Kidney's and Losing Weight

The Doctor's get concerned when a kidney patient loses weight.  So this morning Ken had to tighten up the notch on his belt to the next hole and weighed himself and he has lost 11 lbs and we know that they will be concerned about that on our next visit in September.  We have between now and then to get him to gain weight (I know ladies what a shame), but for him it is.  The issue is he has been more nauseous then usual (probably the medication).  We need to keep his levels stable for the transplant team to be happy with him, and that includes his weight.  Between him being nauseous, eating for kidney health that is going to be a difficult job.  He can also work out on the bowflex to build muscle (which increasing weight gain), but that also requires energy which he is lacking, especially after working each day. 

As of now there has been no movement on the kidney transplant and each passing day his kidney's don't get better, they get worse.  Maybe today we will put a call in to downtown to see what is happening on the file as it seems they need a little push.

Here's hoping to weight gain for him (not me), and movement downtown.

Give The Gift of Life Walk 2012

http://kidney.akaraisin.com/brampton12/cc4cad94184b4ca8981ecdfeeaa66b2a

We`ll be walking in the `Give the Gift of Life Walk 2012`again this year.  If you would like to sponsor me and my team to raise funds for a cause close to your `Kidney`please click the link above and it will bring you to the page where you can sponsor.

We thank each and everyone out there for your encouraging words, thoughts, and sponsorship throughout our fight with kidney disease.

Moment for your Kidney Thought

We are going through a roller coaster of emotions right now. 

We have a willing kidney donor which is really heaven sent we're sure! What angel would grant us with that one wish in life?  The moment where thought comes in, is how unselfish this person is.  Caring for another person as much as they do.  It amazes us!  Not that either of us are surprised by that gesture, and believe us if the shoe were on the other foot and this siutation presented itself, we too would be of mind to be a donor. 

In fact our daughter, who is to young to donate, but would have in a heartbeat (after all it is her Daddy), but a lesson has been taught to her through the kidney education classes as well as knowing that someone has come forward to create a better life for her Daddy and one day when of age she will be able to pay it forward if possible.

The moment of stress, is to know it's all out of our control.  All the Dr's appointments, tests, & meetings in the world for us we can organize, be on top of. However for a donor we cannot be involved, why you ask? We can not apply pressure to  the donor, which is totally understandable.  The one things that is frustrating is that the hospital team doesn't go about it all the right way.  No education to the donor to let the donor know that they have to be the one to contact the hospital to arrange the next steps (appointments, tests, etc).  The transplant team wants to know that the donor is really in it and truly wants to donate.  Who tells the donor this? In all the phamplets we have read it doesn't say that the donor does all the contacting to the transplant team, but somewhere between mind reading and talking to our own Kidney Specialist this is where the lessons have been learnt for us.

We are writing about the stress of it all, and hoping to help educate others in this situation, because knowledge is everything!

Praying for all those out there with similar situations as ours and hoping that this blog assists others in their endeavor with kidney diasease or organ transplant in general.

Keeping the Faith!

Kidney Update

Went to the Kidney Clinic today.  Levels are stable.  For those of you who understand Creatine levels 652 is the number, from 644 in March.....keeping blood pressure under control, watching the diet of pottassium and phosphorus, things are stable while we wait for a transplant.  Waiting being the hardest part of the process, it's all in time with the medical fields time, and being the inpatient person that I am it is hard.  You would think that the patient with kidney disease (my husband) would be more inpatient, but he goes on normally in his everyday life.  Not worrying, not stressing, which is probably part of the reason his levels are stable at the moment.  I stress and worry enough for the both of us. 

Keeping you up to date! :)

Flash Mob June 16 2012

Here is the flash mob we did today, what an experience shutting down an intersection.  Honking horns (cheering us on of coarse)!  Special thanks to our leader Skye Bowen who taught us all we know.  Want to be part of these flash mobs, or better yet join a Fuzion class go to http://www.fuzionworkout.com/

CANADA AM "Be A Donor" Special Features First One-On-One Post-Op TV Interview with Organ Donor Champion Hélène Campbell, May 25 on CTV | CNS

Need to set your PVR for this and follow @CTVCanadaAM on twitter and use the hash tag #beadonor
to understand what a transplant receipent, donor, donor's family and receipients family goes through!  I'll be PVRing it as well as following the twitter feed, will you?

CANADA AM "Be A Donor" Special Features First One-On-One Post-Op TV Interview with Organ Donor Champion Hélène Campbell, May 25 on CTV | CNS

Life Experiences & Opinions

I sometimes wonder why people think they are always right, have the right answer, think they know it all, do you?  I by no way have all the answers, and in fact the one thing I do know is that NOBODY I know does.  You may have certain life experiences that make you feel like you know better, but who says your way is better?  One can only try it their own way and if it works out for them, then more the power to ya! 

We all have different life experiences.  Some people have lost close loved ones, some have not.  Some have had close encounters themselves with death, some have not.  Some of very little family, others have a lot. Some have life altering illness, and some have not.  Some have had many jobs, and some have not.  All these different life experiences give you opinions on how things should be, not that they are right opinions for everyone, just for indivually YOU.

Imagine being told that you've been through far less then the next person, and that because what they've been through, that they know more.....how would you react to that?  Well let me tell you how I'll react to it............my life is different then yours, you do your thing and I'll do mine, and hopefully everything works out for all of us!

There are tons of books out there on how to better yourself, your life, your attitude etc, however the best book is your own.  Live life your own way, the best way you know how.  Remember to Encourage, Support and be Respectful to one another's beliefs, after all it's what you Believe that matters!

Goodbye Nana

Today we said Good-bye to my Nana.  Below is what my Aunt Cate read, which really felt like it was written for my Nana.

A Song Of Living

A Song Of Living - Amelia Josephine Barr

Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.
I have sent up my gladness on wings, to be lost in the blue of the sky.
I have run and leaped with the rain, I have taken the wind to my breast.
My cheek like a drowsy child to the face of the earth I have pressed.
Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.
I have kissed young Love on the lips, I have heard his song to the end,
I have struck my hand like a seal in the loyal hand of a friend.
I have known the peace of heaven, the comfort of work done well.
I have longed for death in the darkness and risen alive out of hell.
Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.
I give a share of my soul to the world, when and where my course is run.
I know that another shall finish the task I must leave undone.
I know that no flower, nor flint was in vain on the path I trod.
As one looks on a face through a window, through life I have looked on God,
Because I have loved life, I shall have no sorrow to die.

Remembering My Nana...Rest In Peace

A slideshow of my Nana throughout her life.  She passed away on April 19, 2012 leaving a lot of memories behind.  She also left many family members who loved her dearly.  Such a special lady who I was fortunate enough to spend so much time with. On May 9, 2012 she will be laid to rest in peace. xo

Thinking of Life

Sometimes I just sit and think about how much has gone on in my life.  Some of it not so great and some of it so great!  Sometimes that not so great feels like more then the great stuff, but I really know it's not.  I realize I need to rise above all of these awful things and hold onto all the goodness my life brings.  We has human beings think things should be all roses, but if we try to look at all the positive things that come out of the negative we'd all feel better.

Although I have lost a lot in my life, my Mom, Dad, Grandparents, I still need to realize the gifts that these people gave me.  They gave me Amazing memories!  I've shared some great things with them and although they are gone now, they are memories we speak about all the time in our house.  From what they didn't like to eat and what they did, expressions they used, and the things that would make us laugh so much you'd almost wet yourself!  These are the times that need reflection. 

Ever thought about once your gone?  I have, and I don't want people to be sad, miserable, depressed.  I want people to remember me as the honest, loving, caring and funny person I know that I give to many people's lives, and I want all the people I know and love to be happy and live life to the fullest with no regrets!  And I'm thinking most want that to, and I believe that's what all the people I've lost wanted for me.

So go out there make memories, enjoy each other, the housework will wait until tomorrow, or the day after that, or the day after that!  Remember to live, laugh, love! xo

March 5, 1920 - April 19, 2012

What is important about 1920? This lady in the picture was born,
who knew that she would end up being my Nana? Well I'm certainly glad that she was! She was a special lady to me. We had a lot of laughs through the years of growing up. I was lucky to have her in my life for such a long time, and that she was always there in it with her full mind. My parents were amazing people, always had my Nana fly over here, or we did many family trips to visit her over seas, the Ocean is huge, but never kept the relationship I had with her very far apart.

Tonight I came home to find out that she passed away today. She's been waiting for her husband (who passed 39 years ago) to come take her with him, she'd be waiting forever she'd say. She lost my Aunt Sue (her daughter-in-law) 19 years ago, and lost my Mom (her other daughter-in-law) 9 years ago, and lost my Dad (her son) 9 year sago as well. This woman was amazing! Fought through all the sad times, and yet still came out the other side with a brave face and smile. She always would say, when is he coming for me, which was my Grandad, I would always tell her they aren't ready yet to get the party started, Once the party is ready, he'll come. And he did today, April 19 , 2012. She had always said that she hoped she would just fall asleep and that would be it, and that's what happened!

Although I know she was 92, my heart breaks, another piece of me is gone. I've had a lot of loss in my life, and as I'm always told, "you only get thrown at you what you can handle", well I'd say this is enough.

What I'll miss the most are my Saturday morning cups of tea with her. Every Saturday morning I would make a cup of tea and give her a call in England, I looked forward to my Saturday's with her, we would laugh, cry, tell stories, it was special to me and I know it was to her as well.

Since my Dad passed away I've made her the centre of my family, she was the tie to my parents, a huge part of my life. I'll miss her laugh, her cheeky ways, her telling me off, her stories, her!

Last time I saw her in November 2011, she told me not to cry when she did go, just like every other time I left her, but the tears will not stop as I write this, sorry Nana!

She was admitted to hospital at the beginning of February this year with an infection, and she did get better, was put in a respite care for rehabilitation, and in the past couple of weeks she admitted she could not go back to living on her own and choose to go into a home. On Monday of this week my Uncle and Aunt moved her into a home in which she stayed 3 nights, then fell asleep to go to her party!

Hope the party was worth waiting for Nana, you will be greatly missed! I love you! xo We love you! xox0

I was very lucky to have the oppotunity to go visit her a lot, these are some pictures over some of the years! I'd have to pull other pics to scan see there wasn't digital for all the other times! :)

BramptonGuardian Article: Brampton home to Ontario’s first kidney wellness centre

BramptonGuardian Article: Brampton home to Ontario’s first kidney wellness centre

Great to see progress for Kidney Wellness in Ontario. Brampton has the highest growth rates in dialysis patients in Ontario. Power of Postive Thinking and Prayer!

A New Challenge For Me

Tonight I did my first ever run/walk with my daughter. 1.74 miles, in 23 minutes.....I'm not looking to make it a race, I'm looking to get out there and exercise more.....you know heart health, feel good health! Even better I can do this with my daughter.

My daughter is a lover of track & field and cross country running, although I was at a slower pace then her, she was a wonderful encourager. Her track & field meet will be the end of May beginning of June so this will help her, especially since she normally makes the long distance running.

Although I had to walk on and off I think I did rather well for me! I had a heart problem growing up and was unable to run without passing out, and I had to watch everything I did that put a strain on my heart. The Dr cleared me to be able to excercise freely 11 years ago, and it took me 10 years to get myself out there and start to exercise. Over the past 15 months I've been going to Fuzion, which I really enjoy. So I'll be still going to Fuzion twice per week, but now I will try and add running a few times per week as well.

Thank you to my friend Bev who got me out to Fuzion that one night, thanks to Skye for being an enthusiastic instructor at Fuzion to make me want to continue going, thanks to all the new people I've met there that make it that much easier to go, thank you to my wonderful daughter who is my number one fan, and most of all thank you to my husband who enables me to do all that I can do!

Sickness

I have not been myself for a week now, I have been sick. But not my usual, chest, sinus or ear infection, it's a weird feeling. Today I started feeling dizzy (vertigo), sweats, body aches......weird! I have missed Fuzion so much (3 classes so far), which brings me down. I'm hoping that Thursday finds me feeling better and I'm able to start back at it. Nothing beats a great workout to make my mind feel better, and not to mention seeing all the people I've met there over the past year!

Mother-In-Law

My Mother-In-Law was taken to hospital on Saturday by ambulance, the Dr's are saying it was a very bad infection. Yesterday evening she had a heart attack. She lives so far away it is difficult for us, especially for my husband. She is 86 years young, and really had no ailments her entire life. She has had many children, and is married to a wonderful man. Praying that she will heal and get back home to her soulmate! xo

Fuzion Event - David Suzuki Football Team

A Fuzion event to raise money for the David Suzuki Football Team is scheduled for April 14, 2012 at Royal Orchard Middle School in Brampton. It will run from 5 pm - 7 pm. The minimum donation is $10 per adult, $5.00 per student.

Have you ever been to Fuzion? It's a lot of fun! It's excercise, but yes it's fun! Have you ever thought you could say excercise and fun in the same moment? Well come out and try Fuzion, you may just get hooked on it like I did!

Join Skye Bowen with her enthusiastic way to help the kids use their talents towards their football team!

Kidney Clinic Visit

Went to the Kidney Clinic today. Creatnine levels are up slightly, all other levels are normal. Watching the diet is proving to assist the stablizing of the levels. Reading everything there is to learn about Kidney Disease so I'm more informed of what to encounter. Dialysis hasn't been mentioned to start yet, but it might be close, around the corner. I know the Nephrologist is hoping for a transplant before needing dialysis. The Dr is great, fantastic, considerate and compassionate, all what is needed in a Nephrologist! We keep praying that things will turn out right, positive prayer will keep us in the right direction.

Also Remember to register yourself at Be A Donor on line, you could save a life of someone you love!

March Break 2012

We went to our Old Faithful, Jamaica. If you have never been to Jamaica you need to make a point of going! Jamaica are full of wonderful people, food and culture you won't be disappointed!

Happy New Year 2012!

2012 rang in quite quietly, but very welcomed.

2011 was a year full of go, go, go. There was never a dull moment, and it is full of memories. Overcame obstacles that I challenged myself with.

This year 2012 will bring many challenges, emotional times, but most of all hope.

Stay tuned for this roller coaster ride called..............The 2012 Challenge!