The Laker/Lutz News

Serving Pasco since 1981/Serving Lutz since 1964

Health

New heart failure unit opens

By

Team members of AdventHealth Tampa’s new Advanced Heart Failure Unit attend its ribbon-cutting. (Courtesy of AdventHealth West Florida Division)

AdventHealth Tampa has announced a new 20-bed unit dedicated to patients diagnosed with heart failure. The new unit allows AdventHealth’s board-certified cardiologists to provide advanced therapies and highly specialized care to patients who have the most progressed stages of the disease, according to a news release.

“With this unit in the hospital, we are able to work together with physicians in other areas to fully understand the comprehensive needs of our patients and provide a better care plan,” said Dr. JaMia Washington, fellowship-trained cardiologist in advanced heart failure and transplant cardiology, in the release.

“We have access to mechanical therapy support that can keep a heart beating, lowering the need for a heart transplant or improve a transplant patient’s health while they wait for a new heart,” said Washington.

Drs. Gus Agocha, JaMia Washington, Oliver Abela, Rozales Swanson and Merna Armanious are leading the heart failure program for patients at AdventHealth Tampa. They are part of a team of more than 70 board-certified cardiologists and providers serving patients in the Greater Tampa Bay area.

Heart failure symptoms include shortness of breath; chronic coughing or wheezing; swelling in feet, ankles or legs; dizziness; nausea or lack of appetite; and sustained exhaustion or weakness.

To speak to a physician or to find out more, call 813-644-4572 or visit AHMGTampaBay.com.

Choose to eat healthier, all year long

By

This year’s theme for National Nutrition Month — “Fuel for the Future” — aims to promote a healthy vegetarian and/or plant-based diet.

While March is designated as National Nutrition Month, the West Central Florida County Health Departments, including Pasco and Hillsborough, are encouraging everyone to make informed food choices and develop sound eating and physical activity habits that can be followed throughout the year, according to a news release.

The National Library of Medicine indicates a high-sugar, high-fat, processed food diet has contributed significantly to obesity and chronic disease, the release said.

Americans consume fewer daily servings of fruits and vegetables and they consume a large quantity of red meat and poultry each year — creating a much higher daily intake of calories and protein than required in a healthy diet.

Making healthy eating habits doesn’t require a drastic lifestyle changes and a good eating pattern isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ endeavor.

Registered dietitians can offer advice on ways to fine-tune traditional recipes, provide alternatives to cooking methods and how to incorporate family favorite foods into everyday meals.

The local health department also can serve as a valuable resource on getting started on expanding your own food horizons.

To reach the Department of Health-Pasco, call 727-619-0300. For Hillsborough, call 813-307-8000.

For more about nutrition and National Nutrition Month, visit the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics at EatRight.org.

Published March 08, 2023

Festive day marks open house for BayCare Wesley Chapel Hospital

By

Visitors had plenty of options at BayCare Wesley Chapel Hospital’s community open house.

Outdoors, they could get free health screenings, apply for jobs, grab a bite from a food truck and enjoy live music.

Indoors, they could take self-guided tours, with stops in various parts of the hospital.

They could peek into the fully equipped private patient rooms. The rooms have ample space for visitors and they are Alexa-enabled, allowing patients to play music, turn lights off and on, raise and lower blinds, and, of course, call the nurse, among other things.

BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel is scheduled to open on March 7. It aims to help meet the health care needs in a growing region. (B.C. Manion)

Tour-takers also could see a surgical suite, check out different departments, learn about various services and enjoy the artwork adorning walls along some hospital corridors.

They also could get a glance at the hospital’s restaurant, Waves Café, and take a look at the gift shop.

Hospital employees were stationed at spots throughout the tour, to field questions. Signs were posted, too, providing additional details.

Staffers eagerly shared their enthusiasm for being part of the BayCare team.

Some employees at the Wesley Chapel location transferred from other BayCare hospitals. They said they’re happy to work closer to home.

Others are new to the health care organization.

Many — whether new to BayCare or not — said they were attracted by having the opportunity to be part of a brand-new hospital and to help set the tone for quality care.

Rebecca Schulkowski, president of BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel, is enthused, too.

Rebecca Schulkowski, president of BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel, is eager to lead a new hospital that aims to introduce the area to BayCare’s quality of care. Some patients who will use the hospital already are familiar with BayCare because they’ve received care at the health system’s St. Joseph’s Hospital-North in Lutz and at BayCare’s main campus in Tampa.

“I’m just so thrilled to be here. I’m so excited to be a part of bringing something new to the community, to be able to represent BayCare and the BayCare values,” she said.

She was pleased, too, by the event’s turnout.

“It’s been a phenomenal morning. It’s extremely humbling, to me, to see how gracious the community is to us,” the hospital executive said.

Thousands turned out.

The crowd was diverse. There were families with young children, retirees and people of all ages, in between.

The vast majority arrived in shuttle buses provided by the hospital, catching rides at stops at The Shops at Wiregrass or Pasco-Hernando State College’s Porter Campus at Wiregrass Ranch.

Others strolled over, from the adjacent Seven Oaks neighborhood.

“It’s a testament of the healthiness of this neighborhood — how many people have just walked over,” Schulkowski said.

All of the patient rooms in the hospital are private. They are Alexa-enabled and there’s ample room for visitors, too. Visiting hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Many of those she spoke with were curious about the hospital’s services.

Those services will include medical services and health care resources relating to: breast health; diabetes and endocrinology; diagnostic services including imaging and lab; ear, nose and throat; emergency room; gastroenterology; heart and vascular; intensive care unit with virtual-monitoring beds; interventional radiology; orthopedics; primary care; pulmonology and respiratory; surgery including robotic surgery; urology and wound care.

But the services will not include labor and delivery.

“One of the reasons we chose not to do it is when we looked at the demographics, most of the people moving to this area — they’re established families,” the hospital president said.

BayCare does offer those services at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North in Lutz and St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital in Tampa.

Beyond providing health care services, BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel is providing a significant number of jobs.

It currently has about 350 team members, including full-time, part-time and labor pool positions, with about 90% of the openings filled, Schulkowski said.

There also will be additional staffing needs, as the hospital grows.

“We built the foundation of this hospital, with expansion in mind. We want to grow with the community,” Schulkowski said.

She estimated the staff will grow to around 600 in the future.

Originally, expansion wasn’t expected for at least four or five years.

But the hospital president said: “According to the response of the community this morning, it might be faster than I thought.”

BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel
Where: 4501 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., in Wesley Chapel. (The location is on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, between State Road 56 and State Road 54, east of Interstate 75.)
When: Opening day is March 7. Visiting hours will be 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Why: The hospital will provide health care services in a growing region. It has 86 private rooms and 20 Emergency Room beds. It offers comprehensive medical services and health care resources, including an emergency department, an intensive care unit with virtual-monitoring beds, diagnostic services such as imaging and lab, and surgical services.
Cost: The 318,000-square-foot building is on a campus of more than 40 acres. The project’s estimated cost is $246 million.
Fun fact: Alexa stands ready to assist. Patients can ask Alexa to play music, turn on the TV, turn off the TV; raise the blinds, lower the blinds; change the temperature; and, of course, call the nurse.

Published March 01, 2023

 

Ramped-up activity expected soon on Moffitt’s Pasco campus 

By

The official groundbreaking for Speros FL — Moffitt Cancer Center’s Pasco campus — happened a few weeks ago and construction activities are expected to ramp up soon.

“We’re starting to put some shovels in the ground,” said John Allgeier, senior director of the Pasco real estate development for the Moffitt Cancer Center expansion project.

“It’s exciting to see it start going,” added Allgeier, during remarks at the Feb. 7 North Tampa Bay Chamber breakfast meeting.

The first phase of the 775-acre campus will begin in the northwest corner of its property, near the Suncoast Parkway and Ridge Road.

“That’s where we’ll start our buildings,” Allgeier said. “We’re only going to build on probably 480 (acres) to 500 acres of the land.”

This rendering provides a visual of what Moffitt Cancer’s Speros FL campus is expected to look like, as the development takes shape. (Courtesy of Moffitt Cancer Center)

“The wetlands, they’re amenities, really,” he added, noting the idea is to provide views of nature for patients who are getting infusions, for instance, rather than have them stare at blank walls.

The Moffitt site is entitled for up to 24 million square feet of development, but Moffitt’s current master plan calls for about 13.5 million square feet of mixed uses, Allgeier said.

At full build out, the campus is expected to have about 140 buildings, which will be constructed according to design guidelines. At this point, no buildings over six stories are planned.

The campus will be divided into what Allgeier describes as “six neighborhoods,” with different types of uses in each one.

The vision is to create a community that will become a hub for international research, education and cutting-edge treatment.

There’s already a partnership between Moffitt and Pasco County Schools, involving the new 6-12 Angeline Academy of Innovation magnet school, 1 mile east of the Suncoast Parkway. The school is set to open in August, beginning with students in grades six through 10.

Ultimately, the mission of Speros FL, which when translated means ‘hope,’ is to find a cure for cancer, Allgeier said.

“It’s really beyond research and clinical. It’s really about collaboration. It’s about what partners can we bring in? What entrepreneurs? What innovators can we bring in to partner with us, to hopefully cure cancer and do other things in health care,” he said.

John Allgeier, a senior director of real estate development for Moffitt Cancer Center, spoke recently at the North Tampa Bay Chamber breakfast meeting about the new Moffitt campus planned in Pasco County.

“We obviously have a lot of pharma partners. We do cell therapy, cell manufacturing,” he said. Data centers, manufacturing and warehousing are other expected uses.

“All of these things support us, and then can collaborate with us,” he said.

Construction has begun on the road into Speros FL, and construction is expected to begin on the buildings in the middle of this year. Crews will be building roads, between 600,000 square feet to 700,000 square feet of buildings and parking garages — all at the same time, he said.

Initial plans call for a research building of about 300,000 square feet, with a wet lab.

There’s also an outpatient center of about 80,000 square feet and a proton therapy center of about 20,000 square feet.

Proton therapy, he said, “is kind of like radiation on steroids. It’s the newest thing,” Allgeier said.

Moffitt plans to bring in an office developer at the north end of its property to create a “dry lab” for researchers. “Dry lab” refers to where researchers work using computers and crunching data.

Plans also call for bringing many of Moffitt’s administrative employees, who are now working at scattered leased spaces in Tampa, to the Pasco campus.

Allgeier estimated that about 35% of Moffitt’s current employees already live in Pasco.

For many others, the commute won’t be much different than the one they already make to Moffitt’s location at the University of South Florida, he said.

Of course, that won’t be true for everyone, he said. “Some live in Ruskin, they’re going to be a little bit upset.”

Planning for what happens on the Speros campus has been in the works for about two years, Allgeier said.

Finding the property took about a decade, he said.

Selecting this particular site began around 2016, when Moffitt was working with the Pasco Economic Development Council Inc., he said.

In addition to working with Pasco EDC, Moffitt worked with Pasco County, the state of Florida and Metro Development, the developers of Angeline, a new city that’s rising around the Moffitt site.

Moffitt closed on its property in 2019.

“Now, here we are. We’re getting a lot of interest,” Allgeier said.

Besides playing a pivotal role in cancer research, Moffitt is expected to create a sizable economic impact, from its workforce and from the other companies that are attracted to the Pasco campus.

Allgeier said he expects there will be a couple of thousand people working on the Speros FL campus, when it opens, which is expected in late 2025 or early 2026.

He also expects Moffitt — which has several locations — to continue to grow.

Moffitt currently has 8,500 employees, Allgeier said. Its workforce is likely to double by 2030, based on its current growth estimates, he said.

Pasco approves conduit loan
The Pasco County Commission has approved a request by Moffitt Cancer Center for a conduit bond, which allows Moffitt to borrow funds at a tax-exempt rate.
Moffitt plans to use the conduit bond to borrow up to $400 million to develop its Pasco Campus.
The county is not responsible for the debt. Moffitt’s allocation of state cigarette tax will be used to pay the debt, according to Robert Goehig, the county’s budget director.
The IRS requires a public hearing to be conducted on the request and requires that the county board finds that the project is in the public’s best interests.
No one spoke during the public comment portion of the public hearing on Feb. 7 and the county board unanimously approved Moffitt’s request.

Published February 22, 2023

New board member

By

(Courtesy of St. Joseph’s Hospital-North)

Lutz resident Sara Dodds, St. Joseph’s Hospital-North’s operations director and currently serving as the hospital’s interim president, was named in 2022 to the Board of Directors of The Florida Orchestra (TFO), according to a news release.

The board of directors “share TFO’s passion for the power of music, bring varied expertise and provide support that will help nonprofit TFO build on its success. As the backbone of the orchestra’s fundraising efforts, board directors are committed to fulfilling TFO’s mission to inspire, unite and educate the Tampa Bay community through music,” the release said.

Music has been an integral part of Dodds’ life since a very early age when she began playing piano. She is part of a musical family and her sister is a musical director at a local school.

Dodds has been part of the hospital’s leadership team as operations director since 2016 and is serving as its interim president for a three-month period.

Single-incision surgery an option

By

BayCare Medical Group and St. Joseph’s Hospital-North general surgeon Dr. Quan Tran performs advanced minimally invasive surgical procedures using a single incision to remove gallbladders and appendixes, according to a news release. The acronym for this surgery is SILS, for single incision laparoscopic surgery.

Gallbladders are typically removed because of complications from gallstones, and appendixes are typically removed when they become swollen or infected.

SILS is an advantage over traditional surgery, which usually requires multiple incisions.

Dr. Quan Tran (Courtesy of St. Joseph’s Hospital-North)

Often, this single incision is hidden completely within the belly button or leaves the patient with a scar that is barely noticeable.

In addition to the improved cosmetic result, one incision can mean less pain for the patient and a quicker recovery time following surgery.

A specialized camera is the key to single-site surgery because of the flexibility of the tip and visual clarity it gives the surgeon.

St. Joseph’s Hospital-North in Lutz recently added one of the most modern state-of-the-art cameras for SILS.

“It is a camera system that flexes 100 degrees in every direction as opposed to a regular laparoscopic camera which is set at 30 or 45 degrees,” Tran said in the release.

“This allows me to place the camera in the abdomen at an angle, which allows me to be able to perform the operation without the camera getting in the way of my instruments,” Tran said.

The camera projects a large magnified image of the surgical area onto a monitor.

Dr. Tran said SILS procedures require an experienced surgeon highly skilled in laparoscopic surgery and a surgical team that understands the nuances of the operation and camera system. He has performed several thousands of these procedures over the last decade at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North.

“If you want to have SILS surgery, it is important to find a surgeon that has been properly trained,” Tran said. “It’s not an easy operation due to the confinement of the space and inversion of your hands (left is right and vice versa). The learning curve is quite steep with most surgeons requiring up to 50 operations before becoming completely comfortable with the technique.”

Brushing up on a children’s book

By

Kurt Weber fought tooth and nail to finish his children’s book.

While it took nearly a decade to complete and get published, the 63-year-old longtime Lutz resident and dentist knew he wanted to finish writing it before neck surgery in 2016. Even if he did end up rewriting in 2018.

He meticulously drew every illustration on every page.

Tooth Buddy and the Golden Toothbrush by Kurt Weber, DDS, is on display at his St. Petersburg and Seffner practices and available for purchase on Amazon. (Mike Camunas)

“I really just wanted to make Charlie Brown, but as a tooth,” Weber said. “I wanted him to tell a story, I wanted him to have adventures and an interesting life that children will want to read about, and if he teaches us a few lessons along the way, all the better.

“You want a simple message for children and sometimes that’s incredibly difficult to do, but I also feel very strongly that you don’t talk down to children,” he added. “They’re not going to listen to a lecture, but if it’s a cute story, and they see the pictures of him brushing or flossing, that will stick.”

That is how Weber invented his Charlie Brown.

In his book, “Tooth Buddy and the Golden Toothbrush,” Tooth Buddy and his new friend, Dentina Decay, teach lessons not only of the importance of brushing and flossing, but of respect toward others.

“I feel it is a very unique children’s book,” said Weber, who has dental practices in St. Petersburg and Seffner. “I really like the indirect message, but you have to distill down those lessons for oral care and for life to the bare minimum because if you say too much, eyes will glaze over — kids won’t pay attention.

“They’re not going to absorb dentistry if it’s too complicated.”

After years of writing and drawing and discussions with his wife of 39 years, Karen, an administrative medicine physician at James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Weber’s book was published on Dec. 6, 2022.

Weber, who was an award-winning editorial cartoonist at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and has always been “a doodler” since he was a kid, said both writing and illustrating were quite the task.

When it came to writing, Weber knew he couldn’t be too complicated with story and lessons, even if the book introduces many of the top 250 vocabulary words children need in the book’s 3 to 8-year-old age range.

“There are people in their 80s and terrified of the dentist or adults who are not educated on how to care for their teeth,” he said, “so the importance of teaching these (dental) skills early was my goal.”

As for drawing the illustrations, Weber said each picture, or page — such as the one of Tooth Buddy flossing with the caption, “Tooth Buddy flossed every day to keep cavities away, his breath fresh, and his smile healthy,” — took about 20 hours.

Lutz resident Kurt Weber, DDS proudly displays his book, ‘Tooth Buddy and the Golden Toothbrush,’ at his St. Petersburg practice, where he has been treating patients for more than 30 years. Weber spent nearly a decade writing, and meticulously illustrating, his children’s book featuring Tooth Buddy, who he calls ‘Charlie Brown, but as a tooth.’

“Children’s books are incredibly complicated to look simple,” Weber added.

Which is remarkable since Weber, while a father to his kids, Kurt II and Katarina, isn’t a pediatric dentist. He does see a few kids, but his practice isn’t solely for child patients.

“If you teach a child to break up that colony bacteria that’s on their teeth at least every 48 hours, you’re not going to have issues getting older,” Weber said. “Just trying to teach them to get that brush or floss in there about once a day, that will work.”

Weber knew this message would need to be straight to the point, especially since the rule of thumb is children’s books should not be more than 500 words.

Tooth Buddy and the Golden Toothbrush is 498 words.

And so, with good reviews and online sales, including in Australia, Canada, Asia and Europe, a sequel is already in the works: “Tooth Buddy and the Magical Lost Tooth Adventure.”

“I’m happy with the response to it,” Weber said. “Kids don’t buy these books though, grandparents do. They see them in the lobby, and one lady bought five and then sent them all over the place, so that’s great, especially when you hear that one of my friends, her grandson is carrying the book around the house or another who said her son named her toothbrush ‘Tooth Buddy.’

“That’s really cool! I like that — a lot! (laughs).”

Tooth Buddy and the Golden Toothbrush by Kurt Weber, DDS
Synopsis: A fun adventure involving Tooth Buddy, his soon-to-be friend, Dentina Decay and, of course, the Golden Toothbrush. They teach four important lessons for children, ages 3 to 8. These include the importance of brushing and flossing, as well as the unstated larger-than-life lessons of nonviolent conflict resolution and respect for others and their property. Eventually, there will be a companion website to the book, which will include an interactive section for kids.
Cost: $18.59 for hardback on Amazon, Target, and Barnes and Noble

Published February 01, 2023

Sertoma club receives grant

By

President Darrell Huling presents a check representing a $2,000 grant to Deborah Golinski, president/CEO of Sertoma Speech and Hearing Foundation of Florida Inc. (Courtesy of West Pasco Sertoma Club)

The West Pasco Sertoma Club Inc., has received a 2022 Sertoma Club Grant, marking the club’s continued commitment to volunteer service, charitable support, and community leadership, according   to a news release.

Funds from the grant will go to benefit Sertoma Speech and Hearing Foundation of Florida Inc., in support of hearing needs of the children of Florida, which includes hearing screenings and hearing aids, as well as other hearing related needs. To learn more visit FamilyHearingHelp.org.

West Pasco Sertoma Club Inc., is part of the national Sertoma Inc. family of local civic service clubs. Sertoma was established over a century ago. It is dedicated to improving the quality of life for those who are at risk of hearing loss, or affected by it, through the organization’s education and support efforts.

To learn more about West Pasco Sertoma Club Inc., email , or visit its Facebook page, Facebook.com/darrell.huling/.

Human Trafficking Prevention Month

By

January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office (PSO) is partnering with the Pasco County Commission on Human Trafficking to prevent and respond to human trafficking cases.

The PSO says everyone can play a vital role by recognizing common warning signs and reporting potential human trafficking activity, according to a news release.

It is important to understand and recognize common indicators of trafficking. Physical signs of trafficking can include evidence of violence or untreated wounds, exhaustion and malnourishment, addictions or even branding.

Social and interpersonal signs can include being accompanied by a controlling individual, isolation from friends or family, little to no possessions, being severely underpaid or paid nothing at all for their work, and not being in control of their money or personal documents such as their driver’s license, the release said.

Mental and emotional signs can include low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, fearful behavior and not identifying as a victim of trafficking.

Behavioral signs can include individuals being submissive and nervous, avoiding eye contact with others, being afraid of law enforcement personnel and not being permitted to speak for themselves.

Rapid reporting of potential trafficking activity can help end human trafficking.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline is a national, toll-free number, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in over 200 languages. The hotline number is 1-888-373-7888, and is a safe place to report tips, seek services and ask for help.

Discreet text messages or online chat communication also is available by texting “BEFREE” (233733) or by visiting HumanTraffickingHotline.org.

Giving a piece to keep a family whole

By

Aaron Barnes really doesn’t want this kidney.

But he does need it.

“I just didn’t want it this way,” Barnes said. “I didn’t want it from her because what scares me the most is both parents going under the table, and if the kids lose both of us, boy, that brings tears to my eyes right now, and that’s why I didn’t want it to be her.

“If something happens to me, fine, they have another parent, but something happens to both of us … wow … and that’s why I wanted the kidney to come from someone else.”

Barnes, a 50-year-old Wesley Chapel resident, has been dealing with chronic kidney failure (CKF) for decades. Only in 2022 did it deteriorate his health so rapidly that while he was planning to get a kidney transplant, the need for the procedure was expedited.

Wesley Chapel resident Aaron Barnes is hugged by his wife of 20 years, Andrea, at Tru U Fitness in Lutz, where she is the co-owner. Aaron has been suffering from kidney failure for decades and as his health rapidly declined in 2022, it was time for a kidney transplant. It hasn’t been an easy process, including dozens of tests, lots of unsuccessful waiting, a monthlong hospital stay and even dialysis three times a week. However, Aaron finally found a donor: Andrea. (Mike Camunas)

He is on the national transplant list, but it’s a waiting game to be awarded a kidney or for someone to donate a kidney directly to him.

That is, until he found the perfect donor.

His wife of 20 years, Andrea.

In sickness and in health
Andrea is scared.

“Oh yeah, very scared., I’ve never had major surgery — well, c-sections — but never had an organ taken out,” the mother of three said. “We’re constantly trying to figure something out, but we’ll get through it. We’ve done it together and we’ll continue to do it together, quite literally.”

Sometime in February, Andrea will give her husband one of her kidneys. It will extend and better his life, one filled with dialysis sessions three times a week and a year of health deterioration that has taken its toll on the family of five.

The couple will travel to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville and be there more than a month. Each will have a procedure, with Andrea undergoing a nephrectomy, or removing of the kidney. Aaron, on the other side, will receive the kidney, which will be placed in his lower abdomen, near his hip and the renal artery.

Aaron’s doctor also decided to remove his left kidney, as it was found to have a hematoma and is not functioning properly enough, even with dialysis.

It’s a process that has taken well over a year to get to, and it all started with a sharp decline in Aaron’s health in late 2021.

“I’m just 1 out of 39 million with CKD (chronic kidney disease),” Aaron said. “As a guy, they don’t tell you everything you go through, with kidney failure or a transplant. It just happens and you start going through all this and it takes everything from you: job, energy, your drive — it’s bad, but I always try to look at the positives and that it could be worse.”

It hasn’t been easy on Aaron and his family.

For years, Aaron had been dealing with CKD through kidney-sensitive diets and other healthy ways of living. However, once his glomerular filtration rate (or GFR, the way to test how well kidneys are working) fell below 20, that’s when dialysis began and it required an immediate life change.

Each session zaps Aaron of any energy and he’s done for the day less than a half hour afterwards. He couldn’t work. He couldn’t help around the house. He couldn’t do things with his kids.

That’s when the depression set in.

Lowest of lows
It hit Aaron hard.

Yes, dialysis took its toll on him, but not as much as the depression. And while going through this health crisis and major change in life would bring anyone down, the dialysis did cause a lot of it.

Aaron Barnes, 50, spent September of 2022 in AdventHealth in Wesley Chapel due to extreme kidney failure. His weight dropped to 139 pounds. During his hospitalization, he had surgery to place a hemodialysis port in his chest to aid with his dialysis sessions, which he receives three times a week. (Courtesy of Andrea Barnes)

He would be in a fog, which can occur to patients who receive dialysis and then feel depressed.

“When this happened to me, I finally experienced depression for the first time and it was way worse than the health crisis I am experiencing,” Aaron said. “(The depression) scared me more than anything else.

“When you’re that depressed, when you’re emotionless, you get to that point where you’re that down, you’re that depressed and no one can help you, not even your family — that scared the hell out of me, man.”

“I didn’t consider myself to be suicidal, but the lack of caring, the lack of desire to eat or get out of it, I might as well have been.”

For most of 2022, it was just dialysis and depression. Eventually, it was time to tell the kids: A.T., 15; A’saph, 13; and Azalea Barnes, 9.

“We kept them in the dark a little bit, but then it got really bad, and I had to have that hard conversation with them,” Aaron said. “I am OK with my fate, but then what it does to the whole household can be miserable. It impacts the whole family, and that’s what bothers me the most.”

“It did bring us closer together, a little,” Andrea added. “He was in a lot of pain, so the boys would come in and rub his head or we would all sleep together in the same bed when he first started dialysis at home.

“And it’s a lot, and they’re also trying to live regular lives, as teenagers, and they come home to our house and chaos!”

The chaos would get more chaotic. When Aaron’s GFR got too low (3), he was admitted to AdventHealth Wesley Chapel, staying there over a month.

His weight loss was dramatic, dropping to 139 pounds. Doctors opted to place a hemodialysis port in his chest to aid with his dialysis sessions. He had a low platelet count for four days after surgery, leaving him at extreme risk.

“It took me a long time to get out of depression,” Aaron said. “And getting critically ill, it helped in that, on this journey, it’s a fight. You have to fight, so I did.”

“And it’s a fight,” Andrea added, “that never ends.”

Connected together
As Aaron, Andrea and their children move forward, it will, again, be another life-altering change for the family.

As long as the surgeries are successful, both Aaron and Andrea will recover, but in very different ways. Andrea will need up to a week to recover, however, it will take some time to get back to her job as co-owner of Tru U Fitness Studio in Lutz.

Aaron and Andrea Barnes with their three kids: A.T., A’saph and Azalea. (Courtesy of Andrea Barnes)

“And I have to be his caregiver,” said Andrea, who went through the six-month process to get approved as a match to donate to Aaron. “Then we need someone to stay with the kids for about a month — it’s a lot.”

Aaron’s recovery will be more extensive, including starting an intense daily regimen of anti-rejection medication.

“Transplant is not a real solution — it’s a work-around,” Andrea said. “So it’s partly a solution, then it’s still work, it still changes everything and you adapt.”

The alternative is staying on dialysis, which isn’t a solution either. Dialysis raises a patient’s blood pressure to extreme levels. In fact, Aaron’s high blood pressure was delaying the surgery, as it needed to come down. So, Andrea would shoulder the burden of two parents.

Andrea wouldn’t necessarily tell Aaron everything happening with their teenagers, to keep Aaron from stressing out.

Soon, Aaron and Andrea will be closer than ever. Because an actual piece of his wife will help him live.

“No, not anymore am I scared,” Aaron said of the impending procedure. “After being in critical condition four times and almost dying four times, I’m not scared anymore.

“At this point, I can’t be scared anymore because this is what I need not to die.”

Becoming a Living Kidney Donor
While a kidney donation can come from someone who is on the organ donor list — someone who passes and has been allowed to be harvested to aid others — there is the option to become a living kidney donor. However, this is a lengthy process that involves several aspects.

For starters, it takes about six months from start to finish, with numerous tests to determine if one is healthy enough to donate — meaning a donor must be free of uncontrolled high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, HIV, hepatitis or acute infections. Then there will be psychiatric tests to determine mental stability, plus one has to be a nonsmoker and can’t be pregnant.

As living donors, they can make a directed donation to a specific person — family member, friend, acquaintance, etc. — or a non-directed donation to an anonymous patient on the waiting list.

Every 10 minutes, another person is added to the national transplant waiting list — and 82% of patients waiting are in need of a kidney. On average, a living donor kidney can function anywhere between 12 years to 20 years, and a deceased donor kidney can improve quality of life for 8 years to 12 years.

Additionally, the average wait time for an organ from the deceased donor list is 3 years to 5 years, while getting a living donation, a patient may be able to receive a transplant in a year or less.

For more information about becoming a living kidney donor, visit Kidney.org/transplantation.

Published January 11, 2023