I had the privilege of meeting Shad Ireland when he visited the dialysis center in Biloxi, Mississippi; he will never know what an impact his visit had on me. It gave me hope that I was not doomed to never be able to do the things that I had done in the past.  I am 62 years old and up until about 5 years ago, I was very physically fit and active working full time and able to keep my large yard perfectly landscaped which was one of my passions. I was always able to go non-stop and do any physical activity and was very active socially as well. I would like to give you a little history on my problems. In August, 2002, I had cancer surgery which required removal of part of my upper lip and part of my nose and extensive reconstructive surgeries in New Orleans, LA, then had radiation treatments for 7 weeks in Mobile, Alabama. This went on for almost a year. Almost immediately after recovering from cancer, I developed further serious health issues and was very weak, tired and had to drag my self to work everyday, which I did and just collapsed when I got home everyday and was unable to do anything else other than go to work everyday. In March of 2004, I was referred to a blood specialist at a Cancer Center for possible leukemia.  Extensive testing was done, including a bone marrow biopsy which was extremely painful and expensive.  After this and many other tests, I was diagnosed with Myelodysplasia Syndrome, a blood disorder for which there is no cure just treatment. I had treatments and blood work every week or two at the Cancer Center until August, 2005.After Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, I did not go back to the cancer center, due to damage there and my own personal damage at my work and my home. In September, 2005, I became ill and had to go to the emergency room, and subsequently to my regular doctor, who immediately referred me to a nephrologist who diagnosed me with chronic kidney failure with only 20% kidney function, which I had all along but which was misdiagnosed. Subsequently, I became totally disabled, was placed on the kidney transplant lists at the UAB in Birmingham and Tulane. I was physically unable to do anything, as I have severe anemia as a result of the kidney failure. It has been very trying on me to be unable to do anything that I have done in the past and to watch my wife and family trying to do the things I had always taken care of in the past.
In May, 2007, I became uremic and had to begin hemodialysis, which did not work well for me, there where problems with my fistula, blood clots, etc. After about three weeks, I started on peritoneal dialysis at my home, doing exchanges four times a day. This has worked wonderful for me, after working out some expected kinks and finally I am beginning to get some energy and strength back. Now after having severe problems with my knee, testing has revealed that the bone marrow is deteriorating in my knee, which they say is common in kidney failure. This has slowed down my improving physical ability and am having to walk with a cane. I am waiting for knee brace which they say will help the pain in walking and also will help the bone marrow heal. Sorry to go into so many details, but I really wanted you to have the full picture. I was so encouraged after talking with Shad, and I believe if I had some equipment to put in the room where I do my PD treatments that I could exercise and become more physically fit. I also have gained weight since I have become so physically limited and believe that if I had the exercise equipment in my home that I could also loose some weight. I am unable to go the gym to exercise as I need to be home for my exchanges four times a day and since I have becoming disabled, our income has been cut in half and we have enormous medical bills which we will be paying for years to come and cannot afford to buy an exercise equipment at this time.

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