New Transfer 4 Kayak

More Soon......

"May the Winds of Heaven blow softly on your Home, And the Great Spirit bless all who enter there. May your Moccassins make happy tracks in the Snows, And may the rainbow always touch your shoulder".

This photo was taken this morning between 6 and 6:30. In the background you can see Whitesands holiday Park and around the small headland is Osmington Beach.

I got up early because I couldn't sleep, a number of reasons, but I heard the wind howling so had a quick butchers on the web cam at Secondwind, to see how the sea was behaving. There wasn't much to see as it was still dark, but what I was able to see (allot of see's there) due only to the small car park floodlight sneaking a bit of it's beam onto the beach. were the foaming crests of waves rolling onto shore.

That was enough to get me showered, dressed and out, bought a cup of tea from the Garage and headed for the Beach. There were a couple of odd bods around but but only this one sat on the beach sipping a cuppa.
It was something else just to be sitting there feeling the wind batter me and knocking my cup of tea over, but I managed to save two thirds of it.
The Sea always seems to breathe life into me.........





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The GB Transplant Games took place last week end in Bath UK, and there were hundreds of children taking part.
No doubt when, or rather you hear some one say, or asks you, are you on the Organ Donor register, what springs to mind? is it that your organ would be donated to an Adult, I would suspect it is and probably other issue's would spring to mind such as, would they look after it? How ever you judge it I bet the fact that many children are also dying everyday day waiting for an Organ; Do your arguments stand up against them.

We are  all unique, and all brought up with different beliefs leading to how emotive varying aspect of life have on each of us.

Watch these 2 clips below, and ask yourself that initial question again.





Donor Families are always remembered.
?????????? I will add more to this soon.......

" Live as if you were to die tomorrow,
                 Learn as if you were to live forever"...

Gandhiji

" We make a living by what we get,
                We make a life by what we give"...


Winston Churchill

GB Transplant Games 2010

Well it's the GB transplant Games this weekend, it actually started yesterday Thursday with the opening ceremony in Bath City Center, Last year it took place in Coventry where I believe there were over 600 competitors, children and adults all of whom have had an Organ transplant; with 1000 plus spectators.

The first of Transplant Games were held in 1978 in Portsmouth, UK with just 100 competitors and has taken place Annually ever since and hopefully will keep growing. from these games will be chosen a team to represent GB in the world Games.
My event is the 140metre Kayak sprint which is taking place tomorrow morning ( Sat 21st ) I was going up today so I can watch other events, and meet other people, well that was the plan until I was about to leave and felt a rumble in the jungle, so I'm hoping it will be OK tomorrow. I don't want to go without any food because that'll be disastrous for the event so fingers crossed; I'm going to say I'm beginning to get well hacked off with it, so gonna try and get in to see the doc today, again!!! and demand something be done.
I hope when I get to do the event they don't turn me away as my leg is still in plaster, but nothing been said to me so far,  but you never know, (health and safety), but then I did the 26mile on the Thames. They'll have to drag me screaming and shouting before I give up lol.

Here is a video Andrew Boyle a young 12 year old boy From Widness who's competing this year in the Games Click HERE

Kidney Checkup

Well yesterday it was that time again, "It's that time again!!" every three months to get the usual blood tests, weight check, blood pressure and a chat. Had someone different this time, don't generally like that, you tend to build up a relationship and a re pour with a doctor; and when I see someone different some of the trust goes because they don't  know you and sometimes you have to go through your past again.

I'm pretty intuitive and can pick up straight away if someone is really interested in you or your just another number in there daily routine. Believe it or not even though the doctors all learn the same material in their respective fields they often have different remedies and ways of dealing with a patient "go Figure" thank god!!!
For instance on a lighter note during my stay in hospital, during transplants I had bouts of constipation lol, now, I was getting it from both ends, remedies I mean, and nothing was really working then one morning during the rounds I had about 6 surgeons and doctors around my bed, it was mentioned that I was still having troubles, lets bear in mind here, first, that I was having things pushed up northwards every once and awhile and ingesting fluid allot during the day,,,

 "How shall we sort this problem!" this surgeon said, wait for it...  
    "Give him 4 in an hour"  then in unison me and the nurse shouted 
"FOUR!!!!!" ha ha laughing I said
     "your joking, I can't keep one up for five minutes" we all started laughing and he changed his mind.


 I had excellent doctors and surgeons  apart from two, one made a hatchet of a dressing one day, and another scared me to death by treating me as an object to his students, not even an hello, goodbye or any explanation to what he was doing. might be a slight exaggeration


One time I came back to the ward because of an infection, so they put me in a room of my own. I naturally went to a kidney ward, settled in, spoke to a few nurses and doctors that I knew and then in walked a doctor I'd never seen... 


"Hello my name is doctor... you look dehydrated" as he perused my file, clever I thought. Then he said      "you may have Kidney Problems, have you had problems before" oh Jesus I thought now does he mean with the transplanted kidney or... so I said something like...


    "no not since the transplant" and he replied 
" you've had a transplant have you, oh I am sorry let me go away and read your notes"

I couldn't believe it, where am I, is it me, am I dreaming, Jesus!!!! Help!!!! lol, let me out!!!, I've got quite a few like that so you see why I get a bit apprehensive when I see someone different.

Everything was good, Kidney is working fine blood pressure very good. Apart from his remark saying, my kidney is old, what do you call mean old, it's only 3 1/2 years, old!!!  old my backside.

Giorgia Fumanti - Espiritu

Just a couple of songs I like. I first heard Espiritu when It was sung by Thomas Otten, but this is much more pleasing to the eye.

Stomach calming down I think

The past couple of months I had tests to see why, to put it nicely, I've had a upset stomach. They all came back, "nothing wrong", well I can tell you there was. so that was it really sort of left on my own to sort it out, so I tried to find out if it was certain foods, I cut out all dairy, bread, pasta even stopped eating chicken as I thought that was where I may of caught a bug from, so whats left, veg and fruit right.... so that led me onto the raw diet, it's good but very hard, and not the answer as all that veg didn't help but if I was to believe what the raw foodists say this is a result of years of a bad diet being flushed out of my system.

I never really ate a bad diet, i.e processed foods. I'm a Diabetic all I really ate that would be considered bad by the raw group would be pasta, chicken, wholemeal bread, rice. I can understand the chicken aspect both morally and nutrition wise, and haven't eating chicken since, apart from the other day. Maybe I'll talk more on the raw diet another time, because at this moment  I can't keep to it, I'm eating eggs and rice and have started to eat some cheese again, incidentally my cholesterol level is 3.1 and has always been this low.

One of the reasons I have started incorporating some cheese is my stomach issues, touch wood is settling down. This may be a coincidence but five days ago I started taking some enzymes, something called Regulat, which is fermented fresh fruits, veg and nuts. I did a lot of reading into enzymes and on the way also noticed that water or lack of it can also cause Diarrhea, bit of a mine field really, it all boils down to trial and error and finding out what works for you but certain things rang a bell with me especially being a diabetic.
Below is just one of the clips I found on you tube.




I hope this works as up till now I'm not absorbing the nutrients from the food I eat, so not getting the calories I need. I'll gradually bring back in some of my normal foods with the addition of what I've learnt in respect of the Raw nutrition and more water.
If I get cravings for certain foods then I'll probably have it, to me that's my body telling me it is lacking in something it needs, now I'm not talking about cream cakes, chocolate etc, for example yesterday I had fish and chips, the other day chicken, I know I need more protein at the moment, I try and eat Organic where possible simply because I don't want all the Anti depressants and Antibiotics etc that's pushed into the food chain.
Some of you may think that it's a bit extreme maybe your right but at the moment apart from the stomach issue I do feel better for it....
Training is going well, I have to keep doing this because it dosen't take long before things to get out of control, and start feeling weak if I don't do something, this is probably due to the result of previous surgery, but I enjoy it and always have.......

Oxford results.

Well it's as I expected, the long and short of it is, because of previous surgery it is a technically difficult operation to perform but not impossible, if I decided to go ahead the chances of surviving the operation are very low, they may even stop the procedure during the surgery.
If I did make it through, because of the circulation issues I may lose both legs and my transplanted kidney, amongst others. As he didn't expect me to look so healthy the wise decision would be to not go ahead. This was said after I had given him an idea that I wasn't really 100% committed, He was very good about it and I think slightly relieved at my decision. If in the future things deteriorated the option is always there.

So now that's sorted on with the challenge in hand, It's no good dwelling on it and bringing myself down.

Oxford transplant visit

It's been awhile since last on here, really watching my food intake, protein levels and carbs.
Getting allot more essential Fatty acids and eating more raw. This happened pretty quick, mainly because of the bug I got a few months ago; I assuming it's a bug. It's very hard sticking to this way of eating and getting enough calories and being a diabetic, getting on the water has been hard also because of this, but I'll get there.

Off this morning to see the Oxford transplant team. Last time I saw them, they suggested that there would not be a problem performing the Pancreas transplant, just may take slightly longer because of the previous operations.
A month ago I received a call from the Transplant coordinator saying that they may not be able to perform the Transplant,  to difficult and dangerous for me, so they would like to talk to me. I know what there going to ask.
I do not want to go through, in any way what so ever, anything like the complications that surfaced before. So if the decision is left to me I won't decide there and then, I know some people will be thinking if it was me and I had a chance of a knew Pancreas I wouldn't hesitate, but at what cost? all sorts of problems arose before, My bowel was nicked, my Aorta burst, I was drip fed for months, I know people go through worse, but How long will it last it's not for ever, It could be but it may not. I just don't think I could physically and mentally do it again, and there's my family to think of first and for most, when it came down to it before, I was more concerned about leaving them behind, maybe that's what pulled me through, not sure and at this moment I don't want to remember that far in........

Well been hit by a stomach bug "NICE" just when I was getting in the groove as they say. I haven't had a bug since the transplants, and I can't seem to get rid of it. I did go to the doctors as a precaution and I was the third to call in that morning so there is something going around.
The thing is my diet is pretty good and always has been, I tend not to eat any crap so as far as fat is concerned I don't carry;" lucky you" yo may say, but I have to work hard to put on muscle and keep it. we all have a cross to bare lol.
I'm going back on the transplant list for a pancreas, and at the moment going through all the tests. I'm still not sure about doing it because of what happened before; I just about made it, had allot of problems with surgery, i won't mention it here but if your interested you can read the story in my profile and click on "Thank you". I know it's the way to go because of more complications which could arise. There's allot to weigh up, there is a possibility it could happen again and there's more involved with this surgery because of the Aortic graft, and of course there's the issue of my leg, I could loose it below the knee or face two years of operations, or maybe struggle on as it is, which won't do me any good.

In the mean time I think about being positive, they say that life is like looking in the mirror it reflects what you put out, so you try and look for the good in everything, find what you enjoy doing, and then the next. It's good to have contrast, :-) but not to much hey. Most times the head can get in the way, so I try and follow my heart. I try to live one day at a time, I find if I look to far ahead that's when the pressure builds up I'm not saying hide away and ignore it because we have things like bills to pay and commitments, there's something to be said for just "being" living for today, none of us are perfect and never will be and we'll never get everything done, there will always be more to do, life can be a struggle if you let it but they are also the times when we can grow. I'm grateful for what I have now.

Anastacia Defeated

Do you know what I mean. Music sometimes just does it, right?
Although the word fight may not be quite right, Fight conjures up a struggle, stress, a 50 50 chance of losing, I don't think you should feel like that, you will! because we've been brought up to believe that it's the only way to achieve something or win out........

The Blood Sugars are starting to settle down today, thank god. I haven't exercised in the last couple of days, purely because I needed to see what effect twice daily would do then get a base to train on, it looks like I may up from 9 to 10 in the morning to train in the gym I probably wouldn't do that if out on the water but then it may be better to do that combined with less to no humalog and the taking on of carbs

I'll be back in the gym tomorrow. I'm making steady progress, I should probably be pleased on what I have achieved so far, as I was 10 1/2 stone when leaving hospital and 5'11, I think I'm around 178 kilos now, but I'm always think I can do or be better lol.

Felt a bit crap today, only because I've split my lantus dose to twice daily today, this should give me better control over my blood sugar especially during training both in the gym and on the water. Never done this before in the 30 years of being a diabetic, so looking forward in seeing the effect.

I'll through in the odd photo :-)

The Houses of Parliament

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/dorset/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8618000/8618075.stm

Spent a week away from the gym, and as always although it was a few days my blood sugars went silly and suffered nutrition wise just missed meals and had to use more insulin. I know it sounds obvious but it's a routine that seems to go out the window to.

I learnt allot from the kayakathon and roughly have an idea what my insulin dose should be.
The first half of the kayak my BS was 16 way to high and I suffered, before setting back I gave 2 units of Humalog and when I finished it had dropped to 8, so it dropped by 4 an hour.
I did drink water and sipped some lucozade sport through a camel pac but not much.

I intend to get out on the water and do some training similar to that of endurance paddlers....

It was my own fault that my blood sugar had risen that much, I did have an idea what my lantus dose should  be, I knew it wouldn't be far from what it is now because of the training I was doing already, but this is endurance, well to me it was; so i did over compensate with food at breakfast.

As this had never been done before on the Thames, Simon was concerned about it running smoothly and I didn't want me putting a spanner in the works. I think he was already concerned with the fact I had my leg in plaster below the knee and the fact I was a Diabetic. He did know about the transplants I had though.

Kayak in Weymouth

What I find hard at the moment is training with the lack of gear I have which is a risk, I compare it to a diver going out on his own rather than with a buddy. On the one hand I can't do anything about the Diabetes side but the lack of VHF makes the the situation worse,as always this cost money and because of my circumstances at the moment there is nothing I can do.

I have basic gear, PFD, Cag, Paddle, and spray deck but I also have determination and hopefully a good sense of danger and when to push it and when I think the moment might not be quite right.

So I deal with one risk at a time and the one that I can do something about and that's my fitness, kayaking skills and Diabetes in preparation for the expedition.

Insulin manipulation

Today I'm intending to go out for another training session on the water. I've lowered the lantus last night from the normal 17 units to 14, this has left me with a blood sugar of 13.2 on waking, this is worrying. I've given 6units of Humalog and going to eat my normal breakfast and I know my blood sugar will be high going in the water. Not sure if lowering the lantus that much is for me but we'll see today.....

Well, Went out for a training session Saturday, It was nice and sunny all day, if I remember rightly the temperature was a lovely 16 degrees with a slight 3mph  SE wind.
I thought I'd take a nice paddle up to Ringstead, I parked up at second wind rather than at the other end of the beach road as I knew there would be a better chance of parking. I had packed plenty of food, a huge Jacket potato measuring in at a whopping 100 grams of carbs/salad, 50g cho Rice pudding, cheese and crackers,Chicken some dried fruit slightly covered in water, to get the benefit of some nice juice, 2 bottles lucozade, 1 bottle of Gatorade, 2 litres of water; well stocked for what I intended to do, or so I thought!!

I tested my blood sugar just before going down to the water, it said 10 on the bg metre, so as I wasn't sure where I was going to stop I had 1 square of chocolate and a swig of lucozade and off I went. I took a slow to med paddle up round to Osmington bay it was around lunch so I thought I'd park and have something to eat  before going onto Ringstead. Now I tested again before eating and it had climbed to 18.4 I wasn't happy so I gave myself 4.5 units of Humolog which I thought would be just right, with plenty of room to spare HA!!

About an hour later just before turning into Rinstead I thought I'd check my BS it was 7.1 as there was another hour before the insulin reaches it's peak I downed Half a jacket, half a bottle of lucozade just to be safe and carried on paddling. Half an hour later tested again 4.2!!.
Now I'm in that position where I didn't really want to be, but I knew that it was inevitable that this would happen to me at some point, First thing I knew I had to do was get some more carbs in so I drank more lucozade/jacket potato and some dried fruit mix, and started analyze the position I was in, most of the shock was seeing the numbers on the metre after that although I was a bit nervous I was also pretty calm and quite focused on what I was doing, I knew I had another bottle of lucozade and Gatorade, I had the mobile with the Coastgaurd number which would have been the last resort I also knew that I could probably make to sure or even rocks that were high to rest on if it got to bad.

I tried to control my breathing and not panic and made a slow paddle towards the Rocks. I could have stayed where I was but this was the first time I had experienced a hypo at sea so thought it wise to move in,  if it did come to a point where I would pass out, I'd be somewhere above water.
I stayed in the kayak and decided to paddle on, roughly 25 minutes later I tested again and it had climbed to 8.3 and there it stayed for the next 3/4 of an hour.
There is a school of thought that because of Gluconeogenisis If I was to do a quick spurt of a hard paddle and keep it up until I could do no more the liver would kick out glycogen and my bloodsugar would rise, as it does when I first begin a weight training session, and where sometimes I would give myself some insulin to counter balance that effect, but to be honest I wasn't willing to give it a try at see, on my own.
When I got home, just before tea it was 18.4!!
Now I know my body uses up carbs/glycogen differently to weight training but by how much  I wasn't sure and know one can really tell exactly, it's just trial and error.

Apart from that I had a really great day lol.

I came across this poem, or rather I heard Sophie Dahl read part of it and had to find out who wrote it and if there was any more to the poem.

Happy the man, and happy he alone,

He who can call today his own:

He who, secure within, can say

Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.

Be fair or foul, rain or shine

The joys I have possessed, in spit of fate, our mine.

Not heaven itself, upon the past has power,

But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour.

Horace

Ode

I believe you can live everyday like that. We always tend to focus on what we lack, or the things in life that surround us, that cause us problems, and not much time is giving to thinking about what makes us happy, we will always want more, we will never get it all and we will never get everything done.

Take a moment everyday to see what you do have, if you think you don't have much then you don't, what makes you smile, is there a memory that cheers you up, no? then visualise and follow that, feel it, breath it, do it everyday.

This includes a story of 7 year old Jack, who had is kidney's removed at 4, and is in need of dialysis. also show's other health problems he suffers from.

http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=129297

You'd think I'd of learnt by now, especially considering what's happened to me; I have to exercise every day!! that's the only way I can control my blood sugar levels. That's not a problem because I enjoy it but there are other reasons that make it difficult.

I am gradually gaining weight and strength which is good, I'd love to be able to train in the mornings and kayak in the afternoon, regardless of the pain in the backside that which my leg is becoming, lol

I have started giving myself insulin before training which stops bs rising from the action from the liver producing glycogen .

It is as easy to create a castle as a button. It's just a matter of whether you're focused on a castle or a button.

I've decided to take part in the London Kayakathon On the 25th of April 2010. This was started by Simon Osbourne who circumnavigated the UK to raise money for Leukemia following his brothers death from the disease.

There will soon be a justgiving page but If you would like to help and are interested, email me at kayak4kidney@gmail.com and I can give you more information about the events.

This will be as always to raise awareness for organ donation, along with also raising as much as possible to assist Renal patients & carers and the purchase of equipment and facilities,

thank you for visiting and reading my blog.

Steve.

Changed my mind about going in today, conditions weren't ideal for what I intended to do.So had a nice cup of coffee and chips by the sea. A really nice day anyway.

A good day out, calm, warm and an easy paddle with a friend enjoying the scenery in Weymouth Bay.

"No man has ever been born a Negro hater, a Jew hater, or any other kind of hater. Nature refuses to be involved in such suicidal practices."

Harry Bridges

"From the viewpoint of absolute truth, what we feel and experience in our ordinary daily life is all delusion. Of all the various delusions, the sense of discrimination between oneself and others is the worst form, as it creates nothing but unpleasant"

Dalai Lama

Your body is failing, you realise how fragile you are, your surroundings seem sharper, colour and smell, there's a feeling that travels through every nerve and tissue, I'm leaving, I can't, what about the people I love, I can't leave them with this

Then there's a chance for life, a transplant the doctor comes to your bedside, your consumed with anticipation, "I'm very sorry my friend but your not a complete match we thought your skin colour was the same, and you obviously speak a different language, If you only lived in another part of the world!!!"

Prejudice and Discrimination.

Would you refuse a transplant for a daughter or son or yourself because you didn't speak the same language as the donor?.

Spent a couple of hours out on the water training, up an down the bay, a nice paddle heading East along the bay. The wind was 4 - 5 slicing South East over my right shoulder, backing NE this made for a nice paddle going back. The sea went from slight - moderate to occasionally rough, I find this better than just calm "sometimes " lol.

My Blood Sugar is settling down a bit now, I've reduced the Lantus in the evening to 16 units. Just before going out my BS was 7.1 so I had 3 Krackawheat and cheese 15g cho. and a couple of sips of Lucozade sport.

An hour and a half latter it was 13. Half way through the session a became very thirsty, I new this was due to the BS and also I never drank much yesterday, big mistake. I've always got a pain in my Right shoulder I'm hoping that this will ease up a bit with more gym sessions although I've got a feeling It's still going to be a slight problem, this is from years of Plastering.

I also managed to test my blood sugar out on the water without getting the machine wet or dropping it in the drink, which I'm pleased about. Definitely need to get a head cam for the trip, I don't want to miss any wildlife and sites that I'm "Hopefully" going to come across.

Today I had a few Cormorants keeping me company, there's something about being out alone on the Ocean with the wildlife; there's nothing common about the Cormorant skimming along just above the surface of the water, it's magic.

I can only imagine how Hayley Shephard feels when she See's an Albatross fly above and dive for food, with it's 12 ft wing span.

Kayak session

Paddled out today did a couple of hours of continuous paddling, nice and calm, sun shining on the water, with a slight swell. Experiencing some spring and neap tides this week so further to pull the kayak, not a problem something I'll have to get used to with this leg.
Started to alter the insulin this week dropped the lantus last night to 16 which is only 2 units to start with; bit by bit.
Changed breakfast slightly, from eating weetabix to 100gms of Oatmeal along with the usual. I gave myself 5 units of Humolog which brought my BS to 9 from 6.8 2 hours later just before going into the water, I ate a flapjack and drank 200mls of lucoszade sport during session.
My hands were to cold to test my BS and would of been difficult to get any blood from my fingers.
Once I got back in my BS was 18 so this was obviously to much intake of food and not due to the liver pushing out Glycogen although it may of done if there was not enough insulin in my system. As the day went on I corrected this by injections.

One of the Beach huts was open when I got back to shore, with the smell of sausages and beefburgers cooking, that was welcoming on a cold day, but I didn't get any because I had no cash on me so had to settle for what I had in the car which was the healthy version, (dam).

Went in the Bay today for some training, must try to get in as much as possible now, at least 4 times a week. spent the morning paddling up and down the bay getting the feel of the kayak and spending time with different maneuvers.
Its been a long road since leaving the hospital after transplants, to where I am now, and still a way to go to be able to complete this trip; but I will get there.
A number of things drive me on, one of them being that, so much can go wrong physically if I just sit back and do nothing, but that's pretty far down the list.

The sea today was slight with a NNE (14) wind, it was a bit cold around 2 or 3, I think, but when your paddling you keep warm, unless I fell in of course, and I don't really want to do that at the moment, not a good idea to get the plaster wet.

Coming inshore I got greeted by a small dog, it jumped up on the Kayak and started licking my face, was it glad to see me or was it the salt. a good end to a mornings paddle.

Route Plan

South West Stage

The yellow markers are the start and end of each stage, the red markers are weypoints or landing points

Kidney (Hemodialysis) procedure

It can be very hard keeping your fluid intake down to 1/2 a litre over the course of two days, and you soon realise how little that is.