, new 4,000SF > house, 500 SF guest house, 135' dock, 3 cars, 8 boats > all free and clear, some Docs have nearly killed me > and crippled me for life. I've never approved of the > so called "frivilous" law suits, but this is not > frivelous. I am getting a hungry lawyer, meaner than a > Pit Bull with AIDS and teach them to be more careful. > > Yes, I am bitter. Tom: Best wishes for some improved function. Keep working on improvement and adaptation. You may not be able to crawl forward in a gale to secure that loose anchor, but you may find ways to keep sailing and participating. There are blind sailors and paraplegic sailors. Is there a silver lining--are you freed from sea sickness now, without that inner ear working? And the lesson is that there aren't too many frivolous lawsuits. The judge and jury are there to decide what's frivolous. The question in your case is whether this is just bad luck--and sometimes it is--or the result of some person failing to use proper skill and care. If somebody was careless, you should be compensated for what you've lost. But how can anybody be compensated for loss of opportunities for sailing? All of us who love sailing know how futile that is. Money is a poor substitute for the intangible joys of making the boat go, in whatever conditions present themselves, skillfully and safely. I hope your lawyer has a talent for talking to a jury about things like that. One thing money can buy is adaptive methods and equipment. Start looking around. And keep working at regaining function. Every increment of improvement is a victory. Sometimes we can surprise ourselves and our doctors. Maybe at the end of '08 you'll be able to send us a letter describing your victories. Chris Campbell

Tom, Thank you for sharing this. I do appreciating knowing events that are so important to list contributors. Your comments to this list have always been substantive and valuable. We wish you a speedy recovery. One thing I have observed is that the sailors who I have known always seem to be among the optimists. I don't think our passion for boats and being on the water attracks the pessimists. Keep up your planning and design for "getting on and off SATORI". And of course for a recovery! Merry Christmas and please keep us posted. Mike Robinson Holiday Cal 36 #4 Pt. Richmond, CA p.s Thanks for the history on SATORI

Tom, Don't give up trying to get function back. 2 years ago, I had a stroke which caused complete left side paralisys. The doctors told me it would take 2 years to get back partial function and to be able to sail again. I was sailing again in 2 months. I do have a little weakness still on the left side. The only real adaptation I had to make to Rebecca Shea was to add a roller furled Jib as I am not real steady on the foredeck. With a lot of prayer and hard work I was able to come back to about 98% in 2 months. Now, I am doing everything I was doing before, sailing, playing bass in a band, playing catch with my boys, etc. Rick Lobb Cal 2-29 "Rebecca Shea" Bellingham, WA _____ From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Tom Vandiver Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 2:32 PM To: Cal List Subject: [Cal_Boats] Fwd: Our Cal46, SATORI's 40th birthday & Tom Story Rant Note: forwarded message attached.