Dialysis & Tough Mudder

Well I have made it to 1 more day until the Tough Mudder. I feel very well trained for this event, after a near death stay at St Paul's Hospital in March and many days of dialysis without any major problems. FOR THIS I AM GRATEFUL. I have had my pump speed at dialysis raised to 459ml a minute, which has changed my recovery period after dialysis to a more distressful situation. I have some side effects, such as imbalance, major headaches and longer exhaustion periods.
I have to have dialysis a extra time this week and after the event because of the tissue tears , it pushes my potassium levels higher and caused me more electrolytes passing through my blood stream. It has been the hardest thing that I have had to do for my training plan getting ready for the Tough Mudder event on Saturday, at Whistler. My start time is 1:45pm.
My daughter Julia has arrived with my brother Corey, from Ibiza, Spain, so she will be travelling with me to Whistler. Julia has been a very important inspirational piece to my training. She has always been in the front of my mind, where I am determined to help get this information about Organ Transplant Awareness, and Registering to be a Organ Donor strongly out there in the Media.

I will have difficulty with the side affects from my Kidney Disease IGA Nephropathy, competing tomorrow in the Tough Mudder. However I know the extreme pain that I will be in after training and going through this process. I can't change it and it does not ever get easier, I know that it will be there tomorrow, when I compete, and I have now grown to accept this. The most painful part that I get is the deferred pain that I get from my blood leaving my vital organs and then it sends pain signals through my abdominal cavity that I could only explain by the history that I had when I just about lost my arm from a Hemotoma infection and my arm was dieing from the lack of blood to arms. I feel exactly the same pain and the darkness of the pain that I felt the same as when I was younger. It happens every time I have trained for this event, and it is my biggest worry, however I have such strong Faith that you just have to believe that my Angels will keep me safe.

I also have some Film makers from the BECAUSE I CAN PROJECT coming down to Whistler to film this story, in the hopes of raising awareness for our cause.

I hope they can show how much this affects your loved ones around your suffering. I have been separated from my girl Julia for almost 14 months now, and her sister Eva. this has been a steady stream of pain in my soul, that never can be understood unless you have been away from your children while fighting for your life.

I will start and I hope to finish with a good time and a safe journey.

PLEASE REGISTER TO BE A ORGAN DONOR AND ALSO SHARE THIS STORY WITH ALL OF YOUR CONNECTIONS IN THE HOPE OF GETTING CANADIANS TO RECOGNISE THE IMPORTANCE TO HELP FELLOW CANADIAN FAMILIES THAT ARE SUFFERING.

Thank you,

Sincerely Kevin Campbell

Tears, Exhaustion & Fighting on with Faith

This week I was and still am getting very exhausted with my Training for the Tough Mudder. This is the part that I am really mentally strong with. It is the waking up early to Stuff Envelopes for Sponsor ship letters to Company's. Sending out emails, tracking down Drug companys that distibute the drugs I use at the Kidney Dialysis Community center and replying to any emails that deserve a big Thank you. This is the part that makes me sometimes want to just take care of Kevin and my disease and just let this Organ donor awareness journey move forward with someone else. However I really believe in my heart of hearts, that I have been choosen to do this proactive task of reaching out for the people that I see at DIALYSIS every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and for all the people that I don't know or see, that are struggling with this same situation or slighly different problems, however don't have the strength that for some strange reason I can push through.

I seem to ask for more Faith everyday and to be able to help to help the people, and to show me the signs that will help guide my path of success in helping the less fortunate.

I need this and the help to keep moving forward. I am hoping to find some trusting people that are not out for self promotion or as I have found out in this journey that are there for a little and then leave you swimming up hill . I will move the mountains that form in my way of the goals.

Keeping strong.

Extreme Training on Dialysis

I have done a Seminar at Uvic with Let's Talk Science and Dr. Paul Zehr.  I wanted to bring forward this seminar to share information on how the Kidney works and how extreme training on dialysis affects on health. DR. Jane Gair had organised a Medical student to explain the functions of the Kidney and how dialysis works to clean the body. Second year medical student Andrew did a fantastic job and his presentation was very thorough and insightful. I explained the practical side of how it affects myself and Dr. Paul Zehr was finishing with what can happen to one self and if there is any detrimental affects to this training process that I put myself through with my workouts.

Sadly Dr Zehr could not find any real studies.
At this point I now know that I have to record everything that I am doing so this can help the medical science teams have something to go on. I will start tomorrow recording all of my blood pressure numbers before, during and after my training sessions. Which consist of running, yoga, swimming and resistant weight workouts. I will also be recording all of my food intakes and times. My blood work will then be recorded and with all this information, I hope to be able to find out if this fitness is a helpful healthy journey or a hindrance to my goal, of being super fit for the time when I might be able to have a Kidney Transplant.
I am feeling stronger everyday, and with my side effects from being anaemic and the pain I go through with training, I feel like I am on track for June 23-24 Tough Mudder in Whistler.
My daughter Julia is flying in from Ibiza, Spain with my Brother, who is flying down from Scotland to pick her up and chaperon her here on the 20Th of June. Just in time to be able to be there at the finish line at Whistler. She is my focus when I feel like I am to tired to train or just overwhelmed. She pulls me through spiritually, and I catch another blast of energy.
To all the Daddy's out there that are away from there daughters, I feel your pain. Keep focused and believe you are with her spiritually.
Need to rest, had a big day at dialysis and trained 2 times, once before and once after dialysis.
Please get up and move and if you are moving you might as well register for Oran Donation.

Peace & Serenity
Kevin

Sponsorship Letter for Tough Mudder/ Organ Donor awareness

Please Check out my Sponsorship Letter, I really need your support

Thank you to the helpers that had a part in putting together this Letter. It is appreciated very much, because at the end of everything, what matters most is to HELP TO HELP THE PEOPLE.

A Very Special Thank You to all my Family for coming together in any which way they can to support myself and my vision of helping this cause of Organ Donation and the Kidney Foundation.

To my cousin Kim, who has heroically came forward to give me the hope of having a future, and to see my daughter grow up.  I can't express how grateful I am. everyday I am getting needled with those huge needles, I feel that I have hope. For this Thank You once again Kim.

You, my Family and /friends are all my strength, the people I can count on.

The Sun is Shining Down on Me

Dialysis/Tough Mudder Training / Sponsorship Finally Moving Forward Consistantly

I would like to share the fact that after my last stay in the Royal Jubilee Hospital that I am feeling better. I have had a number of Dialysis Treatments that have gone through without any problems. They have been able to run my blood through to be cleaned at a speed o 400ml a minute. Last run through ( this is treatment term for cleaning the potassium and other electrolytes out of my blood ) that I have, I ended up cleaning 100.7 Liters of blood. the best so far. However with this process comes extreme fatigue.
I did still make it through a 6 km run, climbed Mt Doug Trail and went to the pool for a hour. It was great to accomplish this and it gives me the mental strength to know that I am right on track for June 23-24th in Whistler B.C. Tough Mudder..
I have been working hard getting information out regarding the disturbing reality that B.C. has the worst Organ Donor Program. We need every ones help to stand up and move forward in any which way they can think of to increase this problem.
I myself being a Kidney Dialysis Patient have had 2 people die that have been either beside me or in front of me that lost the fight because there was no Donor for them. I DON'T WANT TO BE PART OF THIS STATISTIC .
 I am available to do and SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS that people would like for me to share my story and journey of leaving Ibiza Spain for better health care, however finding out that the Organ donor program is so far behind many first world countries. I have left my girls and friends and my company to save my life here.
I want to say a big Thank you to Dr. Ganz and all the other Dr's that have been on the team to save my life so far. Next is to all the patient NURSES and helpers at the Renal unit at Royal Jubilee and the Renal Community Centre in Royal Oak.. They are really such Hero's. The after Care program in Victoria is fantastic, the social workers, the Nutritionists and of course the Handy Dart Service that helps get the patients back and forth safely.
To you all, THANK YOU.

I have had my SPONSORSHIP LETTER POSTED ON THE SIDE OF MY BLOG, please have a look. This does take alot of effort and time and I am open to any ideas that will help this movement move smoothly.
Feeling the HOPE AND FAITH coming through.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog,

Fighting the ultimate fight,
Sincerely Kevin

My Angel to be the Best I can Be.

This is my little girl that inspires me so much when I am feeling that all this can be too much. I need a Kidney to be there for my daughter, as she needs her Dad.

Thanks Julia,

Love Always Daddy

Survived the Scare- Traing again for Tough Mudder

I am finally feeling better after my stint in the hospital at St Paul's Hospital. My recovery was longer than I thought, however I guess this is normal for having a double infection in my body ( Ecoli- Catheter ).

I also had my dialysis treatmnets come to a complete stop because they had blown my arm up in 3 places trying to needle my Fistulla. I was sent to Royal jubilee for treatmnet and they gave me a sonogram to measure the length and width of my Fistulla. they also sent over a new plan for the Nurses at the Community Dialysis Center for a change in needles and how they approached doing this needling.

 I was pretty sick missing out on Dialysis for a week, hower after 6 runs with out a problem, I feel like I am coming back to what might be a normal feeling with a Kidney disease.

I have now been back to training for the Tough mudder on June 24th. I am currently doing Yoga-Mt doug Hikes- Swimming programs - Running Stairs and Light weight Training.

It is feeling could to be in the fight again.

My little girl julia is coming over here on June 20th and will be my Shining Star at the end of the Tough Mudder Course.

 I vision seeing her at the end over and over when I am Training.  This keeps me moving forward when I am really hurting.
.
My Brother corey has very kindly offered to Fly from his hoem is Scotland to Ibiza, pick Julia up and then fly to London-Toronto-Vancouver and then Victoria.
What a wonderful brother, as I can't fly all those flights with my health.
So excited.

Raising awareness about ORGAN DONORS is what I want to share.
Please get yourself signed up to be a DONOR and also get out and be FIT! You never know when you might get sick and need that strentgh to pull through.

Peace and Serenity,

Sincerely Kevin

Free seminar at UVic Today!

Kevin will be part of delivering a free seminar at UVic today on the kidneys, his disease and training for the Tough Mudder while on dialysis.

Andrew Jeffery, a 2nd year Island Medical Program medical student and Dr. E. Paul Zehr will also be discussing this issue.

Thursday, March 29, 2012 at 3 pm in the Medical Sciences Building room 150 at UVic.

Light refreshments will be served.

Check out the poster here and we hope to see you there!

 http://imp.uvic.ca/news/2012-mar-27.php

Kevin is home in Victoria!

So after a few more procedures, a few more nights of intravenous antibiotics, and one last time in dialysis, Kevin was discharged from St. Paul's today!  What great news.  We caught the 3 pm ferry for Victoria and headed home.

What a week!

Here are some photos of the last procedure Kevin had:

Kevin before his cystoscopy

During the cystoscopy

Everything was clear - no problems found in the bladder - good news!

Kevin had a great experience at St. Paul's Hospital overall.  Everyone was fantastic and he received great care.  Thanks to you all!

Jane

Kevin Needs a Kidney!

I just wanted to clarify something, as it seems that maybe we have confused some people with this blog.  Kevin came to Vancouver for his pre-assessent for a kidney transplant.  This just gets him on the transplant list.  It does not mean that he is having a transplant.  Far from it. 

Kevin's blood-type is O+ and the wait time for a deceased donor in BC right now for his blood type is 10- 12 years.

If he is approved after this visit, then he gets on that transplant list.

Of course, in the meantime, Kevin could get a kidney from a living donor.  He needs a kidney to get him off of dialysis.  This is a much preferrable option.

I hope this clarifies things.

Consider registering to be an organ donor!

http://www.transplant.bc.ca/pre_livingkidney.htm

Jane

St. Paul's Hospital Becomes a Temporary Home

Wow.  I have no idea where to begin this blog entry.  So much has happened since the last entry.  I guess we talked about the pre-assessment visit and how well that all went and where Kevin was at with meeting with surgeons etc. Wednesday was a good day here in Vancouver.  Paul and Kevin got some great work done and Kevin had dialysis here at St. Paul's for the first time.  That was a great experience and he really enjoyed the dialysis team and clinic here.  Especially the nurse who needled him - Leo.  He was great and Kevin and him had a great connection right away.

Pre dialysis

Leo needling Kevin

Thumbs up!

The next day, we went to UBC for the volunteer fair in the SUB.  We met the UBC Chapter of the Kidney Awareness Club and Vincent from the BC Chapter of the Kidney Foundation.  Bobby and Vik joined Kevin's Tough Mudder team and they are onboard with supporting Kevin on this journey and in raising awareness.

Vik, Kevin, Jane, Bobby and Vincent at UBC

It was nice to meet them all and we look forward to coordinating our efforts to raise awareness with them!

The next day (Thursday) I went off to work, Paul was at home in Victoria, and Kevin headed back to the hotel.  I got a phone call within a couple of hours that he was not doing well at all and that he was feeling really sick.  I rushed back and took him over to Emergency at St. Paul's.  He almost didn't think he was going to be able to walk there.  He was feverish (39 degrees!), chilled, his muscles were aching and he was not looking good at all.  They sent him straight back to the Acute Care part of the ER and started assessing him. 

It started to seem as though he may have meningitis.  So we were quarantined within the ER and everyone had to wear masks from then on.

He was sent for an x-ray and then he was sent for a CT scan.

And then he had to have a lumbar puncture to rule out the meningitis.

We were then sent up to room 7003 on the CTU (Clinical Teaching Unit) and he was on precautions still.  This meant that everyone around him had to wear masks and he had to wear a mask if he left the room.  This lasted the whole first night.

By morning, the results came back and precautions were removed.  No meningitis!  This was great news.

He was poked and prodded all day Friday to try to figure out what was going on.  He had blood and urine samples taken and then had to head down to dialysis again Friday morning.

Leo was there again to needle him, so they were both pretty happy about that.  Leo commented on how different Kevin was compared to when he saw him 2 days before.  He was just so sick.  Dialysis was not a good time at all.  The results from his bloodwork showed that he had a gram negative rod infection.  This was not an expected finding.  These are usually associated with an infection in the gut - not from his catheter (which is what they suspected).  His arm swelled up a bit but luckily his fistula did not burst, he had to get a swab of his catheter to see if this was the site of a possible infection, and he was feverish and sick the whole time.  I stepped out for 1 hour to check out of the hotel and when I came back I heard that he had not had a good time at all.  He was very sick, had had an episode of Reiger's (extreme, uncontrollable shaking and almost convulsing due to fever) and was not doing well.

Friday ended with lots of doctors and nurses coming and going and plans for many more tests, another CT of his abdomen and some ultrasounds and lots of medication.  Some for pain, some antibiotics, some for hiccups, some for acid reflux, some for sleep, heparin to prevent clotting, some for blood pressure, some calcium for eating and on and on...
The nicest thing was a visit from Leo.  He came up to say good-bye to Kevin because it was his last day at St. Paul's and he was also heading off to the Philipine's to visit his family.  That really meant a lot to him that Leo cared that much to come see him.

Then, they decided to remove his catheter.  They thought that it just wasn't safe for him to have an infection and to keep it in.  So it was removed and a piece of it was sent off to be cultured.

So the catheter also came back with a different infection.  He has 2 separate bacterial infections.  So the antibiotics were increased.

Early Friday morning he developed hiccups.  They have basically been non-stop right up until now.  It is maddening for him.  This then turned into acid reflux and now he has some damage to his esophagus that makes it hard to eat and swallow - even water.

Saturday morning he started peeing blood and then it was black by Saturday morning.  He had right-sided pain that made everyone suspect gall bladder or pancreatitis.  He was sent for his abdominal CT and nothing of any significance was seen - more good news.

Today has been a day of lots of rest and sleep for Kevin.  He has been getting some good rest.

They would like to keep him here until at least Tuesday, so he will do dialysis here once again.  Leo won't be there though. 

Kevin has been so grateful for all of the medical care and attention that he has received here at St. Paul's.  From the ER team on Thursday night, to the nurses in the CTU, to the people in the dialysis clinic and the expert physicians and fellows on his team, everyone has been kind and helpful and supportive.

I should end by saying that Kevin is actually doing much better.  The fever and infection seem to be under control, his pain is not as bad as it was and he is on the mend.  It's just frustrating to be in the hospital this long, to not be able to eat very well and to have so much happening day after day.  The rest will be good though.

-Jane

Pre-Transplant Assessment Trip to Vancouver

After a restless night, emotionally I was exhausted thinking about getting a passing grade at this kidney assessment, my day started out pretty emotional.  I shed a few tears about how overwhelming this can all be for one person.  After gently putting my emotional state back together, I walked over to St. Paul's Hospital.  I went through the pre-assessment tour.

The first part was meeting with a nurse to talk about medications and various parts of my life and health.  I was very grateful to have Dr. Jane Gair there with me, not only for support, but to also ask the right questions.  She could think of things that I may not have been able to think about.

Next, we went to go see Dr. Gill.  He explained all aspects of the transplant process, checked in about my health, explaining the donor process, that the A blood type only has to wait 1-2 years while the O blood type has to wait 10-12 years.  This certainly makes it a bit darker when you hear things like this.  I could feel myself starting to well up - you start thinking about your future rather than hanging on to your faith.

We learned a few great things.  We found out that donors actually live longer than the average person.  This is likely due to the fact that they are screened so well and are therefore very healthy people already, but also that they are closely watched medically after the donation.  Pretty cool eh?
Also, less then 1 % of the population end up in renal failure and on dialysis.  So donors don't have a lot to fear about their own kidneys ever failing in the future.
Also - donors get moved up the transplant list once they have donated a kidney.  So if a problem ever did happen - nothing to worry about!

I am a poster child for eligibility for a transplant, due to my fitness and health so this is good news too.  One thing that was explained to me was that kidney disease is a vascular disease so my heart has some issues.  There is a bit of hypertrophy, so this means that my heart doesn't pump quite as efficiently as it could or should.  This means that I will have to see a Cardiologist and think about this when I am training for the Tough Mudder.  I will have to be a bit more cautious about my training because of this.
My blood pressure was 140/80 today, so that was good.

After going through all of these assessments today, I felt like I played a couple of football games in a row.

The last part was with a social worker and I was almost falling asleep, but it was good to hear.  A donor is up and walking around the day after the surgery and leaves the hospital 3-4 days after.  I would be in hospital for 1 week and would have to relocate to Vancouver for 6-8 weeks while they follow me post-transplant.

So hopefully sooner than later, we can start spreading this joyous news about the living kidney donor and hopefully I can find someone willing to donate.  One thing to think about is that blood types don't need to match.  Anyone can enter into a partner program or a chain where someone can donate a kidney to someone else and then I can get a kidney from someone I may not know and so on.  Also, there are drugs that I can take that will help me accept a kidney from someone that is not my blood type.

It would be so nice to not have to be on dialysis 3 times a week anymore.  It would be nice to have my normal life back.

We are in Vancouver until Friday so I can complete the pre-assessment process and meet with the surgeon.

Me on the ferry from Victoria to Vancouver

At the Kidney Pre-Transplant Clinic at St. Paul's Hospital

Relaxing after an exhausting day at St. Paul's Hospital

Susan Jacks concert/ organ donor awarenss event in Victoria

Team Embody Life Fitness helped represent me at the Susan Jacks kidney foundation benefit concert at UVic in Victoria, BC, Canada last night.  We wanted to show our appreciation for Susan stepping forward and raising more awareness and funds for the kidney foundation.  Every time we go to these events, we recognize all of the ways that we can be involved as a team in helping this issue.  We observed the silent auction to prepare for our own upcoming silent auction on May 5, 2012.  More details to come.  We had a great opportunity to share this new video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYT177TqDI4

We shared it with Susan Jacks' manager and team, with 98.5 Ocean radio station here in Victoria and with the BC Chapter of the Kidney Foundation.

Thanks so much to Susan Jacks' manager, Esmond Shong for allowing us the opportunity to meet with her in a special VIP reception after the concert.  It was very gracious and kind of you.  We look forward to future collaborations with this team to get the awareness about the donor situation in Canada out there.  We want to change things so that all Canadians are born donors.

I had the privilege of speaking with and meeting Susan and telling her my story of how I got to this point of being on dialysis and that I definitely appreciate the hope that she shone on my story as I don't have a kidney donor and I am waiting - sometimes it gets pretty dark, but I have to remain positive.  Hopefully at some point someone will come forward with an O blood type kidney to save my life.

Really enjoyed the music, all of the band members and the special guests that came in to sing.  It was a real privilege and an honour to come in as someone with my illness and enjoy it with my Embody Life Fitness team.  Thanks to everyone who came out - Jane, Ricki, Wendy, Elissa, Spiro, Daphne, Susan, Keith and Nicole!

Blue Skies Passing Through my Soul

After a painful Monday during dialysis, a blown fistula that had my spirit deflated, I have had the opportunity to go to the gym to train, 2 hours this morning, train another client, reach out to the positives and fill my happy gas tank.  I'm grateful for this part of my life, when I'm getting down and not feeling well, I can head to the gym.  The gym gives me happiness and keeps me distracted from this process of dialysis and kidney failure.  I will become the face of this, however, I would rather not be the face of this journey.  I'm looking forward to better training this week, more succes this week, and reaching out to all the Canadians that we can reach to try to get people aware of the organ donor concept that is done here in Canada, which is representing us as a whole.  In Canada, we have to opt-in different than in Spain where people opt-out.  So please share this.  If anyone has any suggestions about how to raise more awareness, please join our team. 

Become a member of this blog, leave comments and share this with anyone you want.

Join our facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=716495528&ref=tn_tnmn#!/pages/EmbodyLifeFitnessEmbodymentX/217473005013375

Follow our Twitter account:
https://twitter.com/#!/Embodylifefitne

See the links a the bottom of this blog for more information about the BC Kidney Foundation and Embody Life Fitness (under construction).

Get out and get moving - fill your happy gas tanks!  Life can be a beautiful process when the gas tanks of happiness are full!

Kevin Tough Mudder/ Dialysis

Watch this video and share this with as many people as possible.

This video will give you a sense of my journey to the Tough Mudder while on dialysis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6bJvjFYAzQ&feature=share

The Yo-Yo Effect

Woke up today and had a nice workout and enjoyed my health smoothie designed for a dialysis patient.  Then I prepared myself for the first training session of the morning.  Had a great time with mentoring a new personal trainer and then I went to dialysis.  Now 2 out of 4 times have blown my fistula where the blood pools inside my arms and it swells up the size of a grapefruit, which causes a lot of pain and mentally is depressing because it makes me have to rest the fisula for another week before they can start double-needling me again.  This means a longer period before I can get my catheter out, and I can start training in the water, without so much strain on my fistula.  The nurse feels bad about this and I feel bad for the nurse, however, I also feel very frustrated with the process.  And with this frustration, leads to anger and then sadness.  However, I cannot allow myself to have much time feeling sad because it doesn't help me.  So I have to turn the chip over and ask for brightness which allows me to be happy.