I have End Stage Renal Disease due to diabetes.  As the disease progressed and my health declined, I was told by my physicians I would be a good candidate for a kidney transplant.  And after much research and discussions with my husband, I started the process of being listed.  After many tests, many conversations with my insurance company, a lot of patients and waiting, I was listed at the University of Michigan and the Ohio State University Medical Centers.  I was told I would have a five to seven year wait due to my blood type.  In the mean time my health continued to decline and I began dialysis in March of 2006.  Dialysis was not easy.  My fistula clotted after three uses.  I had a perm cath inserted and another fistula surgery.  I continued to work full time while on dialysis.  Dialysis was helping but I still did not feel well.  I was losing my hair, not able to eat or keep anything down and I was always tired.  Someone above was watching over me.  After 7 months on dialysis, I got the call from Ohio State University; they had a kidney for me.  I told my husband not to get his hopes up, it could be a dry run and I possibly might not get the kidney.  We made the four hour drive to Columbus in three hours and I got the kidney!  The kidney (I call it Ted) has worked all along- no more dialysis!  But the three month recovery period turned into seven months.  I had several complications: shortness of breath, CHF, fluid retention, a small hernia and a bowl obstruction.  Now with all of these taken care of, I feel almost normal again.  I have started back to work. (Then I fell and broke my shoulder, ouch but that will heal)   My physicians, Dr. John Dyer and then Dr. Thomas Pintar kept me in good health so I was ready for the call when a kidney was available.  It is now up to me to be in good health and be fit and keep the new kidney working.  (Of course I still need the help for Dr. Pintar) A treadmill will enable me to get my daily walk in no matter what the Ohio weather throws my way.   I am truly blessed with a wonderful husband and family, great physicians and a new kidney.  It is now up to me to live the best life. 

 

My name is Thorsten M.  I was born in Germany on April 2, 1966.  In 1967 My family and I immigrated to Ashland, Ohio.  I grew up in the quiet town of Ashland and loved to play soccer.  Unfortunately at the age of 14, I was diagnosed with diabetes.  It changed my life forever.  I spent 4 weeks in the hospital learning to manage this disease.  I had to learn to give myself injections and check for blood sugar in my urine.  It is so much easier now with a drop of blood on a test strip.

During the following years my diabetes was never in good control.  As a result I had serious eye problems that required wall-to-wall laser surgeries in both eyes. I had a cataract removed and all of the vitreous jelly removed from my left eye.  I now wear prescription glasses with bifocals for reading.  Reading is one of the things that I enjoy very much.

In the early 90’s, I developed serious back problems and could no longer stand or walk for long periods of time.  Because of this I couldn’t work or stay in college.  It was also in the mid 90’s that my kidneys were beginning to fail.  This meant I could no longer enjoy my favorite pastime of playing and coaching soccer.

My kidneys failed at an alarming rate.  My feet and legs became so swollen that I couldn’t wear my shoes and socks.  I had to take water pills and wear elastic socks to help keep the water from pooling in my legs and feet. Every day I felt sick and threw up. I could do very few activities.  As a result my weight climbed to over 400 lbs.  Now I not only had diabetes I also had high blood pressure.

In January 2001 I had a catheter put into my chest and was finally put on dialysis.  In February I had surgery to put a fistula in my left upper arm.  It took months for it to heal and mature.  After the catheter became infected, I was hospitalized and it was removed.  That is when we began to use the fistula.

One day my doctor asked me if I would be interested in training for home hemodialysis.  The nearest dialysis unit that had a home hemodialysis program was in Marion, Ohio.  It is over an hour drive from our home.  The other drawback was that my mother would have to perform most of the dialysis responsibilities.  She learned to test the water, set up the machine, stick the needles into my fistula, and put me on and monitor me during my run.  After the treatment she learned to remove the needles, clamp my sites and put the machine through the cleaning cycles.  My mother is in her 60’s and this was difficult for her, but after 4 months 3 times a week we completed our training.  We began at home on January 2003.

My fistula was doing its job too well.  It was taking the blood flow away from my hand and fingers and causing a lot of pain.  The doctor tried to bypass the blood flow to create circulation to my hand but this failed.  Eventually they had to tie off the fistula and put a catheter in.  Then they put a new fistula in my right arm.  It worked well but I had the same problem with stealing of the blood to my hand.  Unfortunately, I got a third degree burn on my right ring finger.  Because I didn’t have enough blood flow to that finger it didn’t heal.  I had to have half of the finger amputated.  A new bypass of my fistula was created and it is currently working well without problems.

Currently I am running my treatments incenter because my mother fell and broke her wrist.  I will be coming to treatment at Mansfield Kidney Center for at least 4-6 weeks.

I would like to get a kidney transplant but I am not a candidate because of my weight.  I have been watching what I eat and drink and have joined a physical work out program.  I have lost over 70 pounds and I feel a lot better and I am more mobile.  I plan to continue to work to loose more.

My goal is to loose the weight so I can get on the kidney/pancreas transplant list.  Then my mother will not have to do my dialysis 3 times a week and I hope that I will be able to coach soccer again.

It was October 2003, like so many Friday nights before, I found myself at the local high school football game.  Only this night was different, I could barely walk without losing my breath.  After going to the doctor, I was started on allergy medicine for what the doctor believed to be allergies and asthma.  Things did not change, and shortly thereafter I found myself having to stop and rest in the halls of the high school where I was a senior English teacher for 26 years.

The doctor then sent me to my GYN for an evaluation of my amenia.  The thought was internal bleeding.  At that appointment I was found to be in kidney failure and rushed to the hospital.  It was there, I was told I needed hemodialysis.  Being very shocked and scared, my thoughts flashed to my mother who had died of kidney failure.  I had thoughts of declining dialysis, but while out of it, I had a vision of my deceased grandmother shaking her head no.  I thought of my six year old son, who I knew I needed to raise.  I just could not die, so hemodialysis became my life!

I continued to teach for about a year, until it become too much both mentally and physically.  Now, almost 4 years later, I have hopes of getting a kidney transplant and resuming my life without dialysis.  A beloved friend and former student have agreed to donate her kidney and we were found to be a perfect match.  My only problem is I need to lose weight prior to the surgery.

This has been a big challenge!  The battle sometimes seems impossible, coupled with the depression that dialysis has brought along with it.  It is a daily struggle, but meeting Shad Ireland and knowing that somebody believes in me enough to give me a grant for fitness to aid in my weight loss has been a boost of spirit!  My family stands behind me and will cheer me though the challenge ahead.

Shad,

My first day of exercise with my trainer was outstanding!

I must admit I was apprehensive to the point of fear.  Quite honestly, after three years of lounging in bed and watching television my only activity, I did not know what to expect of my body.  And that fear, the unknown, can be one of the worst fears to face.

I felt empowered after my training session.  Rather than sleep, I took my ten year-old son swimming for two hours.

I have set two goals.  The first one is obvious- lose weight so I can be transplanted.  The second?  I went to play tennis in the Transplant Games next summer.

Thanks for the support and example of true courage.  I’m getting my life back!

Jami

Earnest Jr. was born on May 31st, 1963 in Escambia County, Pensacola, Florida.  He is the only child of Margelene and his now deceased father, Earnest Sr. He was raised in Pensacola by his grandparents while his mother went to Cleveland, Ohio to find work.

He attended Brownsville Middle School and for high school, Woodham High School.  He graduated from high school in May, 1981.  He was also enrolled in JROTC in high school, where he then went to the US Army in November, 1982.  He had basic training at Ft. Dix, New Jersey and attended AIT in Ft.

Jackson, South Carolina in 1983.  He was trained to be an Administrative Clerk, which he served for 5 years in the US Army.  He also went to Fulda, Germany for a year and a half.  He left Germany and proceeded to his next duty station, which was Ft. Myer, Virginia in 1984.

While in the military, he married his current wife, Lillie.  They met while both being stationed at Ft. Myer, Virginia.  

They have been married for 20 years and 5 children; their oldest daughter is currently in the military, stationed at Ft. Polk, Louisiana.  Earnest was released from the military in 1987 and lived in Virginia for approximately 6 months.  Due to financial constraints, he took his family to live in Cleveland, Ohio, where his mother was currently living.

He worked at several companies in Ohio until he landed a job working at Kaiser Permanente, where he worked for 8 years.  He was being treated for high blood pressure his whole life and it became worse in 2003-2004.  He was diagnosed with End Stage Renal Disease in April of 2004.  He became permanently disabled as he started dialysis in August of 2004.  He goes 3 days a week, 5 hours each day.  He is a candidate for a transplant and hopes that at some point this will be possible.  It has been a struggle for him and his family, as his wife lost her job 2 years ago and has her own personal struggle as well, being newly diagnosed with diabetes in August of 2005.

Earnest is a strong man and is very family oriented.  He and his family attend church as often as possible, have as much family time as they can, and enjoy traveling as much as possible. Earnest enjoys playing lead and bass guitar for his local gospel quartet group, The Fantastic Spriritual Believers.  He is a god fearing man and believes that all though life gives you lemons, you just take them and make lemonade.  He and his wife have raised 5 children throughout all the struggles, where two of them will be graduating form high school this year, with one goingto college hopefully in the fall of 2006.

Since starting dialysis in 2003, Patrick has been determined to be pro-active and not allow kidney failure to dominate his life. He decided early on that he wanted a transplant and is now on the list at Ohio State University for a kidney and pancreas.

Recently the University called him for a possible match. He and his two brothers and mother made the two and a half hour trip to Columbus only to find when they got there that the organs would go to another recipient. Many people would have focused on the disappointment but Patrick put a characteristically positive spin on the experience. He told us he was grateful for the dry run because he had been very nervous about what would happen if he received a call. Now he knows the drill and he can relax. Patrick and his family are ready to go again anytime.
 
Patrick never takes anything for granted and tells the staff at the dialysis center how much he appreciates their help and concern. He also has a loyal circle of friends and a very supportive family. He likes to spend time with his young niece and nephew and follow their school sports programs along with the Ohio State teams. Exercise is important to him, particularly walking. This spring along with several other patients, he signed on to Dr. Pintar’s team in the Fort  Wayne ‘One Million Miles’ effort. He wears a pedometer and records his steps daily. The treadmill he received from the Shad Ireland Foundation will not only be a great help for the competition but also for all the times when it is too cold or wet to walk outdoors.
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I got the bike today and it is a nice one indeed. Thank you. I will go out to the YMCA next week as Dr. Pintar said that someone there should know about me.
I enjoyed hearing you speak. You have learned one of life’s hard lessons…the surest way to win a fight is to get up one more time than they knock you down. I have an example so now all I have to do is try to live up to it.


Keep well, Mel

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I just wanted to keep in touch. I can not tell you how much Im love the bike. It makes it easier to get around and is perfect for pure recreation and conditioning. I have not been able to get to the Y as much as I have wanted. My fistula clotted off. The new access didn't devolp and needed an angioplasty. I also have been hospitalized twice with pemacath infections. The good news is that my weight is down, breathing is better, and I have been averaging about 6 miles a day on the bike.

Mel

I applied for this grant because after reading about Shad's life challenges I thought I would try to strengthen myself and feel better all around. As dialysis patents we are told that we are limited and unable to live a normal life. But what part of life is normal? All of us have something that effect's our everyday living. For me it's not having kidney function. But with the choice of dialysis I can live a normal life, Just include 12 hour's a week devoted to cleaning my blood. In exchange I was able to see my son grow up. I have been on dialysis for fourteen year's. I found out my kidney's were failing the same day I found out I was pregnant. A joyful and sad day. But with the help of positive doctors and family members I had my healthy son. I'm now 46 year's old and had bypass surgery last year. I want to get on a regular fitness program so I can get out and do even more thing's than I thought I couldn't do. So thanks to this grant I have a treadmill. I'm just starting out but I've already strengthened my legs. I think I'll be leaving my Husband behind in the mall instead of me being behind him. Thank you for giving me this chance to better my outlook on life with out kidney function.

Lillian

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