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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1977-01-26, Page 3John .Hanna LET US MAKE YOUR OLD FURNITURE BETTER THAN NEW ! For a free estimate and a look at our newest samples of materials — CALL COOK UPHOLSTERY "Put Your Upholstering Ph. 523-4272 R. Cook, Prop: Needs in Our Hands" Blyth, Ont. WE HAVE FREE PICK-UP AND DELIVERY SERVICE W.7 iven a second ..chance (John Hanna is a former resident of Brussels and lived in Brussels during the period his parents operated the restaurant which is now the Olympia, He is Supervisor of Juveniles at the Oakville Reception and Assess- ment Centre of the Ministry of Correctional. Services. The follow- ing story is from a recent issue of Correctional Update, a brochure published by the MiniStry). One day in June 1971 a doctor walked into 22-year-old John. Hanna's hospital room and told him: "The bad news is that you'll, be dead in three to 411.r months. The good news is that you can go on dialysis and live a reasonably normal life." John's reaction was a mixture of relief and thankfulness that he now knew where he stood. "It was kind of a relief," he recalls, "because I had been bounced from doctor to doctor with none of them knowing, or at least telling me, what was going to happen. Then this guy walks in and tells me exactly what's going to happen." • For John Hanna, the doctor's announcement was just one chapter in a long battle with a chronic renal disease that led eventually to his receiving a kidney transplant and a new lease on life. Today he enjoys good health and his work as a supervisor of juveniles at the Oakville Reception and Assess- ment Centre. The story of John's medical struggle began in 1967. At least that's the first time he 'was diagnosed as having a problem. "You've got chronic glomerular nephritis," he was told by the doctor who examined him and rejected him for service in the Canadian Armed Forces. The doctor explained the , term as meaning a degenerative disease of the kidney, but he did not inform John what it meant for his future or that he should be on a special restrictive diet, For the next four years, John went blithely on his way, eating what he liked and not worrying about his health. Most of the time, however, he felt very tired and suffered from headaches, dizziness and nausea. Suddenly in 1971 he went uremic. "Practically overnight my legs swelled to larger than twice their John Hanna normal size and I didn't know what was happening." Neither did the first doctors he went to see. He had to stay off his feet and was in "very rough shape." So he moved back in with his parents in Burlington. After five weeks in St. Joseph's Hospital, Hamilton, the doctor gave him the good and' bad news and John began his two-and-a- half year reliance on a dialySis machine. As John explains it, the machine, which is attached to an artery and a vein in the Jeg, performs some of the functions of the kidney. Blood ,circulates. through the machine, which removes impurities and keep's a balance in body electrolytes. This, plus strict adherence to a special diet, keeps the body stabilized. Eventually, John was allowed to leave hospital and the dialysis machine and a monitor were set up in his bedroom at his parents' home. Three times a week, usually while he was sleeping, John was hooked up for ten-hour periods to the machine. His reliance on the dialysis machine didn't prevent John from attending McMaster University and working towards an Honours degree in Religion. "It's a social science course. I wasn't aiming at becoming a priest." But his medical problems :did interfere with his life in other ways. "My mobility was really restr icted. Whereas most people can come and go as, they like, I had to stay close to the dialysis machine. Four days away from it was about the limit before I started feeling really sick." John explored the possibility of going to England. "But that would have necessitated having access to a dialysis machine. There are lots of them there. The problem,,,, is booking time " six months in advance." Another inconvenience was his diet. "Your liquid intake is restricted. Salt is one of the biggest No-No's. You can't add salt to the food you cook. You can't use canned vegetables or any prepared food with sodium in it. You can't eat wieners, ham, bacon, corned beef, dill pickles - all the things that make life worthwhile." The next hurdle came when he graduated with his degree in 1973 and found that no one wanted to hire him because of his medical situation. "Between May 1973 and January 1974, I, applied for more than 200 jobs, ranging from short order cook to working in a finance company. Everything would 'go fine when I went for the job until I hit the part about medical history. Only twice did employers come right out and'say they would have hired me except for my medical problem." Throughout his two-and-a-half years of dialysis support, John made regular monthly visits to the hospital where he was checked over by the renal team. Although he continued to feel weak and nauseous he had never seriously considered a kidney transplant. "My innate caution," he explains, referring to .his concern about the major surgery, with the risk of his body rejecting the transplanted organ and some possibility of his dying. Neverthe- less, the hospital had a record of his tissue type and had his name on a list should a donor whose tissue matched John's become available. John was taken completely by surprise one morning in January 1974 when a doctor called to tell him that a good match was available. John had an hour to decide whether or not to undergo surgery for the transplant. "When 'the doctor called back I said, "Why not? and went straight to the hospital." The operation brought about an immediate and dramatic change in John's life style. Two days after the operation he was able to get out of bed and "I felt great. It was suddenly like being able to fly. The change is almost indescribable. You feel so radically different and you haven't had time to get used to it. You have more energy. You're not sleeping 12 hours a day. You can eat what you like and there's no need to go back to dialysis." One of the first indications of the welcome change was the sight of the" nurse walking in with a breakfast tray. "There were big bunches of bacon, which I'd always loved, and about three times more of everything else than anyone would normally eat. I ate it all, plus three pots of tea." Another taste treat was going for an ice cream cone. "That was one of the first things I did when I got out of hospital. Boy, that was good, probably the best tasting ice cream cone in human history." John finds it difficult to articulate the emotions he feels upon looking backward. "You feel you're on the receiving end of a very special kind Of human love and care from a lot of people the family of the donor, the medical Staff at the hospital, the family and friends who were there when you needed them and the people. at Oakville who hired me. Caritas is probably the word I'd use to describe it, It's the Latin word for the love of humanity. When you've experienced all this love and care, it makes you feel very good about this whole, grubby, old human race." John has 'never met the family who released for his use. the kidney of their teen-aged son who was fatally injured in an auto accident. "It's probably just as well I haven't met them," he says, "How can you say anything to make up for their loss? The only thing you might be able to do is to use their gift and make your life mean something." During his years of reliance on the dialysis machine, John simply lived from day to day. "You sort of give up the idea of thinking about what you're going to do tomorrow. You just concentrate on what you're doing today." Today, John Hanna faces the future with confidence. "I've been. given a second chance to face the world on equal terms. Whereas before there were so many things I couldn't or wouldn't try to do, today I'm able to do anything I want to within broad limits." 1st Anniversary Sale Thank you for the support you have given us in our first year in business. To show our appreciation we are having our first Anniversary Sale at 20% to 50 % off everything in the store. Charge x not accepted for this sale. Sale ends January 29th at 6 P.M. '7 i. 9 Audrey Mayer's Lloyd' Jewellery & Gifts Where Personal Service is still Brussels important 887-94600' ANNUAL SALE STARTS THURSDAY FEBRUARY 3rd at MIMIC A NEW EXEC. —The H uron 'Cattlemen's. Association elected its new executive. for 19r? at its,annual. etieeting And banquet in the Clinton Legion' last Wednesday; Thd neW bffiCet8 for the 'dotting year are front .row left to right second vice oitsident, Glen CoUltet i Brustels'ipeeSidenii. George AdareiSi21:1-.Fl.,2i; Weoxetert first. vibe-peetident„ A et .Bolton, 14,,F4A.,. .00131414 Back row: Secretary,. Stan Paquette., A gricultuee office;, County' director,. Archie. Etherington,RAii i, Hensall ; treasurer, Bob McGtegOri Ft1:1,2; Kippen., (Newt-Record 16 Street Stratford, 27141960 THE BRUSSELS POST-, JANUARY' 26, 1977 —3