Sunday, January 27, 2013

The backstory: A 10 year view from my wife

-The day we met in 2001-
 
    Ten and a half years ago at a University of South Florida tailgate I met my husband for the very first time. He was full of life and pushing the envelope in every way he could. Little did I know at the moment that I was meeting my best friend and the man that would be the father of my two beautiful children.  I had no idea that the reason I had him in my life was because of a kidney transplant he had received just one year prior. To understand the whole story of who Shane Perrin is, you have to understand what he went through to get here.
 

February 2001

Shane was like any other college student attending classes, fit, active, healthy and holding down a night manager position. He was keeping crazy hours and living up the college life. The thing that separated Shane from the average college student was the signs of his failing kidneys.  He was losing vision in his left eye, throwing up constantly, he was crippled with continual headaches and had tea colored urine. Now Shane kept telling himself he was burning the candle at both ends and having too much fun for his own good. It wasn’t until Shane lost complete vision in his left eye and started losing the vision in his right eye that he thought he should see an eye doctor…men...seriously! 

Off to the doctor he went.  The first doctor told Shane that he had been an eye doctor for over a decade and had no idea what he was even looking at with Shane’s eyes so he referred him… and so did the next guy, and the next guy. Shane went to six eye doctors. The final eye specialist decided to order blood work and run some tests on Shane. He sent him on his way and told him he would let him know when he heard back about the blood work. The following day Shane was at work and received a call from the eye specialist.  He told Shane that there were irregularities with his blood work and he should go straight to hospital. The doctor had called the hospital already and they were waiting for Shane to arrive. In complete shock and utter confusion about what was causing this, Shane drove himself to the hospital.

Upon his arrival he checked in and began his work up.  The ER nurse came over and took Shane’s blood pressure…..hmmm that can’t be right.. So she took it again.. and again.. then manually instead of with the machine, then another nurse, 4 nurses and a charge nurse later they started asking Shane some questions about his current state, “Sir are you feeling light headed? Have a head ache?... It didn’t make any sense!.. Finally, in bewilderment, Shane asked what his blood pressure was…. 220/185… for those of you that don’t know much about blood pressure.. This is NOT normal! You could divide those numbers by 2 and it almost within normal range.  Shane was experiencing severe hypertension putting him at a very high risk for heart attack and stroke. In fact the nurses and doctors in the ER were shocked that he was even able to function.

 As a precaution to help lower his blood pressure he was admitted and heavily sedated. Over the next four days Shane was in and out of consciousness while they ran every test in the book to determine where Shane stood. On the fourth day they determined Shane had 0% kidney function and needed a transplant and an immediate dialysis regime. A port was installed in Shane’s neck and dialysis was started in the hospital. It was determined that Shane had Berger’s Disease, a hereditary kidney disorder.  Two months later Shane underwent another surgery to have a fistula (a more permanent port) installed in his arm for his continued dialysis treatments. On average Shane spent three hours a day, three days a week for the next nine months having his blood cleaned on a dialysis machine.

In November of 2001 Shane was given the greatest gift he could receive, a second chance at life in the form of a new kidney, from none other than his own mom. During Shane’s bout with kidney failure doctors were baffled by his bodies ability to endure and told him that if he was not so insanely fit that he would not be with us today.
-Us in Key West 2003- (yes, he had hair at one time)
 
      Since November 16, 2001 Shane has done everything in his power to maintain his health and live every day to the fullest. While this zest for life is not always the easiest ride to be on as his wife it is one of the things that drew me to him. His childlike wonderment with the excitement over the next horizon is intoxicating.  I have been pushed to try new things and had a front row seat for Shane’s long list of historic achievements in Stand up Paddling.  It is not to say that his paddling aspirations are all sunshine and roses... it is NOT! I spend about 1 month of 2012(cumulative of his active race time last year) worrying and not sleeping.. Communicating with his ground crew about the last time they saw him and how well he is taking care of himself, worrying that at any minute some small accident during one of these races could change our lives….. Forever.  While it is draining physically, emotionally and financially to support his dreams, I know that without his dreams and without his passion he is not the man that I fell in love with.   

Today, Shane continues to be a marvel of health to his nephrologist. Eleven years and counting!!!! Part of that success is Shane’s drive for health and wellness. He is in constant pursuit of strength, endurance and agility. Just this morning (a Saturday) I woke at 5:00am to an empty bed, only to realize Shane was already well into a work out on his homemade SUP ergometer so that he could be done by breakfast time so he could spend time with our two small children(Luke(3) and Tess (9 months)).
 
 
 
 

In a way this Everglades Challenge is the culmination of his SUP adventures. When they say it can’t be done it just fuels him further. Never count him out! I have never worried about Shane’s ability to finish a race or meet a goal he sets for himself; I only worry about him killing himself in the pursuit. It is overwhelming that he reached out and within four days his supporters were able to fulfill his needs to fund the expedition he so desperately wants to accomplish. What and unbelievable testament to people’s faith in Shane. But our work is not done! The expedition might be funded but the reason behind it is not!!  Part of this dream is to bring, health, wellness and zeal for life for those walking the path that Shane was on over eleven years ago. Shane has chosen to provide transplant recipients or those that are undergoing dialysis hope in the form a Stand Up Paddle board of their very own. And trust me if you have not tried SUPing it is an amazing work out. I was sore for about 3 days the last time I tried it! Without his health and exposure to activity Shane would not be the picture of health that he is today. 

      Help Shane to give this gift to people struggling all around the U.S. Help give them something exciting to look forward to and a fun way to stay healthy and recuperate after their transplant. Every dollar counts, if we could even get each of our Facebook friends to donate just 5$ our goal would be reached. If you are not in a place to financially contribute to this mission then please share the fundraiser with all of your friends.  Help Shane to spread his passion and his zeal for life.

Thank you,

Elissa Perrin
 

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Thank you to Supconnect for all their support

SupConnect

   I've received support from so many individuals through my racing career I can't begin to thank everyone. I do try because it means a great deal to me personally. However looking back and now in the present there's a platform that has really accepted me in the SUP world and taken it upon them selves to promote what I do. I'll let you take a look at what I found Friday morning as I was browsing different SUP media: 

Click here: SupConnect
 
 
 
Pretty cool That they took it upon themselves to write the story and pull this unterview up from a little while back. 
 
     My first relationship with the organization came from the 2012 Supconnect SUP man of the year competition. Someone who must know me entered me in the judging as it came as a surprise that I ended up there. Not thinking I had a chance, I watched as so many people cast their vote for me in the open round.  The support came in from all over the nation. Fast forward through the voting and I actually win the open round. OPEN ROUND WIN!
 
   Althought I didn't win the final round of voting, I  felt honored just to be amongst the top SUP athletes in the world in the voting process.  Crazily enough, Supconnect named me SUP man of the year 2012 honorary mention. 
 Here's their MENTION,
        "Supconnect would also like to congratulate Shane Perrin, an extreme distance stand up paddler, who was the outstanding winner of the open nominations phase of Supconnect SUP Man of the Year. The love and support for him was extremely evident and the number of votes that poured in was inspirational. He has been given an honorary mention title in the 2012 Supconnect SUP Man of the Year Awards."
 
 Thanks SupConnect!
And thanks for promoting the upcoming expedition:


Monday, January 21, 2013

$2400 funded for the expedition. Thanks to my Sponsors

$2400 raised in the first week! Thank you to all my sponsors that have made the expedition a success already.  The toughest part of a race/expedition is getting there. These people made it possible to reach the first goal of $2400. Now anything else donated goes towards the purchase of Boards for dialysis patiens, transplant recipients, and those on a wait list.


You can become a sponsor here: http://www.gofundme.com/10-days-400-miles

Abu Dhabi -
Jen Scully  with http://www.livelovesup.com/#


Connecticut
  Nick Sezenias, Kim Aubin ( The woman who donated her kidney to me)

Illinois:
LaGenia Bailey



Florida:
Melissa & Tim Jay, Corrective care chiropractic
 

Ohio-
  Bill Cochrane-owner of Nalu Sup and Surf (on my left) and Brian Wilse (on my right),
 Monica Opdycke, Phil Budowanec, Jill Jankowski


 
 
 
 Maryland:
Mac balatico
 
Missouri:
 
 
Gary Stokes,  Andrew Goold, Sandy Habeck,  Kelly "Hondo" Larkin,  Chris Clinton,
Cindy Abernathy,  Anna & Tom Blanchard, Dorothy Holzwarth,  Ellen Strubert, Kin Reed, Joe&chrissy Eickhorst, Patricia & Dan Belmont (my father in-law pictured below), Lindsey Mueller, Sue Donnelly, Satish Gopinathan, David & Kathi Broughton


Minnesota:
Randi &Kristjin Arnar
 
 













New York:Erica hamilton
(yup that was from 2000. I still had hair!)
 
















Virginia:

 Robert Harris
 



Sweden:
Henrik Friberg















Texas:
Donna Cannon, Katie Schumacher, RIO SUP, Jason Black, Devin Gates, Donald Garcia, Bill siersdorfer, Lindsay Stillman, Carlos Mata, Mike Dey

 

Washington:
Matt Myers
 

 















Wisconsin:
David Schultz with Longboat kayak


 

















Unknown origins of Sponsors:  anonymous, Jeff and Mistie Rhomberg, Lisa Applegate, Anne Nischke,  Jeff Gibson,  Joe Vohs,  Craig May, Theresa Nicholson, anonymous
^ Email me if your name appears on this list so I can  add you above




 
 




Sunday, January 6, 2013

GoFundMe campaign kicks off January 15th!

GoFundMe campaign
 
 
   In less than 2 weeks I will start a fundraiser campaign that will allow you to be part of a 400 mile ocean expedition. I'll be paddling From Tampa, FL. to Key Largo in the Florida Everglades challenge. I'll have 8 days to cover the 300 mile distance of the race.  Once completed I'll attempt to paddle on to make it to Key West.  All with a time of 10 days. All to promote organ and tissue donation.
 
   When the campaign goes live on January 15th, you will be able to become a sponsor of the project.  As a sponsor you will receive daily video sent via email during the expedition
 
 
 
 
   What you can do now to help is promote this video by  copy and pasting the link below:
http://www.gofundme.com/10-days-400-miles
 to your facebook and twitter.
 
 
 
Thank you, from the crew
Michael, me, and Karen
 
 About the race:
 
 What does expedition-style mean? It means that you need to be self-sufficient and carry all the supplies and equipment that you would expect to carry on a major kayaking or sailing expedition. This is not a “round the buoys” race with an empty boat and someone watching out for your safety. You are on your own.

 The physical demands of the race, combined with sleep deprivation, heat, cold, water, dehydration, and exhaustion, often cause participants to become disoriented. Amnesia, hallucinations, hypothermia, and other debilitating conditions are not uncommon. Such effects can impair judgment, a condition especially dangerous for the solo paddler or sailor.