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Thursday
March 28th, 2024

kidney disease awareness 5k flyerELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times

 

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 1 in 7, that is 15 percent of US adults or 37 million people, are estimated to have chronic kidney disease. As many as 9 in 10 adults with chronic kidney disease do not know they have it, and about 2 in 5 adults with severe chronic kidney disease do not know they have it. 

With such numbers in mind, the Eisenhower Middle School Student Council would like to help raise awareness. The Kidney Disease Awareness Walk for Watt 5K will be Saturday, April 1 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 the first 50 people get a T-shirt. 

“This is a fundraiser for the National Kidney Foundation in honor one of our teachers, Brianna Watt, who is dealing with kidney disease,” Eisenhower Middle School StuCo Advisor Andrea Nix said. “She actually came before the StuCo students and asked if they would be interested in doing something like this to raise awareness of kidney disease, and we decided it would absolutely be a great idea for us, and the students were absolutely on board. Ms. Watt is actually dealing with kidney disease, so this is extremely important to her, and that really touched the students, so they decided to do something for her since they care about her so much.”

Watt herself shared her story of dealing with kidney disease. 

“About two years ago, I was diagnosed with kidney disease. I had no idea anything was wrong and it rather came out of nowhere. 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. They did a biopsy of my kidneys and discovered about 50 percent of my kidneys were scar tissue, both of them, which is something that can't really be reversed. The kidneys are the one organ that can't regenerate itself. I went to my doctor every month for labs and checkups and my kidney function just kept going down and down until I was in renal failure. I started on dialysis and got on the transplant list, and I'm still waiting for a transplant. Given what I've been going through, I wanted to help bring awareness to kidney disease and thought a 5K or fun run would be a good way to do that, so one of other teachers suggested I bring it to the StuCo students and see if they could organize something. When I was talking to them about doing this, they were really excited about it and thought a fun run would be something good to do. Then, after I told them the reason why, they actually got even more excited because they knew it would be helping someone they knew and cared about. A lot of people have kidney disease and don't know it because they don't get checked out, so I thought if I brought it to the students, it would help bring more awareness to the issue, and I knew it would also be a great way to get them involved in the community, which is their mission.”

With this being the inaugural event, both Nix and Watt said they hope to see a lot of community support that morning.

“I hope we see a lot of community members come out and support this and show some support for Ms. Watt,” Nix said. “Events like this typically see a big turnout in the community, so we thought this would be the best way to spread awareness and involve the community. So we'd love to see a lot of support that day. I love how we're getting the students out into the community to do something that will have an impact here in town for someone they know. As far as in the future, I'd like to see us do other events like this and see us do more as far as giving back to the community. I felt very moved and touched about just how much the students were on board with this because they care about Ms. Watt so much and want to do something to help her. They initially didn't know what to think but then after Ms. Watt explained everything, they were on board and just so excited for the chance to do something for her. They quickly got excited about putting the event together and designing the T-shirt and flyers and all of that, and it's been amazing to see how big their hearts are.”

“I hope a lot of people come out and support the event and I hope it makes people more aware of kidney disease and maybe even inspire some people to get themselves checked out to make sure everything's fine,” Watt added. “I'm also hoping there will be a lot of money raised to help support the Kidney Foundation since that's where the proceeds from this event will be going.”

With that in mind, Nix and Watt offered encouragement for community turnout. 

“It's for a great cause to support one of our amazing teachers, and it will also get people out and exercising on what will hopefully be a nice Saturday,” Nix said. “As far as the proceeds, we don't really have a specific goal in mind, it's a situation where as much money as we can raise will be awesome, and it also makes sense given how this is our first year doing this. Ideally, we'd like to do this in the future and surpass our proceeds every year.”

“I hope people come out and get involved and get active that morning – you don't have to run, you can walk the route, so there's no pressure there,” Watt said. “It's also always great to get out and about and be involved with the community. And if someone can't be out there that morning but wants to support the cause, they can go to the National Kidney Foundation Web site, kidney.org, and make a donation through there, or they can spread the word about the event to their friends and family and help out that way.”

Watt also emphasized the importance of visiting a doctor if things are not feeling normal.

“I would definitely encourage people to get themselves checked out because like I said, kidney disease is a silent killer. I had absolutely no suspicions that anything was wrong when I was diagnosed – I felt perfectly healthy, I exercise regularly and I eat right and take care of myself for the most part,. I had no inclination anything was wrong until that day I passed out at softball practice,” Watt said. “At that point, unfortunately, there wasn't much that could be done to reverse what had already happened, so it's better to be proactive about these things rather than reactive. Some warning signs people should be aware of with kidney disease include fatigue, being unable to produce urine, retaining a lot of extra water, anemia, lightheadedness, and things like that. And I want to reiterate, none of the proceeds are coming to me, everything is going to the National Kidney Foundation, I really want to just make sure awareness is being spread about this so it can help people. If this helps spread the word and inspires people to get themselves checked out, that would be amazing.”