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| A new kidney has meant a new lease on life for Dorothy, and allowed her to feel the thrill of holding granddaughter Kara. |
The 2017 Kamloops Kidney Walk is scheduled for Sept. 24 in McDonald Park.
Yes, Dorothy will be taking part for a fourth straight year; this one comes four years after she underwent a kidney transplant at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.
During the season, hockey people are always asking me: “How’s Dorothy?” . . . or “How’s your wife?”
It’s funny, because no one ever says to me: “Hey, how are you doing?”
OK. I’m kidding.
In all seriousness, words cannot express how much the support from all levels of the hockey community has meant to us.
Hey, you can’t imagine how thrilled Dorothy was to meet Dan De Palma, the Kamloops Blazers’ goaltending coach, in a book store one day and have him pay more attention to her than to me.
So . . . you’re wondering how Dorothy, aka Wonder Woman, is doing?
Well, she spends an afternoon or two each week doing volunteer work at Overlander Residential Care, taking residents on shopping trips or to medical appointments, or just helping out around the complex.
She also is a co-founder of the Kamloops Kidney Support Group that meets once a month and provides support for anyone with kidney disease and their families. As well, she is part of the organizing committee for the Kamloops Kidney Walk.
Every four months, Dorothy visits the renal clinic at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops. Her most recent appointment was on Friday and she passed with flying colours. In fact, she came out of there positively aglow because the nephrologist — Dr. Conley — was excited about her colour, her energy level, pretty much everything.
“Or maybe,” Dorothy said, with a laugh, “she was excited because she’s starting vacation (Saturday).”
If you know Dorothy like I know Dorothy, you know that Dr. Conley was excited because of what she observed as the two of them chatted.
Anyway . . . things are going well, really well, and the preparations have begun for this year’s kidney walk.
In fact, the first sign of support has shown up on her Kidney Walk page. Norm Weseen, a former radio personality and long-time junior hockey fan, got things started with a donation on Saturday. I feel shame because it’s the first time I haven’t made the first donation. LOL!
