Shaping Up: Love the body you have: on dialysis By June Thompson, The GazetteFebruary 15, 2010
MONTREAL - Love is still in the air – or at least it should be given that Valentine’s Day has been over only a mere 48 hours – and j Karčne Rietschin (who, yes, does have an unusual spelling for her name) has a message for anyone who will listen: Love yourself.
Because when you do, it can make the world of difference. Especially when tough times hit.
“In the end, all you really have is yourself, and who knows you better than you,” she told me recently with a laugh.
And, believe me, tough times have hit this incredible woman in ways even she can’t believe.
But let’s start at the beginning.
Twelve years ago, her less- than-happy marriage fell apart and she was left to raise two young children.
As many women – and men – do in times of stress, Rietschin turned to food to cope with her emotions.
“I was desperately unhappy and looking for something to fill a void,” she said. “And much comfort food, way too much of it, seemed to do the trick.”
Over 10 years, she put on more than 100 pounds.
“It’s not like weight was ever an issue for me,” she said. “I was always incredibly active and athletic, so it was a real tough thing for me to believe that my weight had become so out of control.”
Four years ago, after having met her true “soulmate,”
Rietschin started to make lifestyle changes and began eating sensibly and exercising.
“I didn’t put any pressure on myself,” she explained. “I just started nourishing my body in a healthful way, and when you listen to your body, everything really seems to fall into place.”
Rietschin lost an average of 25 pounds a year and was feeling pretty darn good.
And then her whole world fell apart.
The public relations freelancer, who was used to walking for miles at a time, became exhausted climbing a flight of stairs.
“I thought it was some kind of bug,” she said. And then her breathing started to “sound like Rice Krispies.”
Thinking it was still a flu or something bronchial, she retreated to her bed for rest.
A friend went to visit and persuaded her to go to a hospital. “I was feeling so bad, I didn’t resist.”
Nothing could prepare her for what happened next: “They told me I was in kidney failure.”
And in the span of one week, she went from acute, to chronic, to final-stage failure. The doctors at the Montreal General tried everything: dialysis, blood transfusions, plasma.
Rietschin even “died” twice in the hospital.
“I did not see the light that you hear people talk about,” she noted, laughing, “but I did feel like I was in a tunnel and I had a very strong feeling that it was time for me to let go.”
Fortunately, she didn’t.
But her life did change dramatically. She spends four hours a day, three days a week at the hospital having dialysis treatments. She has had to completely overhaul how and when she eats.
“Things that most people associate with healthy eating, like fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains, are not good for me anymore.”
And she has to be careful not to ingest more than one to 1.2 litres of liquid per day. If she does, she pays a price.
Kidney failure does not get better. There is no cure. It can be treated, and the closest thing to the best quality of life would be a kidney transplant, but that requires extensive testing, not to mention a compatible donor.
Sadly, she had a donor lined up, but the person backed out at the last minute.
“People have their own reasons. I can’t be angry with her, because why? She was afraid? It’s a big thing to donate a kidney.”
Semeena Iqbal, the physician overseeing Rietschin’s case, said her story is not completely unheard of.
“Unfortunately, people usually present to emergency when it’s too late,” she explained.
That’s why it’s so important for people to have their blood pressure checked during an annual checkup. Hypertension is a leading cause of renal failure.
As Iqbal said, “kidney disease is a horrible chronic disease, but it’s largely unheard of. It’s not like breast cancer and prostate cancer, where we see it and hear about it.”
When talking to Rietschin, I was impressed beyond words with her optimism.
For one, she said she has never for a moment asked “why me” or felt sorry for herself in any way.
“What good would that do for me or my family?” she asked me earnestly. “This illness is so not about me. It can happen to anyone at any time.”
And she said in some way, she is grateful that this is the path her life has taken.
“I am blessed in so many ways,” she told me. “This condition has made me grateful for every little thing, things that I (we) always take for granted. I see life in a whole new way.”
Ironically, she says, she has never looked better and yet she has never been as sick as this. “Isn’t that something?” she asked me incredulously. “I look so well and yet here I am hoping and waiting for a kidney.”
Rietschin credits losing the excess weight with helping her “climb this huge mountain,” because she feels that the weight would have been even more taxing on her health.
“I’ve seen people really struggle who are much heavier, and you owe it to yourself to take care of your body just as you take care of the people you love.”
The illness has made relationships in her life go from one extreme to another.
“I can tell you one thing for sure,” she said emphatically. “When you get sick, you really find out who your friends are.”
Some of her close friends have disappeared, and yet she finds the kindness of strangers overwhelming.
“You hear so much about the state of our health care, but I can assure you that everyone I have come in contact with at the hospital has gone above and beyond for me,” she said. “I am so touched by the compassion of the doctors and nurses.”
And the bond with her daughter has been cemented for life.
“It’s not always easy with a 20-year-old,” she said with a laugh. “But I think it shook my daughter to her core when she nearly lost me.”
Her daughter would love nothing more than to give her the gift of a kidney, but, sadly, because of Rietschin’s blood transfusions, they aren’t compatible.
For now, Rietschin’s days consist of dialysis treatments, which she likes to think of as a “social outing.” She said she feels like she’s part of a private club.
“Where else can you get picked up and driven to your destination? I call it limousine service, and people take my coat and offer me coffee. It’s lovely and the people are amazing.”
The hardest part of this whole thing is the lack of energy.
“I love to spend time with my granddaughter. She is pure joy,” she said.
But visits take a lot out of Rietschin. Her stamina just isn’t there.
Rietschin’s attitude is inspirational and yet her message is simple: Make the changes you need while the choice is still yours.
“Live every day as well as you can. Enjoy every moment and live in the moment because it’s all you really have. Everything can change in the blink of an eye.”
And the rest, she says, “is, to quote Doris Day: Que sera sera.”
Rx and reflection
Watch a video taken by The Gazette's Pierre Obendrauf, who accompanied j Karčne Rietschin for dialysis treatment.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/videos/index.html#UspnpdwYQHxpVxlY1Ylk7tWtyMt_CMjBRaising awareness of kidney disease
Living with Kidney Failure is a film by award-winning documentary filmmaker Garry Beitel that focuses on seven people of different ages and cultural backgrounds. It was researched by Dawn Allen, Thomas Hutchinson and Megan Wainwright from the MUHC. For more info: dawn.allen@mcgill.ca and thomas.hutchinson@mcgill.ca
Watch it online by clicking mcgill.ca/wholepersoncare/esrdqualityofliferesearch and clicking on the "watch the movie" link at the bottom of the page.
jthompson@thegazette.canwest.com
Read more:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Shaping+Love+body+have/2567377/story.html#ixzz0fg7WrDzV
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