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 Edward Kerns
In 1984, the U.S. Army medically evacuated me from Landstuhl Germany to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to undergo surgery following a detached retina injury. The surgeons at Walter Reed were able to save one of my eyes. While being treated at Walter Reed, nephrologists advised me that my kidneys were damaged and would eventually fail. My kidney damage and some other ailments have been directly linked to my exposure to defoliant agents during my multiple tours in the Vietnam conflict.
Unfortunately, kidney disease is not my only health issue. Nearly two decades after my stay at Walter Reed, doctors diagnosed me with diabetes; I began taking insulin. With the insulin, my weight increased. On Mother's Day of 2004, I suffered a heart attack. Surgeons created four bypasses to my compromised cardiac arteries. That Mother's Day was also the last day I smoked. In addition to no longer smoking, I began working out at the Gerber Wellness Center, which became Tamarac the Center for Health and Well-Being.
My Tamarac workouts allowed me to slowly reduce my insulin dose, even though the insulin continued to cause weight gain. The exercise allowed me to eliminate one of my blood pressure pills. Not everything was positive though, my energy level decreased drastically as my kidney function dropped below 20 percent. In October 2009, weighing 265 pounds I began dialysis. Dialysis is not a pleasant experience, so I added to my goals: a kidney transplant. After a month of dialysis, my energy began increasing on my non-dialysis days. Eventually, I began to feel better even during the evenings of dialysis days. As my energy increased, the intensity and duration of my workouts increased. At the end of my first year of dialysis, I weighed just over 200 pounds. I have stopped using insulin with a recent A1C result of 5.6. My remaining blood pressure medicine dose has been decreased by 90 percent.
In February of 2010, my nephrologists recommended me for the kidney transplant list. Through the many test to prove my fitness for the transplant, doctors discovered developing cancer cells in my prostate. Normally, a man my age would require no treatment for this type of cancer but the untreated cancer made me ineligible to be placed on the transplant list. In October, surgeons removed my prostate. My recovery has been successful do in part to my fitness level. Though I may not lift over 10 pounds due to surgery, I have already returned to Tamarac to walk. Tests show me to be cancer-free as I anticipate being added to the transplant list soon.
Wellbeing is not just a state characterized by health or fitness, but also by happiness. The Tamarac staff have provided a friendly, encouraging environment. Through the last several years, their support has buoyed my emotions and re-centered my focus many times allowing me to overcome several obstacles. In this spirit, I have tried to pay-it-forward by encouraging those around me to seek and attain wellbeing verbally and also, hopefully, by example. With my goals to control my blood sugar and strengthen my heart in hand, I continue to move forward towards my transplant.
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