At the age of 18, Mark Kozlik was on his way to becoming a naval engineer. He had bought his plane ticket to Halifax, sold his car, quit his job and — ironically — had passed all his physical exams.
But then he came down with a cold.
Or so he thought.
A week before he was to leave, his family doctor broke the news: "You are not going anywhere."
The strep throat Kozlik had contracted had somehow manifested into chronic renal disease.
Kozlik didn't get it. He was strong and healthy, playing plenty of sports growing up in his hometown of Maple Ridge. None of his relatives had suffered kidney failure and, yet, here he was, looking at a lifetime of dialysis, a treatment he would be forced to take three times a week to flush the toxins from his ailing body.
"It was just a horrible thing," he said. "I had to rebuild my life."
For 17 years, Kozlik drove to Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster for his four-hour long treatment. Then, 15 years ago, Fraser Health opened a clinic closer to home, in Coquitlam.
"I was here to cut the ribbon," he said of the opening of the Tri-Cities Dialysis Unit on Barnet Highway.
Now, after hundreds of patients have walked through its doors, the clinic is in dire need of some TLC.
The chairs for the 19 patient stations are worn, the TVs and headphones are inadequate and the bedside tables require replacing.
Recently, the Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation launched a fundraising campaign to upgrade the gear, with the goal of raising $150,725 by Dec. 31. As of this week, it had another $68,000 more to go.
Kozlik, who is the face of the fundraising drive, said spending four hours each on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays surrounded by old furniture isn't fun. During his treatment, he eats his bagged dinner, watches the news, has a snooze and responds to work and family emails.
A building officer for the city of Maple Ridge, the father of two talks about how much he has missed because of the illness; as a result, he said he's hyper-efficient with his time.
Still, the dialysis has been lifesaving. For the past 33 years — while also maintaining a balanced diet — Kozlik has been able work in the construction industry and even run marathons because the treatments keep him alive.
"There's no alternative," he said. "It's life or death. You struggle with it every day. You have to deal with it because it never goes away. It's a mind game."
Charlene Giovannetti-King, executive director of the Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation, said patients come into the Tri-Cities Dialysis Unit from the Tri-Cities as well as Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge and Burnaby.
"Quality of life is one of the more important outcomes that we are looking for with patients living with kidney disease," said Dr. Daniel Schwartz, medical director with the Fraser Health renal services. "When you ask these patients what they want, it is to be comfortable.
"Unfortunately, many patients with kidney disease live with chronic pain. Having a comfortable, infection-free dialysis station really helps patients from a healthy quality of life perspective."
• To donate to the Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation's Dialysis Campaign, visit erhf.ca. The Co-operators insurance company will match donations up to a total of $20,000.
