Author: greggdrinnan

Kamloops family given OK to search for kidney donor for daughter . . . Ferris Backmeyer, at 2-1/2, in need of transplant

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Ferris Backmeyer joined her father, Pat, along with Dorothy Drinnan (left) and Margaret Thompson for the ceremonial faceoff at a Kamloops Blazers game on Feb. 1. (Photo: Allen Douglas/Kamloops This Week)

If you were in attendance on Feb. 1 as the Kamloops Blazers played host to the Prince George Cougars, you may have seen Ferris Backmeyer at centre ice.

Ferris took part in the ceremonial face-off prior to what was the second annual RE/MAX Presents: WHL Suits Up with Don Cherry to Promote Organ Donation game.

Ferris and her father, Patrick, were at centre ice, along with Dorothy Drinnan and Margaret Thompson, two women who have grown to be close friends since both have had kidney transplants.

Ferris and her family are hopeful that she soon will join that club, too.

Yes, Ferris, who is 2-1/2 years of age, needs a kidney, and her mother, Lindsey, has turned to Facebook to announce that the search for a donor officially is underway. In other words, potential donors now are able to contact the Living Kidney Donor Program at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver

Ferris
Ferris Backmeyer, at 2-1/2 years of age, is in need of a kidney transplant. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

First, though, you should get to know Ferris, who made quite an impression when she and her father joined us a while back for a gathering of the Kamloops Kidney Support Group.

Michael Potestio of Kamloops This Week wrote about Ferris in April 2018.

“A few weeks after she was born,” Potestio wrote, “Ferris, now 14 months old, was informally diagnosed with Mainzer-Saldino syndrome, a disorder characterized by kidney disease, vision loss and misshapen bones.

“The disease is caused by gene mutations and is so rare there are only about 20 known cases, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
“After she was born, Ferris wasn’t gaining weight and subsequent blood work showed abnormalities with her kidneys and liver.”

At that time, Lindsey told Potestio:

“The scariest part in the first few weeks was we didn’t know what was going on. And she was admitted to (B.C.) Children’s Hospital back when she was three weeks old and nobody really knew what was going on.

“It’s a bit disconcerting when the medical professionals can’t give you a diagnosis for your kid.”

Genetic testing later confirmed the diagnosis, and it wasn’t long before Ferris’s kidneys failed.

The Backmeyers, who also have two older daughters, have spent a lot of time at BCCH in Vancouver with Ferris, especially in the early days of kidney failure as medical staff got her started on dialysis. She has been doing peritoneal dialysis (PD) and it took a lot of testing to see just how much of the dialysis fluid her body comfortably could hold. Ferris now has been doing PD at home for 18 months.

In PD, the patient is hooked up to a cycler every night — yes, seven nights a week — and fluids are used to absorb and drain toxins from the body via a catheter that is implanted in the peritoneal cavity. The patient carries fluid all day in that cavity, then repeats the draining process nightly.

Ferris has struggled to gain weight, which has complicated her situation. She needs to get to 10 kilograms before a transplant can take place.

But now it seems that she is making progress in that area.

Lindsey recently posted this on Facebook:

“We just got back from B.C. Children’s Hospital from one of our biggest trips ever and it was the first time I didn’t have (husband) Pat with me the whole time and first solo trip back with a 2 year old that doesn’t nap!

“She let them do all the things and the only tears we saw were with labs. She had the patience of a saint and literally seemed to be handling things better than I was. Hours of different consultations, 2 sets of labs, a bunch of X-rays, a dentist appointment and a hearing test!

“The initial screening for kidney transplant has officially begun!

“Little miss remains on the lowest side for weight and height that they will transplant, and growth has slowed again considerably. Praying for more growth!

“As for the donor part of things, we have been given the go-ahead to have any interested donors contact the St. Paul’s living donor program at 604-806-9027, citing Ferris as the intended donor.

“Her blood type is ‘B’ but they encourage all interested donors to contact St. Paul’s directly. They then mail out a package.

“Ferris’s side of the process is completely separate from the donor side and the donor side is 100 per cent up to the donor. We have been told the donor process can take just as long as the transplant workup for Ferris, so starting the search now is recommended.

“I am sharing this publicly because I want to get the word out. She deserves to live a healthy life and we are sooo ready to move on to the next phase. Social media has proven to be successful and altruistic donors is totally a thing! So let’s do it!! Let’s find Ferris a kidney!!”

Understand that you don’t have to be a match in order to help Ferris get a kidney. If you aren’t a match, the Living Donor Paired Exchange program will be used to match you with another donor/recipient pair in a similar situation.

The age and size of a donor isn’t a big deal, either. What is important is the health of the donor and his/her kidneys.

There is more information available right here at Providence Health Care’s website.

If you are interested in more contact information, here you go:

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

In Saskatchewan and thinking about being a living kidney donor? . . . Here’s some info for you . . .

Dorothy and I were in Regina the other night to spend time with good friends who lived across the street from us when we lived in the Saskatchewan capital.

Their son, who is experiencing kidney failure and recently began hemo-dialysis, was there, too.

There were a whole lot of questions and answers, and here’s hoping we were able to help.

At the same time, we are hopeful that we were able to start him down the road to a kidney transplant. A friend of his has said that he is more than willing to be a donor in order to help him get a kidney, but neither of them was at all certain about how to begin the process.

So I did a bit of research and found a really good website belonging to the Saskatchewan Health Authority. This site includes an online brochure that features a lot of good information for anyone thinking about being a kidney donor, regardless of their location.

That page is right here and it’s well worth a look.

As well, if you are living in Saskatchewan, and thinking about being a living donor, you may contact:

Saskatchewan Transplant Program

St. Paul’s Hospital

1702 20th Street West 

Saskatoon, SK  S7M 0Z9

1-306-655-5054

Or email: SHAlivingdonation@saskhealthauthority.ca  

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There also is a Regina office:

Kidney Health Centre

235 Albert St. North

Regina SK, S4R 3C2

1-306-766-6477

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There also is a blurb on that site that reads:

“About 90 people in Saskatchewan are currently waiting for a kidney transplant. On average, they will wait 2.8 years for a kidney — that’s 437 dialysis treatments per person. Please offer hope by talking to your family about organ and tissue donation.”

If you are considering being a donor, do the research and make a decision. Someone’s life may depend on it.

Also . . . always remember that there isn’t a cure for kidney disease. A transplant isn’t a cure, but it does allow the recipient to have a much better quality of life.

Scattershooting on a Wednesday night and, hey, it’s George Reed’s birthday . . .

Scattershooting

Hey, we’re scattershooting from the road so we’re doing some catching up . . .

You know that you might be in Regina when you pick up a copy of The Leader-Post and the major headline above the fold reads: RIDER LEGEND HITS 80. . . . And the sports section front and second page are both all George Reed all the time. . . . Hey, not complaining. Just sayin’ . . . Hey, George, happy birthday and here’s to many more!

Brad Flynn is an assistant coach with the WHL’s Red Deer Rebels. His fiancee, Christine, was diagnosed with breast cancer in April and is undergoing treatment. The other day, all of the Rebels players had their heads shaved in a show of support for her. Well done, Rebels! Well done! You can bet that really means a lot of Christine and Brad.

When old friend Bob Ridley walked into the broadcast booth in the ENMAX Centre in Lethbridge a couple of Friday’s ago, he began his 50th season of calling the play-by-play of games involving the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. . . . Going into the game, the Tigers had played 3,936 regular-season, playoff and Memorial Cup games, and Ridley had been on the air for 3,935 of them. (Yes, there’s a story behind the game he missed and it involves women’s curling. Ask him about it the next time you see him.) . . . As blogger Darren Steinke points out, “If you called 80 games a season . . . for 49 campaigns, you would still fall short of Ridley’s current total.” . . . And let’s not forget that Ridley was the Tigers’ bus driver for the vast majority of those seasons, too. . . . Steinke has more right here in a blog posting.

Here’s a plug for old friend Dickson Liong’s podcast — Two Peas in a Pod . . . cast. He and Jon Guarin talk about, in Liong’s own words, “topics that society is afraid to talk about, including mental health, relationships and everyday struggles.” . . . Check it out right here.

Headline at TheOnion.com: Tearful Justify holds press conference blaming failed drug test on contaminated salt lick.

IceCream

Thanks to Rod Pedersen, whose new show is available via Facebook, for the kind words: “The WHL and CFL lost two huge media figures when Gregg Drinnan and Drew Edwards walked away from their blogs (Taking Note and 3DownNation). They left for different reasons, but now a huge hole has been created in coverage of both leagues. 3DownNation will be okay because Justin Dunk has assumed control but as far as the Dub goes, there will never be another Gregg Drinnan. He doesn’t just belong in a Hall of Fame for WHL Writers; it should be named after him. Teams and head offices sometimes saw these guys as a pain, but we’re going to see now why the media is so important to what happens on the field, the ice, in the stands and at the turnstiles.”

From Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “For you big believers in Bad Things Happen in Threes, Ben Roethlisberger (elbow) is out for the Steelers, Drew Brees (thumb) is out for the Saints and Christie Brinkley (broken arm) is out for Dancing With The Stars.”

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One more from Perry: “The Cowboys opened as 20-point favorites over the Dolphins earlier this season— the largest opening spread in 30 years. Stealing a page from the college-football book, Miami asked to be paid a $950,000 appearance fee.”

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Perry, again: “The NCAA banned Georgia Tech’s basketball team from postseason play for one year because boosters provided impermissible benefits to a recruit — including clothing and a strip-club visit. Which certainly puts a whole new spin on ‘shirts and skins’.”

Can anyone explain how ex-Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon became so dumb so quickly? As Jack Finarelli, aka The SportsCurmudgeon, writes: “Joe Maddon’s teams in Chicago accumulated a five-season record of 471-340, which is a winning percentage of .581. To put that in perspective, there are 25 managers in the Baseball Hall of Fame whose career records are below .581.”

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If you haven’t already read it, Steve Greenberg of the Chicago Sun-Times spells out right here what went wrong at Wrigley Field.

Headline at TheOnion.com: Overwhelmed Dolphins GM asks players to please use automated email form when making trade requests.

Vosburgh of Kamloops donates a kidney. . . . Recipient: “She changed my life.”

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Cheryl Vosburgh of Kamloops, who knows all about being a living kidney donor, addresses the crowd during the city’s 2019 Kidney Walk. (Photo: Murray Mitchell/Murray Mitchell Photography)

To a person experiencing kidney failure, there are a number of advantages to being fortunate enough to get a transplant from a live donor.

From the Kidney Foundation of Canada website:

“The organ donation and transplant surgeries can be scheduled when both the donor and recipient are in the best possible health. This will help to ensure the quality of the donated kidney is at its highest. The amount of time between removing the kidney from the donor and transplanting it into the recipient is shorter than for a deceased donation. This may help the transplanted kidney to function better and/or last longer.

“The length of time the recipient waits for an organ to become available is shorter when the organ comes from a living donor. Also, other recipients on the transplant waiting list who do not have a living donor themselves move up the transplant waiting list once the recipient of the living donor kidney is removed from the list. In that way, other people waiting for a kidney transplant also benefit from a living donation.”

There also are some other advantages, as pointed out on the Foundation’s website:

“A transplanted kidney from a living donor often lasts longer. This is partly due to more time being available to do the necessary tests to get a better tissue match between donor and recipient. A better tissue match means higher compatibility and less risk of organ rejection.

“The kidney from a living donor is usually healthier than an organ from a deceased donor and may last longer: 15 to 20 years on average, compared to 10 to 15 years for a deceased kidney donation. This is largely because extensive testing is done on the donor to ensure the donor has excellent kidney function.

“A kidney from a living donor usually works right away in the recipient. A kidney from a deceased donor may take days or weeks before it starts to work normally. In the meantime, the recipient may need dialysis treatments.”

And let’s not forget about this: For the donor, it is a very positive psychological experience knowing that he or she has helped someone in need.”

All of which brings us to the story of John Glenn Miller of Vancouver and Cheryl Vosburgh, who lives in Kamloops.

“Two years ago,” writes Cheryl Chan of Postmedia, “John Glenn Miller pushed through his embarrassment and discomfort to make a plea online for a new kidney. Today, he’s a new man — thanks to a priceless gift from a stranger.”

Vosburgh was that stranger.

A story about Miller, who has 12-year-old twin sons, appeared in a Vancouver newspaper in April 2017. He needed a kidney. As he waited and hoped that a match would somehow be found, and while he was on dialysis, Vosburgh made the decision to donate a kidney.

In researching the issue of kidney donation, she came across that 2017 story about Miller. Things worked out and the surgery was performed at Vancouver General Hospital on Aug. 21.

Chan’s story can be found in the tweet that is below.

Vosburgh, 59, lives in Kamloops and attended her first Kamloops Kidney Support Group gathering exactly three weeks after having had surgery. We were an enthralled group as we listened to her tell her story.

She also said that she wants to continue to advocate for organ donation and transplantation. If you are thinking about being a live kidney donor and have any questions, email me at greggdrinnan@gmail.com and I will get you in touch with Vosburgh.

Dogs
When Kamloops’ 2019 Kidney Walk was held at McDonald Park on Sept. 22, organizers welcomed four-legged walkers, too. (Photo: Murray Mitchell/Murray Mitchell Photography)
Breakfast
Yes, those of us who took part in the 2019 Kidney Walk Kamloops had enough sausages to eat with our breakfast, thanks to the Brock Central Lions Club. (Photo: Murray Mitchell/Murray Mitchell Photography)

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ThankYou

A recipient and her best friend — joined at the kidney. . . . To see them together is to marvel

It is after midnight.

The two women sit in the living room in comfortable, soft chairs. One is focussed on a puzzle book — crossword or Sudoku or Kukuru, she does them all. The other is reading a novel.

Rarely do they speak.

They don’t have to talk in order to communicate . . . they are joined at the kidney.

As proof that time waits for no one, more than six years have passed since one of them

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Dorothy Drinnan (right) and her best friend, who donated a kidney in order for her to receive one, love being together.

gave up a kidney so that the other could live again.

But their relationship goes back much farther than that, back to the early 1970s when they worked together in a mental health centre, well before people who are much smarter than I am chose to shut it down.

They no longer live in the same community; in fact, they now are separated by more than 1,700 kilometres and a few mountains. No matter. The friendship endures; in fact, now in their 60s, they are closer than they have ever been, seemingly growing even tighter as time races on.

When one of them needed dialysis to help cope with kidney disease, the other was adamant that she would donate a kidney to her friend. The recipient had been diagnosed with kidney disease — it was discovered that she had been born with just one kidney and that it was malformed and slowly starting to fail — more than 30 years before the transplant. Of course, the friend had been saying for more than 30 years that she would donate a kidney when the time came.

And when that time came, she was true to her word.

When it turned out that they weren’t a match, she said that didn’t matter; they would enter the Living Donor Paired Exchange Program. She would give up a kidney, but only if her best friend got one.

It wasn’t quite that simple, but that’s exactly what ended up happening.

As luck would have it, they ended up in the same hospital so were able to check on each other in the days immediately after surgery.

The donor never has said much about what she did. In fact, when she was away from home for a while those six years ago, there were friends and neighbours who didn’t have any idea where she had gone or what she was doing.

She has never wanted attention. Whenever the subject of her sacrifice or generosity — or pick any other word — is mentioned, she simply shrugs it off. Without having to ask, she knows what would have happened had the shoe been on the other foot.

And now they try to spend time together twice a year — once in the spring and again on or about the anniversary of the transplant.

A year ago, it was the fifth anniversary, so the donor and her husband drove through four provinces in order to participate in a Kidney Walk with the recipient and her family.

A year later, they are sitting quietly in a living room, each in her own world, but you know they are in each other’s world at the same time. Earlier, they were baking scones and making conversation as they worked together. Their children are married now. There are young grandchildren. There is lots to talk about, including all that comes with advancing age.

The one thing that never is heard is a discouraging word, nor is there ever a disagreement.

No. They aren’t sisters. They are closer than that.

Ebata2019
Dr. Russell Ebata (centre), the entire Ebata family and the staff at Ebata Eyecare Optometry, are big supporters of Kidney Walk Kamloops. When Dorothy and I dropped by to thank them the other day, he was adamant that we pose for a photo. Had I known, I would have worn a suit and tie. 

Yes, there is chaos out there. There also are good things happening. . . . Give this tweet and its thread a read; it will make you feel good. . . .

If you are thinking about being a donor, feel free to call the donor nurse co-ordinator at St. Paul’s Hospital (604-806-9027 or 1-877-922-9822), or email donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca

Kidney Walk: Of grandparents, grandchildren, good friends and transplants

A couple of former sports writers were walking on Rivers Trail, taking part in Kamloops’ 10th annual Kidney Walk on Sunday, when they were joined by Hugh McLennan.

Just minutes earlier, McLennan had been saluted by organizers, participants and volunteers as one of two honourees for this edition of the Kidney Walk. He had undergone a kidney transplant on Nov. 22, 2019, at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. His long-time friend, Louis (Big Rig) McIvor, the other honouree on Sunday, had given McLennan one of his kidneys.

McLennan, the host of the Spirit of the West radio show, is well-known in the ranching community in B.C. — he and wife Billie run cattle near Pinantan Lake, northeast of Kamloops. He also is easily recognizable, what with the 10-gallon hat, walrus moustache and cowboy boots.

By now, though, the cowboy boots were gone, replaced by a pair of sneakers.

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Tammy Mathieu and Louis (Big Rig) McIvor give grandchildren a ride alongside Hugh McLennan on Sunday during the Kidney Walk along Rivers Trail near McDonald Park. (Photo: Murray Mitchell/Murray Mitchell Photography)

It had been apparent early on that McLennan was thrilled to have been selected as an honouree. While doing hemo-dialysis, he had always been more than willing to help out by taking a turn at the microphone and also supplying musical entertainment at past Kidney Walks. He and McIvor also have been quick to promote organ donation and transplantation when given the opportunity.

As thrilled as McLennan was with that honour, though, he wore an even bigger smile as he told the story of a phone call he and Billie had received the previous day.

Their grandson, Reed, who will turn 16 on Nov. 20, is playing midget hockey in Winfield, B.C., which is located between Vernon and Kelowna on Highway 97.

Hugh’s voice was bursting with pride as he talked about the phone call.

A goaltender, Reed’s junior B rights belong to the Sicamous Eagles of the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League. It seems that the Eagles were scheduled to play the host Spokane Braves on Friday and found themselves short a goaltender, thanks to an issue involving a passport.

So . . . a call went out to Reed, who joined the Eagles in time to ride the bus to Spokane. He was looking forward to what he was looking at as a learning experience and expecting to take in the game from the cozy confines of the bench.

Except that the Eagles found themselves trailing, 3-0, just 3:49 into the game. Shortly after, the call came from head coach Ty Gunn: “McLennan . . . let’s go!”

With Reed in goal, the Braves added two more goals and took a 5-0 lead into the third period. It was 6-1 just 1:02 into the final period.

In the end, I’m sure the Eagles will tell you that they simply ran out of time. They lost the game, 6-5, scoring their fifth goal late in the third period.

Reed more than did his job, though, turning aside 39 of 41 shots in 54 minutes 20 seconds, in his junior B debut.

While Hugh was relating the story of a grandfather and his grandson, McIvor and fiancée Tammy Mathieu also were on Rivers Trail. They weren’t alone as they had two grandchildren in tow — or was it the other way around?

Regardless, with grandchildren in the conversation and on Rivers Trail, I couldn’t help but think about what it must mean to Hugh to be able to be part of his grandson’s life. After all, had Louis not given Hugh a kidney almost two years ago, well, who knows?

My wife, Dorothy, received a kidney six years ago Monday — Sept. 23, 2013. Our only grandchild, Kara, turned three in July. Dorothy had done peritoneal dialysis for almost four years before having her transplant. Again, without that kidney, who knows?

When we got home after Sunday’s Kidney Walk, we spent some time on a video chat with Kara.

Grateful doesn’t begin to explain what that kidney means to our family. You can bet it’s the same with the McLennans and anyone else who has needed a kidney and been fortunate enough to get one.

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If you are thinking about being a donor, feel free to call the donor nurse co-ordinator at St. Paul’s Hospital (604-806-9027 or 1-877-922-9822), or email donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca.

Mondays With Murray: Rented Defenses

JANUARY 7, 1964, SPORTS

Copyright 1964/THE TIMES MIRROR COMPANY

JIM MURRAY

Rented Defenses

  They were playing the American Football League playoff game in San Diego; so I packed up my adding machine, abacus, ran over the multiplication table again in my mind, told Barron Hilton to send the plane around at noon and took off.

  There’s always a lot of suspense going to San Diego these days because you never know when President Johnson might order it closed or mothballed — or transferred to Newport News. But I guess they’re afraid of a serious dislocation in the tattoo industry.

  The AFL, as you may know, is not a league so much as an exercise in geometric progression. I don’t think it prepares defenses, I think it rents them, at the last minute. Or they send a truck down to the Union Rescue Mission an hour before game time, load up the first 11 guys they can find and draw positions out of a hat. The ‘defense’ is just a costume masquerade. The score is usually 7-7 by the kickoff. In fact, I’m not sure AFL games don’t come like taxis — with points already on the meter before they start up. If one team is late getting on the field, they’re behind 20-0 before they can make it. The officials don’t notice when there’s no defense on the field because the team with the ball runs through them even when there is.

You Watch the Scoreboard

  You don’t really watch the game, you watch the scoreboard. The touchdowns come too fast for the naked eye. Actually, when you see your first AFL game, you think the scoreboard has developed a stutter. The stock market ticker would run a day behind. The radio announcers broadcasting the games sound like tobacco auctioneers. They should really start both teams at -10 to give the crowd a chance to keep up.

  There were only 61 points scored in the championship game, only 10 of them by Boston which had its hands on the ball only about twice. I think the Boston Patriots not only got their defense from Union Rescue but their offense as well. They should change their name to Boston Patsies. You would have thought they were blindfolded. I have seen guys find a keyhole in the dark after a night of wassailing easier than these guys could find the ball.

  You don’t need shoulder guards in this game. You could play in sunglasses, in fact, in a monocle. The only resistance you get is from the wind. A vendor got in front of me making change for a quarter and I missed three touchdowns and a field goal attempt. Even at half-time, the bands play three songs in the time it takes normal ones to play one. There is more body contact in Olympic sprint heats or a Willie Pastrano fight. The only reason they ever got bloody noses in these things is the altitude. All a trainer needs is Kleenex.

Chargers on Run in a Hurry

  San Diego reeled off more ground faster than a guy who suddenly hears the husband coming home. On the second play from scrimmage, a guy went 54 yards. With his shoelaces untied. You could play in your stocking feet.

  The Chargers’ Keith Lincoln alone almost equaled the two-year rushing total of the German army in 1939-40. But Boston could have moved faster underground.

  The Charger crowd began chanting “We want the Bears” after the second touchdown, which took two whole plays. The first touchdown took four plays and coach Sid Gillman was understandably cross when his team ran off the field. “What kept you?” he wanted to know. There were three touchdowns in the first 10 scrimmage plays.

  The Chargers have a right nice little team. Ron Mix is an offensive tackle who knocks down more people than a missing top step. Dave Kocourek scattered more Bostonians than a bomb scare in Scollay Square.

  But the game wasn’t a test of much except arithmetic. It did show the San Diego Chargers far and away the best team south of the lower reaches of the National Football League. Even in wind sprints, 610 yards. Total is impressive. And when the history classes in San Diego in the future say “What did Lincoln do?” the kids may answer, “He made 329 yards against Boston in 1964.

  This is a league that has been kept alive by wholesale injections of money. The Texas Big Rich poured it through the windows of 10-second halfbacks like coal chutes along with such glittering promises of jobs that Texas in the future will be run by football players, which may or may not be an improvement over the present system.

  But this league moves the ball — and its customers. It plays its All-Star game two weeks hence — and I think the score is already 21-21. The Bears might prove them to be just bull — or bush. But the Bears wouldn’t beat them 100-0 as some predict. Of course, they might beat them 1,000-100. But at least the game would be a great challenge to the electronic industry and they might have to score it by logarithm. Well, why not?

Reprinted with the permission of the Los Angeles Times

Jim Murray Memorial Foundation, P.O. Box 60753, Pasadena, CA 91116

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What is the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation? 

  The Jim Murray Memorial Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, established in 1999 to perpetuate the Jim Murray legacy, and his love for and dedication to his extraordinary career in journalism. Since 1999, JMMF has granted 104 $5,000 scholarships to outstanding journalism students. Success of the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation’s efforts depends heavily on the contributions from generous individuals, organizations, corporations, and volunteers who align themselves with the mission and values of the JMMF.

Like us on Facebook, and visit the JMMF website, www.jimmurrayfoundation.org.

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A dozen years ago, Linda McCoy-Murray compiled a book of Jim Murray’s columns on female athletes (1961-1998). While the book is idle waiting for an interested publisher, the JMMF thinks this is an appropriate year to get the book on the shelves, i.e., Jim Murray’s 100th birthday, 1919-2019.  

Our mission is to empower women of all ages to succeed and prosper — in and out of sports — while entertaining the reader with Jim Murray’s wit and hyperbole.  An excellent teaching tool for Women’s Studies.

Proceeds from book sales will benefit the Jim Murray Memorial Foundation, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization providing sports journalism scholarships at universities across the country.

2019 Kidney Walk: Wet day can’t douse spirits. . . . Goal surpassed. . . . Stop thief!

Registration
A Kidney Foundation information booth (back left) was set up at Sunday’s Kidney Walk, while beneath the Lordco canopy you were able to find merchandise after first checking in at the registration table. (Photo: Murray Mitchell/Murray Mitchell Photography)

We awoke Sunday to cool weather (12 C) and showers.

The cool wasn’t a problem because warm weather and people with kidney disease aren’t a good match.

But the drizzle . . .

KWlogo2Well, if you have been, or are being, impacted by kidney disease, what’s a little rain? Right?

And so it was that more than 100 people were at McDonald Park on Kamloops’ North Shore on Sunday for the city’s 10th annual Kidney Walk.

Not all of them took part in the walk, which always follows Rivers Trail for more than one kilometre to McArthur Island, but they all were there to show support to people in our community who are dealing with kidney disease or to remember friends and loved ones.

Larry1
Larry Read, the Kidney Walk’s emcee, kept folks informed and everything on time. (Photo: Murray Mitchell/Murray Mitchell Photography)

We couldn’t have done it without Larry Read, the sports information guru for the WolfPack at Thompson Rivers U. He is our emcee, and he brought along six athletes from the WolfPack swim team and, oh boy, what a big help they were. This wasn’t the first time Larry brought volunteers from TRU, and it is a tremendously positive feeling to see these young people so eager to help at an event like this one.

With Larry at the controls, we saluted Hugh McLennan and Louis (Big Rig) McIvor as the honourees for the 2019 Walk. Hugh, a rancher, is the host of the Spirit of the West podcast and a familiar figure in the cowboy world in Alberta and B.C. When he needed a kidney almost two years ago, he got

HughLouis2
Hugh McLennan (left) and Louis (Big Rig) McIvor, the honourees of Kamloops’ 2019 Kidney Walk, address the crowd. (Photo: Murray Mitchell/Murray Mitchell Photography)

one from Big Rig, a long-time friend who is a former long-haul driver and radio personality.

They were introduced by Edna Humphreys, the executive director of the Kamloops chapter of the B.C. and Yukon Branch of the Kidney Foundation of Canada. Hey, if there’s a renal-related event in Kamloops, you can bet that Edna is the push behind it.

We went into this walk with a goal of raising $20,000. By the time the counting is done, we will be somewhere around $24,000, which is unbelievable. In all of our pre-walk chatter, I don’t once remember anything close to that figure being mentioned.

In 2018, we raised $21,764, after bringing in $16,736 in 2017.

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Allanmoney
Allan Dodds (right) returns money that had been lifted from the Brock Central Lions Club’ breakfast table on Sunday. (Photo: Murray Mitchell/Murray Mitchell Photography)

There was some excitement late in the program, too.

The Brock Central Lions Club was there, again, to provide us with a pancake breakfast, along with sausages and coffee, all by donation.

So with most of the folks already eating and a few in line to fill their plates, a cry went up: “Stop her! Stop her! She took the money box.!!”

It seems that a person had appeared on the scene, got in line for breakfast, then grabbed the cash box and took off on the run.

However, her plan hadn’t accounted for Allan Dodds, who when he isn’t playing Superman works at Lordco in Kamloops. His connection with us? His wife, Julie, has kidney disease and is in need of a transplant.

Anyway . . . Allan took off after the thief, caught up with her and brought back the money.

As Julie wrote on her Facebook page: “My husband not only helped set up . . . and with the delivery of chairs and tables, he helped present a large cheque, and also chased down a would-be thief.”

In the end, the Lions Club raised $326.90, all of which, thanks to Allan, was there to be donated to the Kidney Walk.

If we were to give out an MVP award this year, it would go to Allan. As a member of the Southern Central B.C. branch of the CIM (Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum), he presented the Kidney Walk with a cheque for $5,000 in late August.

Through Lordco, he was able to provide us with a truck with which he picked up tables and chairs from the good folks at TRU. He also supplied, again through Lordco, a large canopy that really came in handy considering the weather.

And, of course, he topped it all off by jumping into a phone booth — OK, there aren’t any of those these days; he just went behind the Lordco truck — where he donned the Superman suit and went on to rescue the money.

Thanks, Allan!

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DorothyLeona
Dorothy Drinnan (right) and friend Leona Backman enjoy a rainy time during Sunday’s Kidney Walk. (Photo: Murray Mitchell/Murray Mitchell Photography)

Dorothy says: Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!!

With help from so many of you, she was able to raise $3,230 for Kamloops’ 10th annual Kidney Walk, which was held on Sunday morning.

With such great support from so many terrific people, she was the leading fund-raiser for a sixth straight year, and she now has raised more than $16,000 in total.

Dodds
Julie Dodds (in red jacket) has kidney disease and is in need of a transplant. She poses with friends and family, all of whom were there to support her at Sunday’s Kidney Walk. (Photo: Murray Mitchell/Murray Mitchell Photography)

 

DOG
Not all of the participants in Sunday’s Kidney Walk were of the human variety. This pooch got into the spirit of things by donning a Kidney Walk t-shirt, too. (Photo: Murray Mitchell/Murray Mitchell Photography)

Talking kidneys with Freda, Howard, Dorothy and Jill. . . . Update on Vic Morin’s situation. . . . Kamloops Walk on Sunday

With Kamloops’ 10th annual Kidney Walk set for Sunday, my wife, Dorothy, along with friends Freda and Howard Brown, got together with Jill Sperling of Kamloops TV station CFJC on Thursday. OK, I was there, too.

We met at McDonald Park, the site of the Walk, where we chatted about kidneys, transplantation, dialysis and the Kidney Walk.

Dorothy had her transplant six years ago, after almost four years of peritoneal dialysis. Freda recently began doing hemo-dialysis; she does three runs a week at Royal Inland Hospital. Howard was hoping to donate a kidney to his wife and spent the past nine months undergoing all of the necessary tests. However, one of the tests turned up a kidney stone, so he has been disqualified, at least for now.

There’s all that and more in this piece right here.

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In the TV piece referred to above, Howard Brown points out that if you are considering being a live kidney donor, you shouldn’t wait because the testing process takes some time.

But, at the same time, if the medical team finds any issues with your health, they will be dealt with ASAP. In Howard’s case, he already is being put in touch with a specialist in Kamloops and is hoping to have the kidney stone removed so that he can get back into a process that, hopefully, will end with him being a donor for his wife, Freda.

That brings us to Vic Morin, a friend who lives in the Dallas area of Kamloops and who also is in need of a kidney.

Vic has been a regular at Kamloops Kidney Support Group meetings for a while now, and was preparing to begin peritoneal dialysis (PD) in the near future. That is the same form of dialysis that my wife, Dorothy, did before she was fortunate enough to get a kidney from a live donor.

Because Dorothy had experience with PD, she and Vic have had many conversations over the past months. And we were quite excited to hear last week that he was to have a catheter surgically placed into his peritoneal cavity next week. That meant he was one giant step closer to beginning PD.

(BTW, someone who does PD hooks up to a machine called a cycler and does a fluid exchange seven nights a week while sleeping — toxic fluid out, clean fluid in, to be carried around all day in that cavity.)

Unfortunately, Vic’s kidney function deteriorated so rapidly that he was to begin hemo-dialysis on Friday. However, things now have been moved to Monday. He still is on schedule to have a catheter surgically installed on Wednesday so that he can begin training for peritoneal dialysis.

While all this is happening, the search continues for a live donor.

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One of the reasons that I stopped writing about hockey here and turned mostly to renal-related items is that a lot of education is needed when it comes to kidney disease, dealing with kidney disease, organ donation and transplantation. . . . If I am able to provide enlightening information in this space I will be more than pleased. . . .

A few things you should know . . .

There is no cure for kidney disease. Once you have been diagnosed, that’s it; it doesn’t go away.

A person who has had a kidney transplant isn’t cured. For example, Dorothy takes anti-rejection drugs twice a day in order to keep her system from rejecting the organ that is foreign to her body. Those drugs also suppress her immune system so there are some precautions that have to be taken as she goes through daily life.

Should you choose to be a live donor, you don’t need to be the same blood-type as the person in need of a kidney. Instead, you are able to donate through the Living Donor Paired Exchange Registry. In short, your kidney goes to someone else, but only on the condition that the person you want to help gets one from another live donor. This is how Dorothy got her kidney — her best friend gave a kidney to someone (neither she nor Dorothy have any idea who it went to), and Dorothy got one from someone else. No, we don’t know a name, nor do we have any idea how many donors and recipients were involved in that particular chain.

If you are being tested and an issue with your health is discovered, it will be dealt with ASAP. In Howard’s case, a doctor at the renal clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver got him in touch with a specialist in Kamloops in short order.

A donor will spend a couple of days in hospital — Dorothy’s friend had surgery on a Monday and was released from hospital on Wednesday. It is suggested that a donor take it easy — no heavy lifting, for example — for up to six weeks and then it’s full-speed ahead. I know of one donor who was back to jogging in three weeks.

A donor also will continue to be monitored by the medical community. Should there be serious issues with the remaining kidney, a donor would automatically go to the top of the transplant list.

And, yes, a person is able to live with one kidney.

I would never pressure anyone to be a donor. If you are at least thinking about it, I would only ask that you do some research.

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If you are thinking about being a donor, feel free to call the donor nurse co-ordinator at St. Paul’s Hospital (604-806-9027 or 1-877-922-9822), or email donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca.

Should you make the call and be asked who will be the recipient, feel free to mention Freda Brown or Louis Victor Morin.

Understand, too, that the people who work in renal clinics are big on privacy — I mean, they are really, really big on privacy. Everything you say or do will be kept confidential.

As well, a donor is able to change his/her mind and walk away at any time during the process.

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Don’t forget that the 10th annual Kidney Walk Kamloops is scheduled for Sunday (Sept. 22) at McDonald Park on the North Shore. . . . We will begin registering folks at 10 a.m.; we will go for a walk at 11.

Larry Read, who is so involved in our community, will be the emcee, again. Hugh KWlogo2McLennan and Louis (Big Rig) McIvor will be in attendance as the honourees for this year’s walk. When Hugh needed a kidney almost two years ago, Louis, his longtime friend, stepped up and gave him one.

As well, the Brock Central Lions Club will be on hand to provide breakfast — pancakes, sausages and coffee — by donation. A year ago, they served more than 100 breakfasts.

The Kidney Walk helps raise awareness about kidney disease and raises funds for important programs and services to help kidney patients in this community and others across BC and the Yukon.

Dorothy will celebrate the sixth anniversary of her transplant on Monday. She will spend part of Sunday taking part in her sixth straight Kidney Walk; she also helps Edna Humphreys and me pull the whole thing together.

If you would like to help out — Vic Morin is part of her support team — you are able to make a donation right here.

A plea from the wife of a friend who needs a kidney . . . Are you able to help? The info you need is right here

Vic Morin is a regular at our Kamloops Kidney Support Group meetings and has become a good friend. He was with us on Sept. 11, just last week, when he informed us that he was soon to begin peritoneal dialysis. With that in mind, he was to have had a catheter surgically implanted into his peritoneal cavity on Sept. 25.

But, when you have kidney disease, things are out of your control and can change in a hurry. On Thursday night, his wife, Colleen Bruce, made an emotional plea on Facebook:

SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 — It’s been close to 8 months since I first posted our story in search of a living kidney donor for my husband, Vic.

At the time of the posting, Vic’s kidney function (GFR) was holding at 19, but over the next few months it began to drop quickly. On Wednesday, he had his regular monthly lab work and he now is at 6. Today (Thursday) was a very emotional day as we got a call from the Kamloops Kidney Clinic advising that Vic was in kidney failure and needs to start emergency hemo dialysis tomorrow (Friday).

He was scheduled for surgery next week to place a catheter into his peritoneal cavity (lower abdomen) so he could start peritoneal dialysis within a month after the healing was complete; unfortunately, his kidneys can’t wait that long and now he will have a central line inserted into his neck so he can start on the hemo-dialysis tomorrow.

I know dialysis will help but it is only a temporary solution like a Band-Aid is to a wound; what Vic desperately needs is another kidney. I have seen the immense drop in his energy level over the past few months. His zest for life is slowly disappearing as he knows he is slowly getting sicker and sicker.

As I am typing this tonight, I have tears running down my face as it breaks my heart because I know I can’t give him the one thing that will make him better — a new kidney.

I’m once again reaching out to anyone and everyone that I can in search of a living kidney for my beautiful husband.

When we were down at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver at the end of April to the meet the kidney transplant team, we were reminded by one of the doctors that kidney donors live a long and healthy life with just one kidney. They are thoroughly screened before the transplant and they will only proceed if the donor is healthy and if there are no risks to him/her.

Once they have donated their kidney, they are continually being monitored over the years and if any other unrelated health ailments arise such as, say, cancer or heart disease, it will be diagnosed earlier than the average person because they are being medically checked regularly and may have a stronger chance of overcoming the disease as it was caught early.

I’m hoping and praying that someone out there can give my husband the beautiful lifesaving gift of a kidney so he can have a long and healthy life. My original posting is shown below and it has all the information if someone choses to come forward and start the process of kidney donation. Thank you each and everyone for taking the time to read this UPDATE and once again, please “Share” our story so we have a strong chance of finding a living kidney donor.

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January 24, 2019

Dear Family and Friends:

This is a difficult post for me to write, but I truly need your help. My husband’s kidney is failing and he is in desperate need of a kidney donor.

My wonderful husband Vic was diagnosed with CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) more than five years ago and he has been monitored by doctors and nurses at the Kamloops Kidney Clinic, who have been extremely supportive over the years.

His kidney function, however, has been declining and he now is facing the reality of kidney failure. I have seen changes in him — tiredness, lack of interest in activities we both used to enjoy, and depression.

While dialysis is one option that can help short-term, it is not a cure. The average time on dialysis is five years, before total kidney failure. Our best option for him to have a long and healthy life is a live kidney transplant.

Vic completed his testing and is a good candidate. I completed all the testing to see if I was a good candidate for becoming a kidney donor, but unfortunately a call on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019 from St. Paul’s Hospital informed me I am unable to become a kidney donor because of my own health issues. It was a very emotional phone call. I now had to tell my beautiful husband I could not be his saviour. We both hoped I could be a donor for him, but that is not the case.

Now, I am desperately reaching out to as many friends and family online as I can in search of that kidney, which he needs so badly. We are hoping and praying someone will come forward and consider becoming Vic’s kidney donor. The more who come forward for testing, the better his chances for a match will be.

Doctors indicate that kidney donors live a normal and healthy long life with just one kidney. Donors are carefully medically screened to make sure it is safe for them to donate. The transplant team makes the donor’s health and well-being a priority before and after donation. We understand donors don’t have to be a relative or be an exact blood match in order to donate. We understand this is an extremely personal decision and there is a lot to think about.

If you would like more information or to explore kidney donation further, feel free to contact the donor nurse coordinator at St. Paul’s Hospital by calling 604-806-9027 (1-877-922-9822) or by emailing donornurse@providencehealth.bc.ca.

Vic’s legal name is Louis Victor Morin. If you call and they ask who the recipient will be, give them that name. Please know your inquiry, as well as the process for determining your eligibility as a donor, would all be kept confidential. St. Paul’s runs a very professional donor program and we will never be told if anyone has expressed interest in donating a kidney (unless you tell us of course).

Donors may change their mind at any time, even on the day of the transplant.

Thank you for letting me share Vic’s medical situation with you.