the ki ney citizen
ally eel
walks and anything else that made me feel alive . My dog and I would walk for miles and then come home to a 30-minute game of catch . I was never a great athlete , but I loved to play the game . Just the thrill of participating was all I really needed . It was always exhilarating and I seemed to respond to physical activity . I have found that this feeling I get from exercise or activity of any kind , would serve me well over the years . When kidney disease was first thrust upon me it was like a kick in the face . I ’ m one of those patients who got completely caught off guard by this new challenge . I had no symptoms , wasn ’ t overweight , had never been diagnosed with diabetes and my blood pressure had never been a major problem . I was pretty active and I had actually never heard the term nephrology . Oh , how things can change . As a new patient , I traveled through all of the emotional and physical stages that any kidney patient experiences ; denial , anger , shock and so on . In the first two years following my diagnosis , I went through at least 6 surgeries , gained and lost a minimum 150 pounds of fluid , was informed I had contracted liver disease on top of my kidney problems , had my abdominal cavity drained
at least thirty times , lost my ability to walk , and , for about a three-month period of time , would take almost thirty minutes each night to get to my bed on the second floor of my house . Throughout all of this , I reminded myself of everything I ’ d learned about sports . It really is how you play the game , not if you always win . My first hurdle was to understand my problem and how it was affecting my body and could continue to affect me . I delved into kidney disease research , learning where it came from and how to get rid of it . That last problem became a big one as I learned you just don ’ t get rid of it . As my understanding increased and my health decreased , I looked back at what had worked for me in the past . What gave me peace ? What helped me relax and cope with life ’ s issues ? What kept my belief system in order and how did things turn out when I accomplished various milestones ? The answer was always exercise . Early in my illness , my muscle mass was severely impacted by both the disease and the drugs I was taking to control it . I had regularly exercised and could , just prior to my illness , lift weights for an hour and a half and then enjoy a good 30-minute work out on a tread mill . Within seven months of my early treatment regimen , I was lucky to curl soup cans as this was all my arms could handle . I eventually gave up on the lifting completely since I could no longer walk . My muscles atrophied a great deal , and if I got on the floor to play with my dog , it would take me 15-20 minutes to get back up and I usually had to hold on to something to accomplish this . I had to try and I had to believe and so , I did . Soup cans grew to be bean cans that turned into ½ gallons of water . My stairs became my built-in home gym . My wife began to help me learn to walk again , 5-10 feet at a time . It took three months for me to reach a point where I could walk a block from my house and get home again , in an hour . I ultimately ended up on dialysis and returned to my gym , 3 years after my journey started . I had gone to the same gym for over 6 years and knew everyone there . Nobody recognized me for weeks . I had changed in so many ways . Many fellow patients ask me why I so strongly believe in exercise as part of my regimen and I simply tell them where I was and where I am today . I just celebrated my 13-
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