Playing through chronic illness: McDowell golfer finds new life after diagnosis

Playing through chronic illness: McDowell golfer finds new life after diagnosis
By Keith Jarrett • August 23, 2010

What would you do if at age 25 you received a life-threatening diagnosis, dire news that for the rest of your life 15 hours of dialysis per week would be required to deal with chronic kidney failure for which there is no cure?

Shannon Collins decided to change his life, pursue his passion and spend as much time as possible doing what he loved — playing golf.
Collins, an Old Fort native and N.C. State graduate, got the stunning news in November 2008 that he was suffering from IGA nephropathy, a kidney disorder that creates renal failure and has no cure.
After dealing with the news that he would forever be required to receive dialysis three times a week, Collins chose to devote his life to getting better at golf and finding a future in the game, as a player or working around the sport in some capacity.
His first tournament since the diagnosis was the Skyview Pro-Am last month at Asheville Municipal Golf Course. Rounds of 81-84-78 left him in second place in his flight.
Collins, now 27, said he felt like he could have played better, but that 84 in the second round is explainable. He underwent dialysis that morning and lost 12 pounds before driving 30 miles and playing in the tournament that afternoon in the searing heat of mid-July.
“That's pretty incredible,” said John Mitchell, who works at Asheville Municipal and gave Collins permission to play in the afternoon round instead of his scheduled morning tee time. “For a guy to want to play golf so badly that he comes after dialysis, well he's a pretty tough and brave guy in my book.”
“This was my first tournament (since the diagnosis), and I was going to play, even if I missed dialysis,” said Collins.
A normal life shattered
Collins grew up in McDowell County, playing sports and working summers as a teenager at Old Fort Golf Course.
He worked his way through N.C. State, and attributed the constant feeling of fatigue to his busy work and school schedules.
After earning a degree in business administration, starting work and having health insurance, he went to the doctor when the fatigue continued and persistent headaches became so severe they made him nauseas.

“I went to the doctor one day during my lunch break,” Collins said while sitting in a golf cart at the Skyview.

“My blood pressure was 215/130, and I was in complete renal failure. I went straight to the hospital, was there for a week and started dialysis.”
The devastating news that his world would be changed forever, that the lifestyle he enjoyed would be so different, was stunning.
“There I was at age 25, sitting in a room crying and not knowing why this was happening. I had been healthy all my life except for feeling tired. I played baseball, football and golf growing up, thought I was normal.
“It was a shock, and you go through a lot of emotions. There was a lot going on inside me and I didn't know how to deal with it.”
Once the shocking news settled into his new reality, Collins realized that he couldn't work full time because of the time and draining physical nature of dialysis.
He eventually went on disability and charted a new life path.
A total change
“I was living a normal life. I went to school, got my degree, got a good job as a marketing rep, had the company car, was making good money — the exact job I wanted out of school,” he said.
“But it wasn't fun, and I didn't enjoy what I was doing. It was just a job to make money.
“I realized I have a chronic disease, and even if I get a transplant, I'm going to have chronic kidney failure. I'm probably not going to live as long as most people, so while I'm here I'm going to do what I enjoy doing.”
His life choices now depend on the four days he is free of the dialysis and the three days when he is hooked to a machine that drains and replaces his blood while cleansing it from toxins.
“I feel pretty normal on nondialysis days, feel good enough that you want to go out and do things you probably shouldn't do, because it wears you out,” he said.
On those days, Collins usually shows up at the golf course at Old Fort at 7:30 a.m. and plays until dark, working on a six-handicap game that includes impressive length off the tee, solid iron play and a good short game.

And when he goes to dialysis in Marion every from 6:30-11:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, he still makes it to the golf course most afternoons.

“I usually play nine holes in a cart and hit some range balls on dialysis days,” he said.
Shaun Boyd is a social worker at DaVita Asheville Dialysis Center. Speaking in general terms about dialysis patients and not specifically about Collins or his case (Collins goes to a different center), Boyd said he was impressed that someone can perform physically after the procedure.
“That's fantastic. We tell all our patients that the more you get out and do things, the better off you are,” he said.
“I've played with him when he's so sick he's thrown up on the course, but he keeps playing,” said David Riggi, a friend and the general manager at Old Fort GC.
“He's gone through some unbelievable changes in his life, but he's a tough guy. He has a dream and I think that helps keep him going, instead of sitting around and feeling sorry for himself or asking “Why me?”
Uncertain future
Collins is on a kidney transplant list and is hopeful he can live a long, productive life. His father Roger is being tested as a possible donor.
“There's usually a five- to seven-year wait,” he said. “Hopefully I get a kidney, and it's good for 20-25 years.”
And like any other person chasing a goal, he has lofty dreams.
“Ideally, it would be to win The Masters,” he says with a laugh. “But I just want to be involved with golf. Whether that's as a player, a golf pro, a salesman, or just cutting the grass at a course.”
Living life with a chronic disease includes periods of acceptance, denial, anger, fear and other emotions that for most people are more fleeting. But for those who more acutely hear life's clock ticking, living a full life takes on a sense of immediacy.
“I'm anxious, scared, terrified of what may happen,” said Collins.
“But this has changed my perspective of things. I want to be happy for what time I have, and golf makes me happy.”

http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20100823/SPORTS/308230032/-1/news01