Tag: Zach Tremblay

Saginaw gets 2025 Memorial Cup; tourney goes south for first time since 1998 . . . Raiders have big time at draft lottery . . . Blades’ owners now into baseball, too

The four-team Memorial Cup tournament is headed to an American city for the first time since 1998.

The CHL announced on Wednesday that the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit will be the Saginawhost team for the 2024 Memorial Cup. This will be the fifth time the tournament has been played in an American city, but the first since 1998 when it was decided in Spokane. It also has twice been held in Portland (1983, 1986) and once in Seattle (1992).

The Spirit plays in the Dow Event Center that seats 5,527 for hockey.

The Kingston Frontenacs, Niagara IceDogs and Soo Greyhounds — all of whom missed the playoffs this season — also entered bids on the 2024 tournament.

The Spirit has been in the OHL since 2002 but has yet to win a championship. This season, the Spirit was 36-27-5 and will meet the Flint Firebirds in the first round of playoffs starting on Friday.

From a CHL news release: “On the ice, the Spirit are highlighted by exceptional status forward Michael Misa, whose 56 points (22G, 34A) this season were the most by an OHL rookie. The first pick of the 2022 OHL (draft) also averaged 1.24 points-per-game this season — the highest of any OHL exceptional status player and ahead of John Tavares’ 1.18 points-per-game average with the Oshawa Generals in 2005-06.”

Here’s Jamie Tozer of the Station Nation blog:

“This is a bit of a bold move by the CHL, awarding the tournament to Saginaw over traditional (and historic) junior hockey markets Kingston and the Soo. But as we saw with Connor Bedard, the CHL is clearly putting a focus on promoting its stars. Misa will likely become the most talked about junior player when Bedard departs this summer, and awarding Saginaw the hosting rights guarantees the biggest spotlight for its biggest player. Whether you agree with that or not, the CHL is in a place right now where it needs to start making some bold moves — especially with the Memorial Cup.”

The 2023 Memorial Cup tournament is to be played in Kamloops, from May 25 through June 4.

After Kamloops, the WHL next will be the host league in 2026. Bruce Hamilton, the president and general manager of the Kelowna Rockets, already has indicated that his organization is interested in putting together a bid, assuming some upgrades are made to Prospera Place. And now, after Saginaw being named host city, you have to think that the wheels are turning in Everett, Portland, Seattle and Spokane.

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Meanwhile, in Kamloops, city council has turned down a request for $200,000 KamloopsMCin late funding for the 2023 Memorial Cup, choosing instead to cough up a maximum of 100 grand.

The request came from tournament organizers with the money to be used for what Kamloops This Week said is “a pre-designed elevated platform to be situated on the east side of Sandman Centre, creating private suite spaces for Canadian Hockey League officials, sponsors, and broadcast and media partners. It would also create individual team executive spaces, as well as space for the TSN broadcast centre.”

Before this request arrived, the City of Kamloops already was on the hook for $940,000, most of which is going into upgrades to the arena.

Organizers now are looking to find the extra money needed for the installation of this platform.

The WHL held its draft lottery on Wednesday in Calgary, with the Prince Albert Raiders emerging as the big winners.

The Raiders moved from fourth to second — the six teams in the lottery could WHLmove up a maximum of two spots — and now hold the first two selections for the 2023 WHL draft. The Raiders got the first pick from the Edmonton Oil Kings in a swap that had D Kaiden Guhle move west last season.

The Winnipeg Ice had the first two selections in the 2019 draft and came out of it with two ace forwards — Matt Savoie and Conor Geekie.

The Raiders also own the seventh selection, a pick that originated with the Kelowna Rockets.

The Spokane Chiefs hold the third selection, followed, in order, by the Victoria Royals, Brandon Wheat Kings and Vancouver Giants. The Giants acquired that selection from the Swift Current Broncos.

The Raiders, as mentioned, will pick seventh, followed by Vancouver, the Medicine Hat Tigers, Everett Silvertips, Calgary Hitmen, Edmonton (from the Regina Pats), Tri-City Americans, Lethbridge Hurricanes, Prince George Cougars, Moose Jaw Warriors, Portland Winterhawks, Red Deer Rebels, Brandon Wheat Kings (from the Saskatoon Blades), Everett (from the Kamloops Blazers), Saskatoon (from the Seattle Thunderbirds) and Spokane (from Winnipeg).

The draft is scheduled for May 11.

Gasprices

On Wednesday morning, Rick Westhead of TSN tweeted: “OHL Commissioner David Branch confirms league hired an investigator to probe allegations that OHLseveral hockey parents paid for their sons to be selected in 2022 OHL draft.

“Three GTHL coaches have told me they have evidence (txt msgs) of parents paying $30K+.”

Attached to that was this statement from Branch:

“Last year we conducted an independent third-party investigation into the allegations that you mention and could find no evidence of any team tampering with the draft nor teams acting in a manner prejudicial of the League . . . I would that . . . the people you have spoken to please provide it to the League and we will review it an determine if further investigation is required.”

Westhead added: “Branch did not respond to questions about who was hired to scrutinize claims that parents were paying for their sons to be drafted, the scope of the OHL’s investigation and how long it lasted, or how much the OHL paid its investigator.”

And then came the comments . . . oh my goodness, the comments . . .

Former NHLer Marc Methot, who is a TSN analyst: “That’s the GTHL in a nutshell. Lots of crazy rich parents living vicariously thru their children.”

From an account labelled ‘dynasty worrier’ (@luis-saladbar): “So they pay for the kid to be drafted but then what? Doesn’t he still have to be good enough to be on the team? What’s the end goal here? Just buy an OHL jersey with their name on it at the team shop and save 29.9k.”

From Marvin Matthews (@krimar): “This is hockey’s version of the Felicity Huggman/Lori Loughlin debacle.”

From Europe71 (@Europe711): “This has been going on for ever. Not about the talent but how much money parents are willing to pay. It’s about the status. My kid got drafted to OHL. It opens up a lot off doors even if the kid doesn’t make the actual team. Sad. Not surprised what so ever.”

From Thane MacEachern (@of_the_Island): “Sounds like the CHL needs a certified player association, and collective agreement. It’s a for profit business, the kids are employees, only certain people profit. Don’t get me started on this bogus ‘education fund,’ it’s just another line on the corporate balance sheet.”

From jeff (@IH_HamiltonEast): “In related news, the sky is blue and water is wet.”

And the comments go on and on and on . . . but I’m sure you get the idea.

JUNIOR JOTTINGS:

ICYMI, the Flin Flon Bombers beat the visiting Estevan Bruins, 2-1 in OT, in Game 7 of their first-round SJHL playoff series on Tuesday night. F Cole Duperreault won it with a PP goal at 1:35 of the first OT period. His dump-in from the neutral zone bounced off a stanchion on the right-side glass and somehow got past Estevan G Cam Hrdlicka. F Kade Runke had given Estevan a 1-0 lead at 10:58 of the second period, with F Ethan Mercer equalizing, on a PP, at 12:28. . . . Attendance was announced at 1,005, so you know the Whitney Forum’s ghosts were dancing. . . . The Bombers will meet up with the Humboldt Broncos in Round 2. They will start with games in Humboldt on Friday and Saturday. . . .

The Sask Entertainment Group (SEG), which owns the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades and the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush, now owns the Saskatoon Baseball Club, an as-yet unnamed team that will begin play in the Western Canada Baseball League in 2024. . . . SEG is owned by Mike Priestner and his son, Colin, who is the Blades’ president and general manager. . . . Steve Hildebrand, who is the Blades’ associate GM, is president of the Saskatoon Baseball Club. . . . It will play in the East Division with the Medicine Hat Mavericks, Moose Jaw Miller Express, Regina Red Sox, Swift Current 57’s and Weyburn Beavers. Saskatoon will play out of 2,200-seat Cairns Field. . . .

F Matthew Seminoff of the Kamloops Blazers has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the NHL’s Dallas Stars. He was a sixth-round selection in the NHL’s 2022 draft. . . . Seminoff, who turned 19 on Dec. 27, finished this season with 82 points, including 31 goals, in 62 games. That included an eight-point game — four goals, four assists — on March 15 as the Blazers beat the visiting Victoria Royals, 11-1. . . . In 196 career regular-season games, he has 73 goals and 97 assists. . . . Seminoff was born in Leesburg, Va., and raised in Vancouver. . . .

The BCHL’s Surrey Eagles have signed Cam Keith, their general manager and head coach, to a five-year contract. Keith, 42, joined the Eagles on May 29, 2019, as associate GM and head coach. Two years later, the Eagles signed him to a three-year extension that was to run through the 2023-24 season. . . . This season, the Eagles finished 35-16-3, good for second spot in the Coastal Division. They will open a first-round playoff series against the Powell River Kings in Surrey on Friday.

Zach

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My wife, Dorothy, will be taking part in the 2023 Kamloops Kidney Walk on June 4 and, for a 10th straight year, is fund-raising. In September, she will celebrate 10 years as a transplant recipient. . . . If you would like to make a donation and be part of Team Dorothy, you may do so right here.

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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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

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Kamloops kidney news: Rosalyn, Jim and friends go walking; Ferris goes to Toronto; Zach goes golfing

Walk
The Butterfields — Rosalyn (left) and Jim (third from left) — were joined by family and friends for a Hike4Mike at McArthur Island in Kamloops on Sunday.

Rosalyn and Jim Butterfield are part of the Kamloops kidney community, which is why a few of us gathered at McArthur Island on Sunday afternoon.

Their son, Mike, who lives on the Lower Mainland of B.C., has polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and recently started dialysis. Yes, he needs a kidney transplant. He is on the transplant list and fingers are crossed that his time will come soon.

PKD is a mostly hereditary disease, according to the Mayo Clinic, “in which clusters of cysts develop primarily within your kidneys, causing your kidneys to enlarge and lose function over time. . . . It’s not uncommon for people to have (PKD) for years without knowing it.”

Also from the Mayo Clinic: “Sometimes a genetic mutation occurs on its own (spontaneous), so that neither parent has a copy of the mutated gene.”

The PKD Foundation of Canada reports that PKD “is one of the most common life-threatening diseases, affecting approximately one in 400 to one in 1,000. It does not skip a generation. There is usually a family history of the disease and parents . . . have a 50 per cent chance of passing the disease on to each of their children.

PKD “is passed from one generation to the next by an affected parent. . . . Scientists have also discovered that approximately 10 to 20 percent of the PKD patient community became affected through spontaneous mutation.”

According to Rosalyn, her family falls into that latter category.

Rosalyn and Jim showed up three or four years ago for a gathering of the Kamloops Kidney Support Group. Their son had been diagnosed with KPD and hey had a whole lot of questions that we tried to answer as best we could. Since then, they have continued to join our sessions when possible.

On Sunday, then, a group of family and friends took part in a ‘Team Hike4Mike.’ We weren’t trying to raise money or anything like that. It was simply a show of support for the Butterfields, who continue to try and raise the profile of PKD,

Donor
Rosalyn and Jim Butterfield had this sign installed in the rear window of their vehicle as they searched for a kidney for their son, Mike.

Meanwhile, Ferris Backmeyer, 5, and her mother, Lindsey, of Kamloops arrived in Toronto late Saturday.

They are in for a busy couple of days as Ferris, who was diagnosed with kidney disease shortly after birth, is to be introduced to the staff at the Hospital for Sick Children.

Ferris
Lindsey Backmeyer and her daughter, Ferris, enjoyed a quiet flight to Toronto on Saturday. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

Lindsey posted on Facebook that Ferris will have Monday appointments from 8 a.m. through 3:30 p.m., and then be involved in “sleep study” that night.

“She leaves that to immediately start another full day off appointments (on Tuesday),” Lindsey posted on Facebook. “Wednesday is full, too, and we go from the hospital to the airport. Home midnight Wednesday.”

You may recall that Ferris underwent a transplant in Vancouver in March 2021. However, a kidney that was transplanted one afternoon was removed that night because of developing issues with it.

The Backmeyers have held out hope since then that another kidney could be found for transplant, but that hasn’t happened. The plan now is for a different medical team to get an up-close look at Ferris with the hope that new eyes may see new opportunities.

As Lindsey wrote on Saturday after arriving in Toronto: “Ferris really enjoyed the day today. She travelled amazingly well. I’m really proud of her. This is going to be an adventure for all of us. Short. Whirlwind. Hopefully life changing. The journey to get here is just the beginning!”

Zach
Zach Tremblay looks to be enjoying himself as he helps play host to the Children’s Organ Transplant Society’s annual golf tournament. He is the society’s 2022 Ambassador. (Photo: Children’s Organ Transplant Society)

Zach Tremblay of Robson, B.C., who also is awaiting a kidney transplant, was in Vancouver for the weekend in his role as the Children’s Organ Transplant Society’s 2022 Ambassador. He helped the society play host to its annual Classic Golf Tournament.

When at home in Robson, Zach, 19, makes the drive to Trail three times a week in order to undergo dialysis. Born with renal hypoplasia-dysplasia, he underwent a transplant on June 1, 2017. Unfortunately, there was a problem and the transplanted organ had to be removed.

His mother, Jana, told Gord McIntyre of Postmedia: “What should have been a fairly routine four-hour surgery lasted about eight hours. They finally came and found my husband and me to tell us that a technical error had been made during the surgery and it cut off the blood flow to the kidney.”

McIntyre added: “Two more surgeries were performed overnight trying to save the kidney. When a test the next morning showed the kidney was not functioning, Zach required a fourth operation within 24 hours to remove the failed organ.”

Now we are heading to the end of 2022 and Zach continues to wait for another chance.

Zachposter2

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Want an easy win to feel great? Register to be an organ donor today. It will only #TakeTwoMinutes and you could save a life. Great deed and fuzzy feels without any hassle. #Register2Give taketwominutes.ca

Kidney Mom: Your supposed loss of freedom is NOT worth more than my son’s life . . . or anyone’s for that matter!!! It’s just NOT.

Jana Tremblay, a Kidney Mom from Robson B.C., posted this on Facebook recently:

JanaZach
Jana Tremblay and her son, Zach. (Photo: Jana Tremblay/Facebook)

“My heart is heavy these days . . . watching people cry ‘freedom’ over stopping the spread of this virus, and protecting our vulnerable is getting really tough to take. It’s a small kick to my heart every time I read it. PTSD flashbacks of watching him on life support flash in my brain. It’s hurtful and selfish.
“Your supposed loss of freedom is NOT worth more than my son’s life . . . or anyone’s for that matter!!! It’s just NOT.”

Four sentences and you can feel Jana’s frustration bursting from each of them.

Her teenage son, Zach, is in need of a kidney transplant, and has been for a while now. These days, he travels three times a week from Robson to Trail in order to undergo hemodialysis.

You have no idea how many people just like Zach are walking among us. You have no idea how many recipients of organ transplants are walking among us. You have no idea how many other people with medical issues are walking among us.

Most of them also will have compromised immune systems, meaning they are at high risk of contracting COVID-19, be it Delta, Omicron or some other incoming variant.

And, if you are vaccine-hesitant or an anti-vaxxer, let me tell you something else — while you haven’t yet showed up for your first vaccination, some people are getting No. 4.

A kidney transplant friend in Edmonton got No. 4 on Feb. 2. My wife, Dorothy, is waiting and hoping that she soon will get No. 4.

So, please, do the right thing and get vaccinated.

BTW, if you are vaccine-hesitant or an out-and-out anti-vaxxer, you should know that, as Amanda Connolly of Global News reported, “there appears to be growing consensus among Canadian organ transplant specialists about requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for patients looking to be placed on the wait-list for an organ donation.”

In fact, the Canadian Society of Transplantation has updated its guidance and now is prompting “any provincial and regional programs to be transparent if they choose to implement the rule.”

That complete story is right here.

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Meanwhile, Chad Carswell of Hickory, N.C., won’t be getting the kidney transplant that he needs because he refuses to get vaccinated. “I was born free; I’ll die free,” he told The Washington Post. . . . Carswell, 38, has been doing hemo-dialysis since July 2020. . . . Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Hospital has a policy that recipients and donors must be fully vaccinated. Transplant patients are at high risk for severe illness from COVID-19. They take anti-rejection medications that result in compromised immune systems. . . . The hospital told The Post in a statement that its policy“follows the current standard of care in the United States, which is to vaccinate all patients on waiting lists or being evaluated for transplant. We understand that some patients may not wish to be vaccinated. In this case, patients can opt to be evaluated at another transplant center.” . . . Carswell, who has had both of his legs amputated due to complications from diabetes, said he has had COVID on two occasions. . . . Why won’t he get vaccinated? The Post reported right here that Carswell “does not believe in conspiracy theories about the vaccines, but remains skeptical about how they were developed.” . . .

Carswell told The Post: “There is not a situation in this world that I’ll get a vaccine. If I’m laying on my deathbed, and they tell me, ‘You have a kidney waiting on you if you get this shot,’ I’ll tell them ‘I’ll see you on the other side.’ ” . . . The Associated Press reported in January that according to the family of D.J. Ferguson, a Massachusetts hospital had denied him a heart transplant because he refused to get vaccinated. And there have been reports that the same thing happened to a woman in Colorado who needs a kidney.

Wilbert Mora, a 27-year-old New York City Police officer, died after a shootout in Harlem on Jan. 21. His family, upon hearing of his death, immediately gave  permission for organ transplantation. His heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas went to five different people. There is more on that story right here.

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Want an easy win to feel great? Register to be an organ donor today. It will only #TakeTwoMinutes and you could save a life. Great deed and fuzzy feels without any hassle. #Register2Give taketwominutes.ca

Teenage transplant hopeful named COTS ambassador for 2022 . . . Robson, B.C., resident waits, hopes for new kidney

The Children’s Organ Transplant Society of BC has named Zach Tremblay of Robson, B.C., as its 2022 Ambassador.

Zach, a graduate of Stanley Humphries Secondary in Castlegar, will turn 19 in March and is a candidate for a kidney transplant. Born with renal hypoplasia-dysplasia, he has had one transplant, on June 1, 2017, but there was a problem and the ‘new’ kidney had to be removed.

Two years ago, his mother, Jana, told Gord McIntyre of Postmedia what had happened:

“What should have been a fairly routine four-hour surgery lasted about eight hours. They finally came and found my husband and me to tell us that a technical error had been made during the surgery and it cut off the blood flow to the kidney.”

McIntyre added: “Two more surgeries were performed overnight trying to save the kidney. When a test the next morning showed the kidney was not functioning, Zach required a fourth operation within 24 hours to remove the failed organ.”

He has made the transition from peritoneal dialysis to hemodialysis, but that has meant travelling to Trail three times a week because there isn’t a facility in Castlegar. At one point, early in 2020, he and Jana were forced to live at Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver for a period of time so that Zach could do hemodialysis there, while he waited to turn 17. He had to be 17 in order for the hospital in Trail to take over his treatments.

What all of this means, of course, is that Zach is well-positioned for this new position as the 2022 Ambassador for COTS. Not only that, but he already has had an impact in the world of organ donation.

Here’s a note that Joan Alexander, a friend of Jana’s, posted on Facebook on Jan. 18:

“Several years ago, on this day, I became an NDD (non-directed kidney donor). Zach got me started on my journey and, although I was not a match for him, I was able to donate to someone else. I am well, healthy and would donate again if I could.

“As an active volunteer for The Kidney Foundation of Canada, Atlantic Branch PEI, I advocate and raise funds for donors and recipients.

“Look at Zach now! He is the 2022 Ambassador of the Children’s Organ Transplant Society! He continues to wait for a miracle and struggles with all of the health implications that long-term dialysis brings.

“Please consider being tested for Zach.”

Zach3

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Time is everything. This is why we promise registering as an organ donor should only #TakeTwoMinutes. That’s faster than microwave popcorn! #Register2Give

Zach takes a pill, and another one, and another one and . . . Dorothy on TV . . . Drone delivers for double-lung transplant

ZachMeds

The picture above these words?

Those are the meds that Zach Tremblay, a 17-year-old from Robson, B.C., takes every single week as he waits and hopes for a kidney transplant.

Here’s what his mother, Jana, wrote on Facebook recently:

“This is what it takes for him to stay alive — meds every day x2, plus 4 more pills at meal times! He does dialysis 3x per week, 4-hour runs, has major dietary and fluid restrictions (none of the fun yummy stuff, and 1 litre of fluid, meals included, every 24 hours).

“Please share his poster/story and help us find his match.”

Zachposter2

According to numbers provided by BC Transplant (as of Sept. 30, 2021) . . .

Number of registered organ donors in B.C.: 1,564,489.

Number of organ transplants performed in B.C. in 2021: 383 (189 involving kidneys from deceased donors; 58 involved kidneys from living donors).

Number of patients awaiting transplants: 645.

Number of those needing a kidney: 509.

Number of post-transplant patients being followed: 5,666.

Number of deceased organ donors in 2021: 107.

Number of donor organs imported: 11.

Dylana Kneeshaw of CFJC-TV in Kamloops has more on this year’s organ transplants in B.C. right here.

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Time is everything. This is why we promise registering as an organ donor should only #TakeTwoMinutes. That’s faster than microwave popcorn! #Register2Give

Thinking about Ferris and Zach as clown cars pull up in front of hospitals . . .

While so many selfish folks chose to spend at least part of their Wednesday afternoon making fools of themselves in front of and around various hospitals, I couldn’t help but think of Ferris Backmeyer and Zach Tremblay and their families.

FerrisZach 2
Ferris Backmeyer and Zach Tremblay, new best friends waiting for kidney transplants. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer)

Ferris, 4, is from Kamloops; Zach, 18, is from Robson, B.C., which is across the Columbia River from Castlegar.

Both of these young people are awaiting kidney transplants. Each already has undergone one transplant, only to have it fail almost immediately.

Ferris has been on dialysis, either hemo or peritoneal, almost all of her young life; Zach does hemo-dialysis three times a week, but has to make the 65-kilometre round trip to Trail in order to get his treatment.

They both are at high risk of infection from any number of viruses, including COVID-19, as, of course, are thousands of others.

Of course, yesterday’s protesters lack the ability to see past the end of their noses, so they wouldn’t be aware of the number of immunocompromised people who live in their communities. If you want to protest about having your freedoms taken away, maybe you should speak with a few people who live with compromised immune systems and maybe learn what they have been going through while trying to stay alive during this pandemic.

(As an aside, you really have to wonder just how goofy some of these people can get. One week they are wanting to get horse medicine into their guts to help them fight this dastardly virus, and you shake your head and think that’s rock bottom. But then the clown cars show up in front of hospitals and it becomes obvious that, hey, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet.)

But we digress . . .

Kidney disease and the wait for a transplant often means sessions in Vancouver with members of a medical team. Such was the case recently for Ferris and Zach.

Zachgirls
Zach Tremblay got to hang out with the Backmeyer sisters — Tavia (left), Ferris and Ksenia — during a recent trip to Vancouver. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer)

Zach was being transitioned from a team at B.C. Children’s Hospital to one at Vancouver General Hospital that works with adults who are awaiting transplants. At the same time, Ferris and her mother, Lindsey, were at BCCH.

Yes, Ferris and Zach finally met. In fact, Lindsey reported that Zach “is Ferris’s new bestie. He’s such and amazing kid and just connected with my girls instantly.”

When Lindsey writes about the medical issues being experienced by Ferris the pain oftentimes cuts the reader almost like a scalpel.

Earlier this year, Ferris underwent a kidney transplant in Vancouver, but the new kidney was removed almost immediately after being transplanted.

Since then, well, it really is a game of wait and see, except that it’s hardly a game.

This week, Lindsey offered an update via Facebook, as she is wont to do, and this one hurts. . .

“Well when it rains it always pours in our world. We got what feels like devastating news (Tuesday) morning from Ferris’s transplant nephrologist.

“Her Anti off testing was repeated and it’s shown that Ferris has become highly sensitive. Not sure at all when the 30% antibodies were drawn but she is now sitting at 99%. From my understanding they have a fancy calculation that looks at all the organs that were donated in the past 5 years across Canada and all age groups. What percentage would have been a match for Ferris . . . 1 friggin percent.

“It’s changed everything. They are going to increase immunosuppression to try and prevent them increasing to 100% because, as he reminded me, it can always be worse.

“This terrifies me in the season of a friggin pandemic against a respiratory virus that my child doesn’t have any protection against. In a climate where now not only one but both of her parents will be working in close contact with patients that are infected.

“Her future is so incredibly uncertain . . . more so than it already was??  How can that even be a thing.

“Their goal still is to get her transplanted but the odds are NOT in her favour. I have never felt more confident in our decisions to making memories our number one priority. Everything needs to shift and her quality of life will come above everything else.

“I feel shattered and it’s hard to breathe. It’s just been so incredibly overwhelming and the constant feelings of fight or flight are wearing me down.

“It’s so important for us to really embrace where we are at right now because the reality of our situation is that this is likely the ‘good’ and I hope to keep things this way for as long as it takes!”

I should mention that Lindsey is a registered respiratory therapist at Royal Inland Hospital, while Pat is in nursing school at Thompson Rivers U.

That won’t mean anything to the protesters who got their 15 minutes on Wednesday afternoon in front of and around RIH. But it should.

Ferrisposter

Zachposter2

If you are able to help, our friend Vic Morin of Kamloops is in need of a kidney transplant . . .

Vic1

——

Mike

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Want an easy win to feel great? Register to be an organ donor today. It will only #TakeTwoMinutes and you could save a life. Great deed and fuzzy feels without any hassle. #Register2Give taketwominutes.ca

Junior hockey coach gets kidney through paired program . . . How many antibodies? Lori Noyes is helping find out

Andrew Verner is a former junior and professional goaltender, who now is the associate coach with the OHL’s Peterborough Petes. . . . He was playing in Germany for the Cologne Sharks in 1999 when he was discovered to have glomerulonephritis. By March 2020, he was doing peritoneal dialysis three times a day. . . . One year later, on March 9, 2021, Verner received a kidney through the Paired Kidney Donation Program, with his wife, Allison, donating a kidney to someone else three days later. . . . “There was no question,” she told Mike Davies of the Peterborough Examiner. “He’s my husband and that’s what you do. I did it for him, for us, for our family.” . . . And it turns out that Allison may not be through. As Andrew told Davies: “Deep down you know you’d do the same. You wish she didn’t have to. Now she’s talking about donating other stuff. Once you’re in Toronto and you look around at all these people getting new lungs, new livers — now she’s thinking about that.” . . . The complete story — and it’s a wonderful one — is right here.

Ferrisposter

If you have had a kidney transplant, you will be immunocompromised and likely are well aware that even if you have had two COVID-19 vaccinations your system may not have produced a whole lot of antibodies. . . . Lori Noyes is in that exact situation and, in fact, is taking part in a trial run involving a third vaccination. . . . This first-person report is as good as anything I’ve read involving antibodies, and it’s right here.

ZachTremblay

Zach Tremblay of Robson, B.C., is 17 and has graduated from high school now, but the message is the same — he needs a kidney. Can you help?

Vic1

Vic Morin of Kamloops has had two women offer to become kidney donors and both are involved in the testing process. But when it comes to this situation you can’t ever have too many potential donors. Are you able to help?

Mike

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Want an easy win to feel great? Register to be an organ donor today. It will only #TakeTwoMinutes and you could save a life. Great deed and fuzzy feels without any hassle. #Register2Give taketwominutes.ca

Could you give Zach Tremblay a kidney as graduation present? . . . An emotional mother updates son’s situation . . .

If you are a regular in these parts, you will be familiar with the Backmeyer family of Kamloops and their four-year-old daughter, Ferris, who is in need of a kidney transplant. Her mother, Lindsey, often shares the trials and tribulations of living with a youngster and the challenges presented by a variety of things, including kidney disease.

But what if your child is a teenager trying to make his way through high school? What if your son has to travel to another community three or four times a week for hemodialysis treatments? How do you deal with the fact that your son had one kidney transplant that didn’t work out?

For starters, you hope and pray that he gets another chance.

Zach1
Zach Tremblay, high school graduate.

That, in a nutshell, is what the Tremblay family of Robson, B.C., is going through as their son and brother, Zach, continues his fight with kidney disease.

His mother, Jana, took to Facebook the other day to provide an update on her boy, who graduated from high school last month. And if you don’t think that’s an accomplishment — getting through high school while dealing with kidney disease, a failed transplant and hemodialysis — you need to back up and think again.

Besides the pandemic, this year didn’t get off to a roaring start for Zach when a clot developed in the fistula that had been implanted in one of his arms to help with the dialysis process.

That, Jana explained, “was extremely painful both physically and emotionally for him. It could not be saved and it was a huge blow for us all, but mostly him.

Zach2“It set us all back emotionally, and we decided to just take a step back from it all. Zach then made the decision to stick with his chest catheter and won’t agree to any more surgeries, unless it’s a kidney.”

Those days in the first two or three months of 2021 were wearing.

“He struggled hard with this news and decision and, as a parent, aside from the failed (fistula), it was the hardest thing to watch him go through . . . heartbreaking to say the least,” Jana wrote.

Dealing with kidney disease oftentimes is like riding a rollercoaster. Up . . . down . . . up . . . down. And it’s never easy, especially when you are wanting so badly for there to be a transplant in the near future. And when you’re the mother of a teenager for whom you badly want a kidney, knowing that it would bring him some kind of a ‘normal’ life, well . . . you also watch as your child has to deal with the extra-curricular stuff as well.

“We did our best to push forward and stay positive, but honestly it gets harder and harder,” Jana wrote. “The setbacks are harder to accept, because we feel like he just deserves a break. It’s very hard as an adult to push through and stay positive, but it’s even harder for a kid who faces all of this kidney stuff, plus the social teenage bullshit, and, yes, it’s ABSOLUTE, ignorant bullshit that gets tossed his way as well.”

Zach3Going into March, Zach had always dealt with a medical team at B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. That all changed with a meeting that month during which they learned that his file was being transferred to “the adult world” at Vancouver General Hospital.

“We were gutted,” Jana wrote, “and I cried and cried . . . 18 years of tears, pain, let downs . . . it all literally poured from my body, and his as well, I’m sure.”

Of course, this transfer meant leaving one comfort zone and moving into an unfamiliar spot and having to start over with new medical people, something that never is easy.

As Jana wrote: “Leaving our team at BCCH is terrifying . . . 18 years of care and trust and faith, and we are leaving empty-handed. It does not feel good.”

But the clouds parted in June, at least for a short time, as Zach graduated from high school in Castlegar.

“Despite many hospital stays over the years, he did it!” Jana wrote. “It was different, of course, with COVID protocols, but our guy made it, and we could not be more proud of him!”

So what’s next for the Tremblays?

Well, Zach and Jana will spend some time in Vancouver next month meeting with the transplant team at VGH “and hopefully push forward towards a transplant for our guy.”

The first half of 2021 wasn’t easy, but, as Jana put it, “we made it, we are here, and so is he.”

And they are determined to focus on the positives and wait to see what “the fresh eyes of a new team will bring” to Zach’s situation.

“We will continue to share his story in hopes of finding a match,” Jana wrote, “and we will continue to advocate for others who are waiting.”

BTW, the Tremblay family all has been “double vaxxed and are super thankful for it!” That’s important for those with kidney disease and compromised immune systems. If you haven’t been vaccinated, please get it done, if not for yourself, for the thousands of people who walk among us with compromised immune systems.

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

——

Time is everything. This is why we promise registering as an organ donor should only #TakeTwoMinutes. That’s faster than microwave popcorn! #Register2Give

Backmeyers need living donor for Ferris . . . Zach graduates, still looking for kidney . . . John’s new kidney looks to be a hit

The Backmeyer family of Kamloops is about to begin a search for a living kidney donor for their daughter, Ferris, 4.

You will recall that Ferris underwent a transplant in Vancouver on March 6, but there were complications and the kidney was removed mere hours after it had been put in place.

FerrisLind
Ferris and Lindsey Backmeyer: The search for a living donor is about to begin. (Photo: Lindsey Backmeyer/Facebook)

After meeting with the medical team in Vancouver earlier this month, Ferris’s mother, Lindsey, wrote on Facebook that “there were a lot of factors that likely played a part in the failed transplant. The big one is that the kidney had two arteries — one that was apparently hidden and not identified when retrieved. . . . One of the requirements the surgeons had along with it needing to be small was that it be a single-artery, single-vein organ.”

One thing led to another, and clotting led to other issues creating “back pressure and bleeding.” Thus, the transplanted kidney had to be removed.

All of that, though, is in the past.

“For now,” Lindsey said, “the plan is to try and find her a living donor kidney.”

At the meeting in Vancouver, various options were discussed and Lindsey said the plan now is to “have her ready to be transplanted again by September.” That would be six months after the previous attempt.

Going into the Vancouver meeting, Lindsey didn’t think that a living donor would be an option. However, the medical team “expressed a strong desire for a living donor for Ferris . . . there are way too many benefits for a live-donation transplant.”

And so the search for a donor is about to begin.

“They will be incredibly selective in who they will test, but live-donor testing will resume right away!” Lindsey wrote.

Having been down this road with my wife, Dorothy, I can tell you that it isn’t easy asking someone for a kidney. It’s not like asking for a $20 loan, I can tell you that. And that is what the Backmeyers are going through.

As Lindsey put it, “I really don’t like canvassing for a kidney. It feels so weird to me, but her life depends on this . . . so be ready for all the Ferris poster spam!!”

Bring it on, Lindsey, bring it on!

Zach
Zach Tremblay and his date, long-time friend Taylor Martens, got ready to graduate from Stanley Humphries Secondary School in Castlegar last Friday. (Photo: Jana Tremblay/Facebook)

Meanwhile, Zach Tremblay, a young man who has been mentioned in this space on a few previous occasions, is just off a big weekend. Zach, who lives in Robson, B.C., has graduated from high school.

That is quite an accomplishment, when you consider that he has been making three trips a week down the highway to Trail where he undergoes hemodialysis for about four hours at a time.

Yes, Zach is waiting and hoping for a kidney transplant. Graduating from high school doesn’t put an end to any of that. He will continue to make the trek to Trail, and he still needs a kidney.

If you’re able to help, the contact info is further down on this post.

John
Marlene and John Casey, swinging in the pre-transplant days. (Photo: Kathryn Van Kommer/Facebook)

That brings us to John Casey, a happy part of the Kamloops Kidney Support Group.

He was released from St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver on Sunday after having undergone a kidney transplant on May 31, three days after he and his wife, Marlene, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.

“I’m finally out of the hospital and the new kidney seems to be doing well,” he wrote on Facebook. “We will have a long period of recovery and I hope to continue to gain strength. We will be forever grateful to our medical system for pulling me through all this and the amazing personal care I got in the hospital.”

John had been doing peritoneal dialysis — hooking up to a cycler every night at home and letting it run its course while he slept — for more than two years prior to the transplant.

As things turned out, John encountered some cardiac-related issues while his medical team was doing the kidney transplant. This meant that he spent time in the cardiac ward before being transferred to the renal ward.

Things have since stabilized and John now has started his trip along the road to recovery. We eagerly look forward to having him and Marlene back with us in Kamloops.

The Kamloops Kidney Support Group also is feeling sadness after the death of Norm Naylor on Sunday morning at the Marjorie Willoughby Snowden Memorial Hospice Home in Kamloops. . . . Norm had kidney issues, but also was fighting cancer, and it was the cancer that finally took him after a long, hard battle. . . . Whenever the pandemic recedes and allows the KKSG to resume its monthly gatherings, Norm’s smile and dry sense of humour really will be missed. . . . Condolences to his dear wife, Evelyn, and their family.

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Want an easy win to feel great? Register to be an organ donor today. It will only #TakeTwoMinutes and you could save a life. Great deed and fuzzy feels without any hassle. #Register2Give taketwominutes.ca

It’s May’s Green Shirt Day . . . Please give organ donation some thought . . . Check out ex-CFLer’s kidney story

Vic1
Vic Morin of Kamloops has added a decal to his car as he searches for a living kidney donor. (Photo: Colleen Bruce)

It’s May 7, which means it’s Green Shirt Day for May.

There is an annual push for Green Shirt Day, and the Logan Boulet Effect, on April 7. But let’s not forget about it for the rest of the year; let’s remember its impact on the seventh day of each of the other 11 months.

It’s all about registering for organ donation, so please do the research, ask the questions, discuss it with family and make your decision.

Also . . . please take the time to learn about being a living kidney donor. Again, do the research and ask the questions. Most of all, learn how you can be a living donor through the Living Kidney Donor Program without having a specific recipient who is the same blood type as you are.

My wife, Dorothy, received a kidney through the Living Kidney Donor Program almost eight years ago. Her best friend wasn’t a match with her, but wanted Dorothy to receive a kidney, so she entered the program. She donated a kidney to an anonymous recipient with Dorothy receiving one from an anonymous donor.

So, please, at least give it some thought.

Zach16

Mike Abou-Mechrek, a former CFL offensive lineman who now lives in Regina, is recovering at home after donating a kidney to his father. . . . “Anybody can do it,” Abou-Mechrek told Sam Thompson of Global News. “It is special, I suppose, but it really wasn’t a decision for me — my dad needed help, I could help him, so you do it. . . . When my dad needed a kidney, I said, ‘All right, let’s go get tested.’ If you knew how much good you could do, you would do it.” . . . This actually was Abou-Mechrek’s second experience with kidney transplantation. During a stint with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, his then-wife gave a kidney to her father. “I’ll never forget going to the recovery room minutes after he came out of surgery,” Abou- Mechrek said, “and the man looked like he just came back from Jamaica.” . . . Thompson’s complete story is right here.

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

——

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

——

Or, for more information, visit right here.

Want an easy win to feel great? Register to be an organ donor today. It will only #TakeTwoMinutes and you could save a life. Great deed and fuzzy feels without any hassle. #Register2Give taketwominutes.ca

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