Zach Tremblay and his mother, Jana, arrived in Kelowna on Monday evening, and the 17-year-old underwent surgery on Tuesday morning.
He was in recovery later in the afternoon, at which time Jana reported:
“He is alert and awake with some pain.”
Zach and his family live in Robson, B.C., across the Columbia River from Castlegar. He is in need of a kidney transplant — would you consider helping? — and had been doing peritoneal dialysis (PD) on a nightly basis at home. However, it began to lose its effectiveness late in 2019, so he and Jana ended up at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver early in January and he was transitioned to hemodialysis.
Back home, he has been travelling to Trail, which is about 30 minutes from Robson, for his dialysis runs. After his Monday run, Zach and Jana left for Kelowna.
On Tuesday, doctors inserted a fistula, which will make doing hemodialysis easier, while also removing his PD catheter.
Zach was becoming more alert as Tuesday afternoon wore on, and Jana was hoping that he would be released so that they could spend the night with relatives in Kelowna. Either way, Zach is scheduled for a run this morning (Wednesday) in Kelowna.
“We will see how he’s feeling and decide whether to come home, or stay one more night,” Jana wrote on Facebook.
She closed with: “We sure appreciate each and every one of you loving and supporting our family.”
UPDATE: Zach was released from hospital last night, so he and Jana are overnighting with relatives in Kelowna. He will do a dialysis run this morning at 7:30. If he is feeling well enough after that, they will head for home. Otherwise, they will remain in Kelowna for the day to allow him to rest.
What follows is a note received recently by a kidney donor from the person who has a new lease on life having received that kidney:
“Thinking of you today. Anniversary of my Kidney is here again. A huge thank you for your willingness and your sacrificial donation. You are the angel that just showed up and caused my life to thrive again. Blessings to you!
“I am healthy and things are going well.
“Praying you are doing well.
“May God’s love and protection surround you and your family.”
Yes, I get a lump in my throat and things get a little dusty when I read things like that because Dorothy and I have driven that same road. There are no words to explain how much that gift of life means.
Meanwhile, the Backmeyers continues to explore Vancouver’s waterfront between having to get Ferris, 3, to B.C. Children’s Hospital for her dialysis runs.
Ferris, you’ll recall, was doing peritoneal dialysis at home in Kamloops when an infection reared its ugly head and brought all of that to a screeching halt. Her PD catheter was removed because of the infection, and she has been doing hemodialysis for the past couple of weeks.
However, Ferris has had some struggles with hemo, and her mother, Lindsey, reports that “we have a surgery date for a new PD cath and it’s a week sooner than we were originally told.”
That surgery now is scheduled for July 27. If all goes well, Lindsey says Ferris will be admitted on July 26 and “should only be in a couple of days before being outpatient again.
“It’s hard to imagine having to go through this surgery again . . . and the recovery, but at this point I just want to bring her home.”
If you are interested in being a living kidney donor, more information is available here:
Living Kidney Donor Program
St. Paul’s Hospital
6A Providence Building
1081 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC V6Z 1Y6
Tel: 604-806-9027
Toll free: 1-877-922-9822
Fax: 604-806-9873
Email: donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca
TAKING NOTE 