Name: Arthur Schultz
Age: 32
Transplant: Kidney,1987
Team: Team Virginia
Hometown: Richmond
Event(s):Badminton and 3 on 3 Basketball
During my junior year at Old
Dominion University in September of
1987, just as I was about ready to
launch into what I hoped would be
a promising career, I came home to
Richmond to attend my five-year
high school reunion, only to find
myself a patient at St.Mary's hospital
for 20 straight weeks.
I was diagnosed with pancreatitis, a
ruptured pancreas, which caused
kidney failure. That meant almost
daily sessions on a dialysis machine.
During this time my weight fell
from 200 pounds to a frail one
hundred and thirty. All of a sudden
I was fighting for my life, given less
than a 25 per cent chance to live.
My family and my girlfriend were
shocked and alarmed. I was caught
off guard with no idea what the
medical problems were or what
treatment for them might mean to
my life.
The doctors and nurses who tended
me were patient and helpful, but their
care did not alleviate the problem with
myself, which was how to deal with the
realization that the active life I knew
was going to change dramatically.
I could no longer take my health for
granted. But more importantly, I could
not take my independence for
granted. I'm the oldest of three
children and loved my
self-sufficiency. Now I was left with a
feeling of helplessness and had to
depend more upon my family than
ever before.
My diet, weights attitudes, dreams,
friendships, goals in life - everything,
even my clothes - changed at once,
The ambitions I hoped to fullfill in my
twenties were put on hold.
To be honest, I was upset,
disappointed, felt cheated and betrayed
by my body. Little did I know of the
downside of life. I had been naive to
think my experience would continue
without events happening that I had
not the power to control.
It was then I learned something of the
human will. To sunrise fight back, was
all I thought of. It seemed to come
from a greater source - both inside
and outside of me - I had been unaware
of. Somehow I learned, despite the
facts of my own body, better days lay
ahead.
I say this now, but from the
beginning, my recovery was long and
difficult, both
mentally and physically. When I was
sixteen I could run 10 miles a day. Now
I couldn't
mount ten flights of
stairs.
My father phrased it best. "Two steps
forward and one step back" he told me.
This was my basic strategy. I would have
to get used to reversals and learn to
overcome them. But there were also not
what I would say miracles, but certainly a
generosity of spirit from others. It was
discovered that my fathers kidneys were
a perfect match for me - almost as if we
were twins. SO after two years on dialyses
my father donated one of his kidneys to
me. From then on I was able to live a
more ordinary life. After that, even
though my health steadily improved,
there would also be setbacks - or at least
side steps.
After spending what amounts to almost
two years of the last eight in a hospital
bed - I was in and out more times than I
can count - I've had time to focus my
thoughts. Something is gained by loss. I
was given strength I did not know I
possessed. I realize I can't recapture the
life I had, but can only go forward with
God's grace and continue my life's
journey, one of discovery and one that
has turned into even more of an
adventure. Recently, for example, I
competed in the l994 Transplant
Olympics in Atlanta, something I would
not have allowed myself to dream of
only a few years ago.
I was once a young man with much
promise, but had to rely on faith, a
supportive family and time to keep it.
Without these key elements, my life
would never had been the
same.
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11 May 2000