Luke Jones, PR Racing Superbike rider, set off very early Tuesday morning 25th May and jumped on the 3.30am Dover ferry to Calais to start a journey that would finally see Luke 'go under the knife' to resolve a long standing 'arm pump' issue that has hampered the start of his 2010 race season. Having docked at 6.00am, three hours and 150 miles later Luke and his dad (Dave) arrived in Herentals (Belgium), where it was time to find a hotel and catch up on a few hours sleep.

After a day relaxing and mentally preparing for the operation, Luke was up at 7.45am, no breakfast for Luke on doctor's orders, and got Luke settled into the hospital. Day 1 was a round of tests with Dr Van Roy, lifting special dumbbell weights to pump up his forearms; when he couldn't lift any more, a 'large' needle was pushed into his arm with a pressure gauge to check the blood pressure, repeated four times!

Once Luke's situation was assessed he was booked into a ward and had a few hours wait before going down for the operation under Dr Toon Claes. Luke's dad was by now flagging, not having had food or drink for the best part a day, so once Luke was pushed away, he shot down to a local café and did a bit of sightseeing.

Luke returned back to his room around 5.00pm with both arms strapped up with drains, needles and tubes hanging out from everywhere. By this time Luke was parched and asked for a drink, to which he was told "sorry not until 8.00pm". His cunning plan came apart, when half an hour later Luke said the pain was starting to kick in and asked the nurse for some pain killers. Thinking he would at least get a small drink with the tablets, Dave observes "well you should have seen his face drop when she returned with a big needle and asked Luke to lean to the side while she stuck the needle in his backside!". All the team offer their sympathy... not!

Dr Claes later checked up on Luke. It was at this point Luke and his dad learnt that normally the tubes in your arms would be cut in a few places to allow them to expand with the muscle, but in Luke's case they were so tight they were completely removed... arm pump will be no more.

After a good night’s sleep, the intrepid duo was once again up early for the trip back home. Once Luke had tucked into his breakfast, bandages were removed and Dr Claes performed a final check and gave the all clear.

Luke is now taking time to recover and physically conditioning himself for the ardours of Superbikes. Luke says,"I'm feeling a lot better each day and can't wait to get back on the bike. I know I have to be careful these next couple of weeks, but I really want to be out at Mallory and know that the operation really has worked. I really do appreciate the support from the team and the patience they have shown."

End.