In the words of her mother, Lindsey, Ferris Backmeyer “is a free bird” today.
Ferris, a six-year-old from Kamloops, is in Toronto with her family, recovering from a kidney transplant that was done at the Hospital for Sick Children.
The joy this family — it includes Pat, Lindsey’s husband, and older sisters Tavia, 11, and Ksenia, 9 — now is feeling just bursts off the computer screen as one reads Lindsey’s latest Facebook post.
“Nineteen hospital sleeps was 100% worth it to be right where we are. On the other side,” Lindsey writes. “It’s pretty (bleeping) dreamy!! It was the most surreal hospital experience we’ve ever had. A really quick recovery from a post-op/pain perspective and then a kid who is the least sick that she’s ever been in hospital!”
Remember that Ferris hasn’t known much but kidney problems and dialysis — either peritoneal or hemo — for most all of her short life. What she is experiencing now is unbelievably awesome.
After undergoing the transplant, Ferris’s recovery was interrupted a tad by a bladder leak that required the installation of a catheter. But Lindsey reports that the leak “appears to have healed up well” and the catheter has been removed
Lindsey adds:
“The last week she has felt pretty good. No pain meds at all. Just waiting for the catheter and drain to come out. We managed to go out on passes in the afternoon/evening knowing that if the ultrasound looked solid (Sunday) we would get to leave (Monday)! It took allll day but we left at dinner time.
“We’ve been to this park daily and so far it’s filling her cup! That, and the Krispy Crèmes!!”
Now . . . if you’ve been following Ferris’s story for any length of time and are aware of what this family has been through, well, try reading this without things getting a bit misty.
“We’ve had so many sweet moments over the past couple of weeks,” Lindsey writes. “The big one is the eating. She’s no longer getting any tube feeds at all. Eating way too much food and meeting her fluid goals for the day. Watching her try new foods and demolish whole meals puts the biggest smile on my face. It’s unbelievable but also something I just knew was in her future.”
The really good news is that Ferris’s new kidney “continues to be soooo happy. There’s still some fine-tuning to be done with getting her weight down safely. She breathes really fast and her X-ray showed fluid on her lungs. I see it in her (impossible not to with a respiratory rate in the 60s) and it’s really hard to watch but her sats and heart rate are happy. It’s been that way for a couple weeks now and she’s pretty fine otherwise. But something I’d love to improve!”
For now, the Backmeyers will hang around Ronald McDonald House and wait for a transfer to BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. If all goes well that move could take place in two weeks. After that, well, it would home to Kamloops for the first time in months.
And they really are going to enjoy the next couple of days because their medical team doesn’t want to see Ferris until Thursday.
“We haven’t had two whole days away from a hospital since the end of February!!” Lindsey notes. “That’s a huge win if you ask me!! It’s been 2.5 weeks since she’s had a dialysis treatment! There are wins falling from the sky lately!”
Lindsey also has maintained a sense of humour through all of this, and you can feel it as she writes: “Hell, I even finally got my first EI cheque . . . I’ve only been off work for four months already but yay for finally getting that sorted out!”
So . . . Lindsey, please tell us how you really feel . . . how you really, really feel.
“Life feels incredibly easy right now,” she writes. “Waiting for the shoe to drop but the longer we go with steadiness that fear settles a bit. This is not how we typically do things! Smoooooth! We literally just do meds and go for bloodwork and ultrasounds.”
You may not be aware that there isn’t a cure for kidney disease. Once you have it there isn’t any shaking it. Transplant recipients, while freed from having to do dialysis, are on a rather serious drug regimen.
Here’s Lindsey describing Ferris’s situation as of now:
“The meds are pretty intensive with several being cytotoxic and she’s on a schedule that has us giving meds five times throughout the day and a once daily injection. But it’s not a record amount of drugs for us by any means.
“It was definitely a record amount of money spent though!! Today’s bill was $2,000 for a three-week supply . . . which is trying to be sorted out for us. I’m fairly certain we will pay and then get reimbursed for a big chunk. It’ll be a non-issue once we get back to B.C.
“She’s on immunosuppressants, antibiotics, antiviral, antifungal, blood-thinner injections and a handful of others. I’m just not used to getting such a big bill for meds she’s already been on before and were covered.”
Yes, there are some considerable differences in what is/isn’t covered between Ontario and B.C.
Of course, to see Ferris and where she’s at now, well, everything this family has been through has been worth it.
“I’m like you realize we’ve done all these things for years. Right?” Lindsey concludes. “(It’s) all worth it to be where we are at right now. I can dream dreams that feel so within our reach I can taste it!! Some normalcy. Meds. That’s it!! Okay . . . so far I think we got this!!”
F Connor Bedard, the first overall selection in the NHL’s 2023 draft, signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday, which just happened to be his 18th birthday. . . . Bedard dominated talk in the first four months of 2023, thanks to his performance with Team Canada at the World Junior Championship and the last three months of what likely have been the last season of his WHL career with the Regina Pats. . . . Bedard, at 17, led the WHL in goals (71) and points (143), and was tied for the lead in assists (72), all in 57 games. . . . At the WJC, he put up 23 points, nine of them goals, in seven games. He led the tournament in points as he set a Canadian single-tournament record. He was fourth in tournament scoring for the 2023 event. . . . Bedard was named the CHL’s player of the year, the IIHF’s male player of the year and won the E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence that is presented by NHL Central Scouting to the “draft prospect who best exemplifies commitment to excellence through strength of character, competitiveness and athleticism.” . . . Because he’s 18, Bedard will have to be returned to the Pats for the 2023-24 season, unless he makes the Blackhawks’ roster. . . . On which option are you betting? LOL!! . . . Bedard and the Blackhawks open the regular season on Oct. 10 in Pittsburgh against F Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.
Headline at The Beaverton (@TheBeaverton) — Bettman vows to build a whole new city in Arizona if he has to.
JUNIOR JOTTINGS:
Geoff Walker is the new hockey operations general manager and head coach of the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder. . . . In each of the past two seasons, he guided a Superior International Junior Hockey League team to the Centennial Cup tournament, getting there with the Red Lake Miners in 2022 and Kam River Fighting Walleye last season. . . . In Drayton Valley, Walker replaces Corey Bricknell, who stepped up from associate coach to take over from Sean Brown on Jan. 10. The team had announced on June 5 that Bricknell would be returning for a second season, but that apparently isn’t going to happen. . . . Bricknell still shows up on the Thunder website, now as an Edmonton scout. . . .
Cole McCaig is returning to the SJHL’s Flin Flon Bombers as their assistant general manager and assistant coach. He has agreed to a one-year contract extension. McCaig has been with the Bombers since signing on as assistant coach for the 2018-19 season.
Lew Morrison, who played with the Flin Flon Bombers, died on Saturday. He was 75. . . . A native of Gainsborough, Sask., he grew up in Hartney, Man. . . . He was selected by the Philadelphia Flyers with the eighth overall pick of the NHL’s 1968 draft. He played his first three NHL seasons with the Flyers, then went on to the Atlanta Flames, who claimed him in an expansion draft, Washington Capitals, who also grabbed him in an expansion draft, and Pittsburgh Penguins. He finished with career totals of 39 goals and 52 assists. . . . Morrison retired after scoring six times and adding 14 assists in 65 games with the AHL’s Binghamton Dusters in 1977-78. . . . In 1966-67, he helped the Bombers to the MJHL championship with 25 goals and 40 assists in 44 games. The next season, Morrison had 26 goals and 23 assist with the Bombers in what was then the Western Canadian Junior Hockey League. . . . He was inducted into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017.
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
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Vancouver General Hospital Living Donor Program – Kidney
Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre
Level 5, 2775 Laurel Street
Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M9
604-875-5182 or 1-855-875-5182
kidneydonornurse@vch.ca
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Or, for more information, visit right here.
The Backmeyers — Pat, Lindsey’s husband, and their two other daughters, Tavia and Ksenia — are from Kamloops. They have been in Toronto for a month. Ferris, who was diagnosed with kidney disease early in her young life, underwent a transplant overnight on June 29 at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
That’s because the Winnipeg Ice WHL franchise is moving to Wenatchee where it will operate as the Wild. The BCHL franchise, meanwhile, won’t operate in the 2023-24 season.
the franchise to Wenatchee, Wash., where it will operate as the Wild. (Just wondering, but might the moving vans go through Cranbrook on their way from Winnipeg to Wenatchee?)
a 1-0 victory over the Coachella Valley Firebirds in Game 5 of the AHL’s championship final for the Calder Cup. . . . The Bears, who lost the first two games of this series on the road, now hold a 3-2 edge after winning three in a row on home ice. . . . The series resumes Monday in Thousand Palms, Calif., with Game 7, if needed, there on Wednesday. . . . Pilon’s fourth playoff goal came off a shot through traffic from about 15 feet in front of the blue line. . . . Hershey got 21 saves from G Hunter Shepard, while Joey Daccord stopped 30 for the Firebirds. . . . Pilon, 25, is in his fifth season in Hershey. He has 10 points in 18 playoff games. He played three seasons (2015-18) in the WHL, two-plus with the Kamloops Blazers and the last 30 games with the Everett Silvertips.
them to the public. . . . The regulations were set after committee meetings involving owners, general managers and members of the staff of Mario Cecchini, the league’s new commissioner. . . . The main points: Addition of a game misconduct penalty for any player involved in a fight; addition of an automatic one-game suspension for any player declared the instigator of a fight; addition of a minimum two-game automatic suspension for any player identified as the aggressor; and, in addition to the game misconduct, an automatic one-game suspension will be imposed once a player has reached his second fight, rather than his third. . . . If you click 
involving frequently asked questions posted on its website on Thursday, the league notes: “The BCHL is simply the British Columbia Hockey League. We don’t need to classify ourselves otherwise.” . . . If you have any questions about what is happening with the league that left Hockey Canada as May turned into June, there is a lot of information 
final on Thursday with a 5-0 victory over the Hershey Bears before a sellout crowd of 10,087 in Thousand Palms, Calif. . . . The Firebirds are affiliated with the NHL’s Seattle Krakken. . . . G Joey Daccord stopped 25 shots for the shutout. . . . F Kole Lind (Kelowna Rockets, 2014-18) had three assists. He leads the AHL scoring race with 26 points, 19 of them assists, in 20 games. . . . D Ryker Evans (Regina Pats, 2018-22) also had three assists. A first-year pro, Evans has three goals and 16 assists in 19 playoff games. . . . A note from the AHL: This was the 128th Calder Cup final game in Bears franchise history, and the 92nd game overall in Firebirds franchise history. . . . They’ll play Game 2 in Thousand Palms tonight, then head for Hershey and the next three games, on June 13, 15 and 17, if necessary. If more games are needed, they’ll finish up in Thousand Palms on June 19 and 21.
tonight (Wednesday) in Iowa City. But . . . guess what? . . . Northwestern tweeted that the game won’t be played “due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols” within its program. . . . There were reports that Northwestern had only six players healthy enough to play. According to Big Ten rules, a school needs one coach and seven scholarship athletes in order to play.
Hitmen in Calgary. . . . The Rebels (18-4-3) have points in three straight (2-0-1). . . . The Hitmen are 12-7-3. . . . Mayo scored twice in the game, tying things 1-1 at 6:26 of the second period and winning it with his 10th goal, on a PP, at 3:51 of OT. . . . F Kalan Lind (6) had a goal and two assists for the Rebels. . . . Mayo has 17 points in 25 games this season. He finished last season with 17 points, three of them goals, in 65 games. . . . Calgary F Jacob Wright (5) forced OT when he scored at 7:24 of the third period. . . . G Kyle Kelsey, an 18-year-old freshman, stopped 37 shots for Red Deer. He is 12-2-3, 2.08, .926. . . .
goals as they dumped the host Medicine Hat Tigers, 4-2. . . . Prince Albert is 10-13-2. . . . Medicine Hat (8-12-5) has lost two in a row. . . . F Oasiz Wiesblatt (10) gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead at 1:49 of the second period. . . . The Raiders took control with the next four goals — from F Cole Peardon (2), at 9:16; F Sloan Stanick, on a PP, at 14:33; F Evan Herman (6), at 17:55; and Stanick (8), at 19:35. . . . Stanick also had an assist for a three-point outing. . . . Herman, who scored his 50th career goal on Friday, reached the 100-point mark for his career with his sixth goal of the season last night. . . .
over the Chiefs in Spokane. . . . Everett (13-9-1) had lost its previous five games (0-4-1). . . . Spokane (4-16-1) has lost five in a row. . . . Roest, who has 16 goals, completed his first WHL hat trick at 10:11 of the second period. He had scored his second goal just 46 seconds earlier. . . . 
winner as the Tri-City Americans got past the Seattle Thunderbirds, 4-3, in Kennewick, Wash. . . . The Americans (10-13-0) have won two straight. . . . The Thunderbirds (15-4-1) had points in their previous six games (5-0-1). . . . Dragicevic, whose goal came at 2:27 of the third, also had an assist as he extended his point streak to 17 games. He leads all WHL defencemen in assists (24) and points (32). . . . F Ethan Ernst (15) also scored a shorthanded goal for the winners. . . . F Lucas Ciona (9) ended an 11-game drought with two Seattle goals. . . . Tri-City got a terrific start out of G Nick Avakyan, who finished with 42 stops in posting his first victory in five decisions this season. . . .
a 3-1 victory over the Portland Winterhawks. . . . Vancouver improved to 9-10-4. . . . The Winterhawks (17-3-2) have lost two in a row for the first time this season. . . . D Ryan McCleary (5) gave Portland a 1-0 lead, on a PP, at 5:19 of the first period. . . . The Giants took the lead on unassisted shorthanded goals from F Ty Thorpe (10) at 5:00 of the second period and F Samuel Honzek (14) just 37 seconds into the third. . . . Thorpe (11) added insurance at 4:55. . . . Vancouver held a 38-24 edge in shots.
visiting Ottawa Rough Riders (ohh for the days of Roughriders and Rough Riders) . . . 
COVID-19 deaths over the past seven days — the single highest death count since early May during the sixth wave of the pandemic. The weekly death toll comes from new data released Thursday by the province’s ministry of health, which reported 67 deaths the week before. Not since May 6, when deaths numbered 112 for the week, has the province reported a death toll this high. The province’s weekly data release normally includes seven individual days’ worth of information spanning the number of newly reported COVID cases, hospitalizations, intensive care admissions and deaths. This week’s release is missing three days of data — Oct. 15, 16 and 17.
hard hit in a game with the Vancouver Giants at the Langley Events Centre on Friday night.
the team’s six owners and the organization’s president.
tonight (Monday) when they visit his former club, the Dallas Stars. Bowness tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and missed that night’s home game, a 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers. The Jets are hopeful that Bowness will be available on Friday when they meet the Colorado Avalanche in Denver. . . . With Bowness sidelined, associate coach Scott Arniel is in charge.
Everett on Friday night. Dach, 19, needed help getting off the ice after a hit from D Dexter Whittle, who was given a major and game misconduct. On Saturday, he was hit with a three-game suspension.
TAKING NOTE 