By Jerome A. Bailey

Timothy Ryan Taylor is far from the typical dialysis patient. The 38 year old New Jersey father of two young children is living a life he never imagined - and loving it!

Timothy is one of more than 350,000 Americans who suffers from end-stage renal disease (ESRD). He depends on dialysis treatment to stay alive. The ESRD is due to high blood pressure. Hypertension is the second leading cause of kidney disease.

Timothy had been working as a retail store investigator most of his young life. One Fall morning he woke up feeling unusually tired. His feet were swollen and he was having trouble breathing. His girlfriend at the time suggested he go to the emergency room. There, doctors told him his kidneys were failing and he needed to start dialysis immediately.

“I didn’t really grasp what they were telling me,” said Timothy. “They were giving me all kinds of tests, sticking me with needles and I had no idea what dialysis meant.”

Doctors performed surgery on Timothy to place a catheter in his chest. Because Timothy’s kidney disease progressed quickly, he did not have time to get a permanent vascular access in his arm before starting hemodialysis. A catheter tube can be inserted into a vein in your neck, chest or leg near the groin. Catheters are not ideal for permanent access. They can clog, become infected and cause narrowing of the veins in which they are placed. Doctors used the catheter in Timothy’s chest until the fistula in his arm matured.

“The dialysis was the most horrible thing I had ever been through,” recalled Timothy. “I had a terrible reaction to the treatment. I got really sweaty, antsy and I became really light-headed.”

After a week in the hospital, Timothy was released to start his new life as a dialysis patient. He continued to work and he and his girlfriend, Dawn, decided to get married. Life continued to improve for Timothy. He was even getting use to going to the dialysis unit three days a week where he was meeting new people. But every story has its ups and downs. The dialysis schedule along with working full time began to wear down on Timothy. He gave up his job. Doctors informed Timothy and his wife they would never be able to have children. And Timothy started feeling too tired to do anything.

In 2001 Timothy ran into an old friend whom he had trained with in martial arts as a young man. The friend’s name is Sifu Louis Diaz. “I told him about my kidney disease and that I was getting dialysis treatment. He told me that he knew some kung fu breathing techniques and strength conditioning tips that would help me feel better.”

Timothy had been a life long fan of the martial arts. He grew-up watching Bruce Lee. He started taking lessons in 1989. He stopped for a while and returned to training in 1994. “Running into Sifu Louis Diaz really changed my life,” said Timothy. “I began to practice the breathing techniques he spoke of earlier. Slowly, I began working on strengthening my muscles. My energy level started to improve and I could feel I was getting stronger.”

Life started to improve all around for Timothy. He and his wife defied the doctors’ odds and had a little girl they named Xenji. Twenty months later they had a baby boy they named TJ. Because his lab worked improved, doctors allowed Timothy to cut his dialysis therapy time down by half-an-hour. And he started teaching beginning martial arts classes. Timothy believes these life changing events were possible because of the martial arts training.

Timothy is healthy enough to be placed on the kidney transplant waiting list and he knows about his home dialysis options, but he says he’s happy with the treatment he is currently receiving. “Dawn and I talked about kidney transplantation. We did a lot of research. We know that it can work for some people. We’re still debating whether I should get on the transplant waiting list. And with home dialysis, I don’t like the idea of being stuck with a needle everyday.” 

As for advice for anyone interested in starting martial arts or any exercise program? “I would say the hardest part is starting. Once you’ve made up your mind that you want to be around your family, you want to be productive with your family and you’re tired of sitting around, get up and get yourself moving. Start with something you enjoy, something you are willing to do daily. It could be martial arts, walking or just hitting golf balls – just do it. Everyone thinks kung fu means martial arts, it does not. It means time and energy. So find whatever it is that you are willing to put time and energy into that will help you get yourself motivated.”

Jerome A. Bailey is the Communications Manager for the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP) and Editor of aakpRENALIFE. 

This article originally appeared in the January 2010 issue of aakpRENALIFE.

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