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My name is John J, I am 63 y/o. I have been on hemodialysis for 3 years, as of March 2007. My journey into renal failure began about a year and a half priour to beginning dialysis. I had a ruptured bowel, with peritonitis. That began a downward spiral of infections and eventually permanent renal failure. I am currently on the renal transplant list in Illinois, and will soon be on the list in Indiana.

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My name is Bill I am a father of three wonderful children. 12 years ago I was told I have a kidney disease called Glumero Nephritis with chronic hypertension. Thus on January 31, 2005 I was diagnosis with ESRD End Stage Renal Failure. I was given on what options were available to me and I decided to proceed with Dialysis and I chose Peritoneal or CAPD and also began the process for a kidney transplant. This unfortunate event was compounded by the fact at the time of my diagnosis I had just started a new job and was uninsured because I had not completed my 90 days probationary period.

So with this to slow me down I continued my life much changed, but continued with little patient and much diligence. I got everything in line to start the process of testing for a kidney transplant. Lucky I am the second youngest of seven children and three of my sister and brothers are able to participate in the testing process.

In the initial testing it was determined that my brother and younger sister were the best candidates for the procedure and of the two my brother was in the position to continue with my sister as the “Back up” just in case.

While the testing was going on with my brother I continued on with CAPD. I ended up with Peritonitis, which is a painful infection in the peritoneal cavity. As a result of the infection I had to stop CAPD and start Hemodialsyis, with the insertion of a permcath in my chest. This was only to be temporary, because I was headed towards the transplant.

Surgery was scheduled and we worked towards the culmination of this story, until the floor fell out and my brother was told he could not continue due to his own health issues. So we decided he needed to take care of himself and we will work on “Plan B” But with this postponement of the transplant I am due to get a fistula and continue with hemodialysis until we can get started on “ Plan B” for a transplant.

When I found out about the possibility of getting some help on getting a membership to the YMCA.I was very interested and excited I have always been an active person playing soft ball in the summer and basketball in the winter and swimming until this past winter when all this happened. I feel like I could get back into all the activities I used to do if I could get back into shape and get motivated and I know a membership to the YMCA would really help. I have been told that exercise helps with depression and I really need help with that.

I would like to thank the all the people and medical professionals that have helped me this past year and my family and friends for there love and support.and last but not least my three kids for being the reason for me to get up every morning.

Also you Shad for being an inspiration to all of us in this position of being on dialysis and showing fitness can help.
Thank you,
Bill

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My name is Angie. I have been on dialysis for 19yrs as of November 1, 2005. I also have been through 2 failed attempts of kidney transplants. Here’s how it all began, It all started at the age of 4 when the doctors found I had refluxing and the tubes to my bladder were malformed. I had to wear an Iliostomy bags for 10yrs. Now at 14yrs after several tests of seeing how much my bladder would hold the bags came off. I finally was a “normal teenager” until one day at the doctor’s office at the age of 16yrs; he talked to me one on one and told me I would have to be on dialysis. I just stood there with no reaction; I guess he was expecting me to break down or fly off the handle or something. He told me to let it out if I was upset or mad. I just looked at him and said. “I knew it would come sooner or later.” At 17 I started dialysis. I’ve had several accesses (fistulas) to run on dialysis. 2-3 in the left leg, 2-3 in right leg, 1 in my chest, 1 in my left arm, 1 in the lower part of my right arm. I’m currently using my own veins in the upper part of my right arm. Present day I‘ve had 70+ surgeries including a full hysterectomy at age 20. I’ve through menopause and every thing. I guess everything that has happened; I still have a positive attitude. The doctors diagnosed me to die at age 16. What does that tell ya? That tells me that the big man upstairs isn’t finished with me yet. I’ve realized that I was put here to serve a purpose. My goal in life is to teach other about dialysis and not to let it get you down in the dumps. Remember there’s always someone worse off than you.

Don’t take life for granted.

Angie

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Terrance received a gym membership, personal trainer from the foundation

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Joyce received a gym membership, personal trainer from the foundation

In September 1998, after waging a six-year battle to keep my kidneys, I went on dialysis. The first thing I ask about was getting a transplant. I was told I would have to be in good health (other than the dialysis) and to loose weight. I needed to be down to at least 200 pounds just to get on a transplant list and then would have to continue loosing to stay on the list and I was tired all the time. I weighted at the time 255 pounds. I tried cutting down on eating but list very little. I finally started gong to a gym and got some training in exercise and nutrition. Soon I had more energy and started loosing very slowly. It tool me two years to get down to 200 pounds and got on a list. I got a transplant a year and a half after getting on a list. I eased up on my exercise after the transplant and with the anti rejection drugs I started putting on the weight again, A year later my transplant rejected and by then I weighed 274 pounds. I was tired all the time again and anemic.

I had also shrunk one inch in my height. Now to get back on the transplant list I needed to reach 186 pounds. Many told me that loosing that much weight would be an impossible task. I still felt my health is important and had to try. I am no longer able to work so I could not afford to do to a gym. I started to go for long walks and worked on my nutrition again. I lost a little but not much. I finally got an exercise machine for home. When I started on the machine I could only do 5 to 10 minutes at a time. My hips hurt with arthritis and my feet hurt from the diabetes. I had to exercise several times a day every day in order to loose any weight. I have been working almost two years now to loose weight. I have six pounds to go to be able to get back on the transplant list.

My health is better. My hips do not hurt anymore as long as I continue to exercise. My feet have very little pain and I have a lot more energy. Loosing weight and all the exercise has not been easy. It is difficult sometimes to make time every day to work out. To keep on loosing I have had to put on one and half to two hours a day. I have to continue to watch my nutrition. All the hard work has been worth it because I feel so much better. I still plan on trying to get a transplant but this time I will continue to work just as hard to keep in shape after a transplant as I did to loose the weight. I believe constant exercise and proper nutrition will give me better chance of keeping a transplant and just feeling better. I love my life and want to live a long time.

Joyce
Age 56

Rick received a gym membership, personal trainer from the foundation

I am a 52 year old Electrical Engineer who was diagnosed with Global Focal Glomerularsclerosis in May 2002. At that time I weighed 340 pounds. When my kidneys failed on Janualry 2, 2005 my weight had ballooned to 420 pounds. After I left the hospital, ten days later, my weight was down to 365. I have since lost an additional 45 pounds, needing to lose another 50 to get to my transplant weight of 270 pounds.

Since I started working out at the YMCA, with the personal trainer that your foundation provided for, I have been walking 0.7 of a mile on the treadmill, and using the weight machines to exercise. I have discovered a new found energy and stamina that I didn’t have before, and I hope to be at my transplant weight by this spring.

Again, thanks for all the help in getting the personal trainer and in arranging for a treadmill. The picture is at Christmas with our Great Dane, Lady.

Rick T

Aaron received a gym membership, personal trainer from the foundation

I’ve had End Stage Renal Disease since I was four and had one kidney transplant in 1990 that lasted 11 years. I’ve been on dialysis for four years now and am waiting for another kidney transplant. My wife Tabitha and I have been married 9 years this past June, and she has been right beside me everyday. I draw inspiration from were I can and Shad Ireland has inspired me to do more. I recently started school this January and plan to get my Bachelors degree and even go on to get my Masters degree. Kidney dialysis doesn’t define who I am. I believe that I am more than a dialysis patient. It took me four years to realize that I’m sick; and not dieing and I can accomplish what I want. Shad Ireland has made me realize that I too can reach my goals.

Its individuals like Shad Ireland that are breaking the stereotypical mold of dialysis patients and inspiring others to deal, accept, and live.

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Richard will receive a block of personal training sessions from the foundation.

I was in a auto accident when I was 4 years old and suffered a spinal injury. That was in 1964. Part of one kidney was removed in order to reduce my blood pressure. Eventually I had to start hemo dialysis in 1994. I have been on dialysis since then. I have a 2 year degree in Business Administration and Accounting. I worked as a corporate accountant/Accounting Supervisor/Accounting Manager for a number of years. Currently I am unemployed and not looking for work. The social worker at the Elkhart Nephrology Inc facility encouraged me to apply.

Linda received a 1 year gym membership and some personal training sessions from the foundation.

My name is Linda and I am 60 years old. I am 5ft. tall and weigh 273 lbs. This is my personal story. I weighed 100 lbs. in the first grade. I have been heavy my whole life. My weight has never bothered me all of these years. I have always made it a point to be able to do what everyone else can do. I ran, played ball….. I made it a point to always exercise. I was very social in high school. I always went on dates, to dances, homecoming and other social events in high school. After school, I worked in 3 nursing homes as a nurse aide. I got married in 1972, weighing 183 lbs. One year into my marriage I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. I had a hysterectomy. Six months after the surgery my weight started to climb, I gained 100 lbs. Once this weight was on, I have never been able to get it off. Through all of this, my husband and I still adopted a baby girl named Michelle and later adopted another baby girl, Mary. I was a stay at home mother, often taking the girls to the park, zoo and riding bikes with them. However, my weight still kept going up I weighed 290lbs. when I was staying at home with the girls. I then had more surgeries on my hand for carpal tunnel syndrome, but my weight still climbed the scale. I tried everything, from diet pills to diet drinks. I was able to lose 75lbs., but it all came back through time. In fact my health took a turn for the worse, as I developed breathing problems, where I had been placed on oxygen. But with all of this, it made it hard to keep up with my girls and to keep up on the day to day activities of life. In fact one day, I fell asleep at the wheel, thankfully, my daughter Mary was able to grab the wheel, so no one was hurt. At this point, I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. I was given a c-pap machine to help with continuing airflow, but it was difficult for me to wear the machine. The sleep Apnea developed because of my weight gain. My sleep apnea was so bad, that I was not going out anymore driving, because of the possibility of me falling asleep. My husband would work evenings, so he could be at home to help during the day, when he would come home he would try to wake me up, but I would never wake up. The next morning, one of my daughters tried to wake me up but they too had no response from me. She kept trying to wake me, but them she went to get my husband and he too tried to wake me up again. He received no response as well. They quickly called 911, when the paramedics tried to wake me, they were unsuccessful as well. I was rushed to the hospital were they tried to resuscitate me several times. Many times, my heart would stop beating, but then I would be brought back. I was rushed in to immediate surgery and had a tube placed in my throat to help me breathe. My family was told that I would not make it long, that I only had a few hours to live. I was in bad shape. I had my minister and church family come to the hospital to pray for me. I was moved to intensive care where I was for a week. I was on a lot of machines that help me breathe. It was very difficult for me to breathe with out the machines; therefore I was place back in the ICU for another week, while still placed on the breathing machines. Because of all of these health problems I have had with my lungs and breathing, my kidneys became damaged and I had to begin dialysis. So now my focus is to lose weight and to gain some of my life back. My family does almost everything for me like cooking, cleaning, etc…. but I would like to do these things again. I am still wearing oxygen. My goal is to loose the weight and have an opportunity to have a transplant. I would like to gain back my life and I know that if I incorporate exercise back into my life, I will not only feel better now, but it will help with my dialysis and it will help get me closer to my goal of a transplant.

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John received a 1 year Gym membership from the foundation.

My name is John; I am a 63 year old. I have been on hemodialysis for three years, as of March 2007. My journey into renal failure began about a year and a half prior to beginning dialysis. I had a ruptured bowel, with peritonitis. That began a downward spiral of infections and eventually permanent renal failure. I am currently on the renal transplant list in Illinois, and will soon be on the list in Indiana.

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Joan received a 1 year Gym membership from the foundation.

Joan shared with us she would like to loose weight for a transplant. And her athletic interests are riding bike, walking on treadmills and weight training.

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Cipriano received a one year gym membership from the foundation.

My name is Cipriano; I came here from Mexico City, Mexico. In 1991 I was told I had diabetes and high blood pressure. Now I also have trouble with my eyes, some days I can see better than others, I am also a kidney dialysis patient and do hemodialysis three days a week.

Jerome received a stationary bike from the foundation.

Hi my name is Jerome. I started out as a diabetic and from there I got my leg amputated then my kidneys failed. I used to work out everyday until my kidneys started to fail. I took courses in Physical theory and Physical Training besides helping other people I’ve been helping myself.

Rita received a gym membership from the foundation.

My name is Rita; I have been a diabetic for over 40 years. During those years I have suffered many physical inabilities due to my health problems, such as; asthma (use of a apnea machine), breast cancer (right breast mastectomy), retina detachment (loss of left eye), neuropathy in legs, high blood pressure and congested heart failure. I have also been diagnosed with kidney failure. All of these diseases took part on the effect of my daily performance. I hope by writing this letter to ask that I may be recommended for long-term physical rehabilitation for my medical necessity to help improve my everyday physical and mental abilities to strengthen and encourage my daily living routines and activities.

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Lewis received a treadmill from the foundation.

I am legally blind and even though that complicates things my biggest obstacle is apathy and muscle weakness which is giving me bad circulation in my legs caused by dialysis. My doctors tell me that walking will help but because apathy is so bad right now walking far is hard. With a treadmill it would be a lot easier for me. I used to run, play football, and swim and box I won 3 Toledo Golden Glove Championships and fought professionally for 4 ½ years until I was forced to retire because of breaking my hand twice. I know that I will not be in competitive sports but I still want to get myself back in to shape.

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John received a stationary bike from the foundation.

In February 2008 my body swelled up to 242 lbs when my normal weight is about 195 lbs. I went to the doctor and was told that my body was retaining water. I was admitted into the hospital the same day. I was treated for 6 days and released, one day after I was released I couldn’t speak or stand and I was back in the hospital. I was in for 8 days and put on dialysis in the hospital. Now I come to the dialysis center 3 times a week, I plan to get on the transplant list but I was told that it could take up to five years.