Archive for the ‘Articles’ Category
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A New Lease on Life: Seeking a Living Kidney Donor
Hello everyone, I’m Peter Tretter. I’m reaching out today to share my story and ask for your help. I’ve been living with kidney failure for the past 40 years and have been on hemodialysis for the last 18. Recently, I’ve encountered some challenges with my dialysis access, my fistula, which isn’t working as well as it should. This has made my treatments more difficult and has led my healthcare team and I to advance other options.
One of the options we’re considering is a living donor transplant. While I continue to receive care at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie, I’m also hoping to find a living donor who can give me a new lease on life.
Why a Living Donor?
Living donor transplants have several advantages. They typically have better outcomes and last longer than transplants from deceased donors. Plus, they can be planned in advance, reducing the wait time and stress associated with an unexpected call. It also doesn’t limit me to the same blood type due to paired exchanges.
Why Now?
I’ve been on hemodialysis for a long time, and while it’s kept me alive, it’s also taken a toll on my body. Finding a living donor now could improve my quality of life and potentially extend my lifespan.
Am I Asking Too Much?
I understand that asking someone to donate a kidney is a big request. It’s a significant decision that involves surgery and recovery time. But I also know that living donors often find the experience deeply rewarding, knowing they’ve given the gift of life.
Who Can Be a Donor?
Almost anyone in good health can be considered as a potential living donor. You don’t have to be a blood relative, and you don’t have to live in the same city or even the same country. The most important thing is that you’re healthy and willing to go through the necessary medical evaluations. OHIP covers all of the costs, even if you don’t live in Ontario.
How Can You Help?
If you’re interested in learning more about living donation, please contact the Living Donor Coordinator at St. Michael’s Hospital. They can provide you with all the information you need and guide you through the process.
Contact Information:
Living Donor Coordinator
St. Michael’s Hospital
Phone: 416-867-3676
Living Donor Team email addressYou can also share this post with anyone you think might be interested in helping. Every share brings me one step closer to finding a suitable donor.
Thank You
I’m incredibly grateful for your support and understanding. Your help means the world to me, and I can’t wait to share the good news when I find my donor.
Take care and stay healthy!
Peter V. Tretter
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My Hospital Go Bag 2.0
Since I posted my first blog post on my hospital go bag, I have made a few edits. Having used the other bag once in 2024, I wanted a few changes. Please note this post contains affiliate links.
(Blog post 1 – My Hospital Go Bag)
Change 1 – A new bag. The OKYUK 70L Hiking Backpack that beyond fits everything.
Change 2 – A regular Kleenex box. I found the square box hard to pack.
Change 3 – Due to Boxing Week here in Canada, I picked up a pair of Wyze earbuds to replace a pair of wired headphones I purchased at Dollarama that partially don’t work.
So what’s in it otherwise?
- A change of underwear for a week.
- Toiletries including tooth brush/tooth paste. (I use the one my dentist gives me but you can buy small ones at Dollar Tree.) The bag itself is a pencil case I bought at Dollar Tree that fits everything.
- Nail clipper.
- A hallowe’en sized bag of Skittles with smaller bags in it. Please note I am not diabetic.
- A list of my medications.
- A “No Needles/No BP” bracelet. As a dialysis patient, this is important.
- A bottle of lotion.
- Wyze earbuds.
- Back up charging cable & USB/USB C plug.
- Adult colouring book from Dollarama
- Coloured pencil’s from Walmart
- A box of store-brand 3-ply Kleenex from Metro.
- A blanket from home.
- A light bath robe. Not all units have those hospital robes.
- A notebook & pen to write down questions and answers when talking to doctors.
- A good pair of slippers.
- A lux bar of soap from The Rocky Mountain Soap Company. The holder I got from Dollar Tree.
- Lip balm.
- Organizer for my charging cables.
- A small LED lantern so I have some control over the light around my bed .
Where did I get everything?- My own house – I already had it
- Temu
- Dollar Tree
- Amazon
- Walmart
- Rocky Mountain Soap Company
- Dollarama
- Wyze
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My Latest Recommendations
Some of these links are affiliate links.
So I’m a busy guy and I made some changes in my life over the last few years.
The first I switched to Fizz Mobile from Freedom. Switch to Fizz and use my referral code – JW3FD – and get a $25 bonus!
Of course I still use Amazon & Temu!
Everyone has been asking about my “Still Kicking Death’s Ass” mug. You can get one here at a store I set up!
And of course I have been with Simplii Financial since it was PC Financial. Join Simplii today! Or if you’re in Ontario, join Meridian Credit Union and tell them Peter Tretter sent you!
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My Hospital Go Bag
I’ve been unfortunate to be an in-patient twice in 2024 at RVH – my local hospital. And I’m at the top of the kidney transplant list. So I created a hospital go-bag that I can just grab when the call comes or in the unfortunate circumstance that I have to call 9-1-1. Please note this post does contain affiliate links.
So what’s in it?
The bag itself is a black bag with silver handles not dissimilar to this one.
- A change of underwear for a week.
- Toiletries including tooth brush/tooth paste. (I use the one my dentist gives me but you can buy small ones at Dollar Tree.) The bag itself is a pencil case I bought at Dollar Tree that fits everything.
- Nail clipper.
- A hallowe’en sized bag of Skittles with smaller bags in it. Please note I am not diabetic.
- A list of my medications.
- A “No Needles/No BP” bracelet. As a dialysis patient, this is important.
- A bottle of lotion.
- Headphones from the dollar store. Just like at dialysis, it never hurts to be polite to your roomate(s).
- Back up charging cable & USB/USB C plug.
- Adult colouring book from Dollarama
- Coloured pencil’s from Walmart
- A box of scotties facial tissues. (The hospital ones are the pits IMHO.)
- A blanket from home.
- A light bath robe. Not all units have those hospital robes.
- A notebook & pen to write down questions and answers when talking to doctors.
- A good pair of slippers.
- A lux bar of soap from The Rocky Mountain Soap Company. The holder I got from Dollar Tree.
- Lip balm.
- Organizer for my charging cables.
- A book light. Not because I want to read but because it’s a light I guarantee I can control from bed.
Where did I get everything?
- My own house – I already had it
- Temu
- Dollar Tree
- Amazon
- Walmart
- Rocky Mountain Soap Company
- Dollarama
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Review of My Health Care
0.5 of 5 stars.
So to say I was under-impressed with the “My Health Care” portal offered by the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) is like saying I’m under-impressed with a pumpkin. When I compare it to “My Chart” offered by Unity Health Toronto/St. Michael’s Hospital, it’s like night and day.
With “My Chart” I can see every single test I’ve ever done and the reports. I had a CT scan at St. Mike’s this past Friday and by the time I got home, I could already download the radiologist’s report. With “My Health Care” I have to potentially wait up to 14 days for pathology reports, meaning blood work and it only seems to have results for 2022. Oh, and I can’t find my last CT scan at RVH on their portal.
Heck, “My Health Care” can’t even tell me when my next dialysis appointment is.
I am very disappointed with “My Health Care” and hope that RVH will work to fix this immediately.
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The colours of movement
Today is my last day as Chair of Living Green Barrie. In a few hours, I will get up in front of a few people at our Annual General Meeting for the last time. After 7 years, it’s time.I’ve enjoyed my time on the board of directors and in the office of Chair. And who knows, maybe in a year or two I will return.
For now, I am focusing on my non-profit Journey to Diversity Workplaces and job hunting which has been going on for a few months. Also to give myself a bit of a social life. When you spend three nights a week on dialysis, it’s nice to have a night to play board games, or stay home and watch TV.
My new year’s resolution for 2017 is the same as I had for 2016 – to make new friends and to develop the friendships I have. So if I message you asking you to have coffee, please say yes! It’s been a great resolution this year that I want to continue.
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Why you have no say in whom I vote for
In Canada, we are generally considered to be a democracy. In Ontario, it is municipal election time in every municipality.We get to vote for the Mayor, City Council, School Board, Hob Goblin, Batman, etc.
Ok, we don’t really get to vote for Batman.
Recently I was telling a few people why I would not be voting for Barrie’s current Mayor Jeff Lehman. A few people told me I was not voting for him for the wrong reasons. However, at the end of the day, those reasons are my own, and we still live in a democracy. I could be totally lying, since it’s a secret ballot, and still vote for him. (Won’t happen, but theoretically it could.)
I think dialogue is a wonderful thing, but we shouldn’t discourage people from voting for someone – because they’re voting!! I would rather have someone vote for the “WRONG PERSON”, than not vote at all.
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Why I cancelled @siriusxmcanada, and their #fail.
Back in March I was in an auto collision, with my 2007 Mazda 3 being written off by my insurance company. I was very disappointed, as I’d had that vehicle for 7 years, and loved it!!
Because of that, I was forced to buy a 2010 Ford Focus. It’s a good car, and good quality, but not really the primary subject of today’s blog post. No, today’s subject is a feature that came with the car! SiriusXM radio!! It came with a few months for free, and after that, with a coupon code in hand, I decided to subscribe. I had found a couple of channels I liked, and wanted to hear.
Then recently, SiriusXM Canada decided, in their infinite wisdom, to cancel the only progressive talk channel they had – SiriusXM Progress. But then the Canadian arm decided to take it off of the radio. It’s still available online, at the cost of bandwidth to me, but not on my radio.
Of course I emailed them – twice, and wrote to the President, Mark Redmond, via snail mail, all to no avail. So when someone from Sirius called me today, I finally cancelled, as I had promised in each communication.
I am done with SiriusXM Canada. They apparently aren’t progressive, which means they’re conservative. I won’t pay my hard earned dollars for that.
Bring back my channel, and maybe I’ll re-subscribe. I sorta started listening to Canada Talks, but the programming is all over the place, and none of it on Canadian politics. I’d love a Sirius channel on Canadian politics. But the progress channel was fairly awesome, and I enjoyed it for a few months.
Screw you, Sirius!!
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The return of… Sailor Moon
Shiney makeup!
After 20 years, the tv show of a generation is back… Sailor Moon. It has been rebooted for 2014, and premiered in July on Neon Alley, Crunchyroll, and Hulu. Right now it’s subtitled… no dub yet. However, it’s still the same Sailor Moon amazingness as from way back in 1992. The new theme for Sailor Moon Crystal was done by a popular Japanese band. It’s a fantastic song, I have to say.
Every time something traumatic happened in the show, the Scouts found joy after the suffering because no matter what, they all stuck together. There were countless times heartache, pain, suffering, death, breakups, and confusion hit hard. No matter what though, the girls made it through everything. This gave me a hope that everything will always be OK and that everything happens for a reason.
This show was not only fun to watch, but taught the value of friendship, and for the many boys watching it at the time, how to treat girls, and women right.
Thankfully the show is back, in its new form, Sailor Moon Crystal for both the die-hard fans, and a new generation…. and it’s streaming online! The other bit of good news with this, is the original Sailor Moon, all 5 seasons, is being re-dubbed by Viz Media!
If that’s not good enough, then you’ll have to stop by AlphaLikes to buy followers for your facebook page!
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The web this week…
First off is an amazing YouTube video that if you haven’t seen it, you’ve been living under a rock. It comes to us from Volkswagen. It’s a must watch!
If you’ve been living under the same previously mentioned rock, then you’ll have completely missed that this upcoming Thursday is election day in Ontario. I’m not going to lecture you on whom to vote for, but instead share more YouTube vids!
Next we have an awesome photo from the Kidney Foundation of Canada. Read my February blog post on organ donation.
- My own non-profit, Journey to Diversity Workplaces released its June newsletter today.
- A cancer donation box was stolen. While I don’t support giving drug companies even more money, this seems wrong.
- Postmodern Jukebox released their new video titled No Diggity. Though Like a Prayer is still my fav.
Clockwise from top left: Marge, Homer, Bart, Santa’s Little Helper (dog), Snowball II (cat), Lisa, and Maggie. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
- Not sure who your Green candidate is on Thursday? Find out.
- Turing test beaten by Russian chatterbot.
- 10 Words That “The Simpsons” Invented.
Find out all this and more by following me on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+!!
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- A New Lease on Life: Seeking a Living Kidney Donor
- My Hospital Go Bag 2.0
- My Latest Recommendations
- My Hospital Go Bag
- Review of My Health Care