ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
Those looking to get out in the spring air and exercise and support a good cause will soon have just that opportunity thanks to Eisenhower Middle School.
The Kidney Disease Awareness Walk for Watt 5K will be Saturday, March 8 at Blue Bonnet Park, with registration starting at 9:30 a.m. and the walk itself starting at 10 a.m. Everything is sponsored by the Eisenhower Middle School Student Council. Registration is $15 per person and $5 for Eisenhower Middle School students. There will be medals for the top three finishers, and shirts will be available to purchase for $20 through Main Revelation's Web site.
“This is our third year hosting this event, so we hope to see even more people join in and come out that morning,” coordinator Brianna Watt said. “Last year, we had a big increase in participation compared to our inaugural year in 2023, which we were pleased with, so we hope to see even more of an increase in participation this time around and support everyone, because there are a few people I know who have been recently dealing with their own kidney disease struggles. I would love to see as many people as possible come out and support those families as well.”
The walk was started back in 2023 to help Watt as she was battling kidney disease, which she discovered in 2021.
“I'd had no idea anything was wrong and it rather came out of nowhere, and the only clue I had that something might be wrong was there was one time I actually passed out at softball practice and after that, I went to the doctor and had some lab work done and we discovered my kidneys weren't working properly,” Watt said. “My kidney function continued to go down and down until I was in renal failure and a lot of people don't know a lot about kidney disease and how it's basically a silent killer. My kidney function got down to around 8 percent and I was on dialysis for seven or eight months and was also put on the transplant list and waited for that. Then, it was March 2023 when I got the call there was a donation ready for me and I had to get to Kansas City. It was a really, really rough time for me, and I just kept wondering what I could do to maybe slow things down, like eating healthier and cutting out soda and super sugary beverages, things like that. But ultimately, my kidney function still continued to go down and it was a really disheartening time. And an odd thing is, some people can have low kidney function and hover there for a while, but my function was dropping every couple weeks pretty steadily.
Watt said it was a very trying time for her.
“I was going through a lot of physical and emotional changes because of the stress of dealing with everything and the medicines I had to take, plus I was still teaching every day and dealing with all of that,” Watt said. “I can't believe that's already been two years, and it's such a big change how I'm doing now compared to then.”
Watt did receive a transplant in 2023, but as she tells it, she was a hair away from it not happening.
“When they called me that day, I actually almost didn't pick up the phone. I was teaching a class, and it was during our 5th period, and the number on my caller ID was a Kansas City number and unfamiliar to me, so I originally thought 'I'll just call them back later,'” Watt recalled with a chuckle. “But then after a second, I realized Kansas City would be where I would be getting my transplant surgery done, so thankfully, I DID end up answering the phone, and that's when they gave me the news. I froze for a moment and wondered 'Is this for real?' and then the doctor on the phone told me I needed to get to Kansas City right away, and it's a roughly seven-hour drive from Liberal. So I had my classroom para take over my class, and then I went into the office and told my principal I'd gotten the call and had to leave, and they cheered me out the door and sent me on my way. I hoofed it home, grabbed my bag of necessities, and got on the road – I would say the total timing of all of that, from me getting the call to actually getting on the road to Kansas City, was 45 minutes, if that. I got to the hospital that night and was in surgery a very short time after I got there because the doctors and surgeons and everyone had everything ready to go when I got to the door. I'm doing a lot, lot better since my transplant. Before, coming to school and putting in a full day of teaching completely wiped me out and I would have to lay down in bed for the rest of the day after I got home. Nowadays, I've got my energy back and I'm back to exercising like normal, and everything is just much, much better now.”
Watt said she hopes to see big turnout for this year’s event.
“For the walk, even if you want to just come to the park and show support for everyone who will be walking, that would be great,” Watt said. “Last year, we used the money we raised to put together some goodie bags for patients who go to the dialysis center in town, and those included puzzle books and fuzzy socks and other little games. This year, one of my students told me their 5-year-old cousin is actually dealing with kidney disease and needs a transplant, so we're working with that family and we're going to raise money to help them. If anyone can't make it to the walk but still wants to show their support, they can contact Andrea Nix at Eisenhower Middle School, she's the StuCo advisor and has helped coordinate all of this, or they can contact me, also at the school, and we can make those arrangements.”
Watt also offered encouragement for people to keep up with their health.
“A particularly tricky aspect about kidney disease is many people don't know anything's wrong until the later stages, because there really aren't any signs – you don't feel or look sick, or really feel anything, until the later stages. That's actually how I found out what was going on with me,” Watt said. “The number one thing I would advise is do yearly checkups with your doctor and yearly labs so you can make sure everything is where it's supposed to be. Otherwise, listen to your body – if something REALLY doesn't feel right, there's a chance it's something that needs some intervention, so just check in with yourself and if you feel like something's going on, definitely get checked out.”
Watt added she hopes to keep the event going as long as possible.
“While this event was started to help me, I want to use it to bring awareness to kidney disease as a whole and represent the entire community,” Watt said. “Throughout the past couple years, I've had people in the community share their stories with me, whether they dealt with it or had a family member who dealt with it. It's interesting to hear other people's stories, because I feel like kidney disease isn't quite as talked about. I'm looking forward to seeing the turnout for this year's event, and if anyone is dealing with any illness right now, there are better and brighter days ahead, so just take care of yourself and take things one day at a time.”
