WELLINGTON NORTH – Ken Brubacher talks of his son’s culinary talent without a hint of sarcasm.
At 12 years old, Trevor Brubacher is already an accomplished cook, often preparing meals for his parents, Ken and Carolyn, and his four siblings.
Macaroons, a challenging biscuit to make even for those well acquainted with a kitchen, are Trevor’s favourite dish to bake.
So it’s distasteful for Trevor – and anyone who has or will have the displeasure of being hospitalized – when the only items on the menu are bland tuna sandwiches and jello, served to him on a plastic tray as he lays in a hospital bed.
It’s gotten to the point where Ken orders takeout when complications from Trevor’s failing kidneys, usually excess fluid retention, cause him to be admitted to hospital for days – 50 last year, to be exact.
Trevor’s fight with IgA vasculitis, a rare disorder causing the tiny blood vessels in his kidneys to swell and bleed, began two years ago with a visit to an emergency department before significantly worsening last year.
Kidney function dropped almost completely and Trevor was soon on dialysis; a routine now requiring eight-hour days, three times a week, at McMaster Hospital in Hamilton.
Carolyn takes Tuesdays and Thursdays; Ken takes Saturdays.
The family had a choice to make, lest Trevor live out his days hooked up to a machine filtering his blood: wait for a donor kidney to become available or ask someone.
“Some crazy dude said, ‘Yeah, I’ve got a spare kidney for ya,’” Ken recently recounted by phone.
The Brubachers humbly approached their church congregation with the request and much to their surprise, several people volunteered to be tested for eligibility.
“I was blown away by the response; I didn’t know what to expect,” Ken said.
The candidate – “he’s stoked to do it” – has a final appointment next month to confirm eligibility, and although nothing is official yet, Ken said, “It seems like it is going to happen.”
At one time, Trevor’s parents dreaded that a transplant could be the only option for their son.
“We’re looking forward to it now,” Ken said. “Now, it’s like the best-case scenario.”
Should Trevor receive a new kidney, there remains a long journey for the family of intense monitoring, regular hospital visits, new medications, and the risk of Trevor’s body rejecting the donor’s kidney.
“Its uncharted, there’s no way to predict how well it will go, or how bad it will go,” Ken said.
“It’ll be rollercoaster, we know that.”
While Trevor is hospitalized at SickKids Hospital in Toronto, where the transplant and recovery would happen, there are likely to be significant costs, ranging in the thousands-of-dollars, for the family’s housing, food and transportation.
Trevor Brubacher has been diagnosed with IgA vasculitis, a rare disorder causing the tiny blood vessels in his kidneys to swell and bleed, causing organ failure in the process. Submitted photo
Thinking of a way to help the family navigate the looming financial burden, church member Winston Shantz decided to use his love for hockey, along with a knack for organizing tournaments, to benefit the Brubachers.
Shantz is inviting the community to come to the Palmerston and District Community Centre Complex on Nov. 5 to catch a game and grab a bite.
“I thought it would be a great way to support them and raise money for them,” Shantz said by phone.
Ken’s employer, Innovative Design and Print, is covering the cost of a food booth where barbecued favourites will be available for purchase from 11am to 7pm, and Trevor is hoping to bake soft pretzels.
“Come out, watch some hockey, and grab some food,” Shantz said.
The tournament is already full and the first puck drops at 7am.
Eight previously-selected teams will be whittled down throughout the day until two are left to face off in the final game, scheduled for 9pm.
Shantz said the entry fee for the hockey teams will leave around $3,000 to be donated to the family, once fees are covered.
However, the Hawkesville resident is hoping to raise in the range of $5,000, and a donation box will be available that Saturday for cash donations.
Those interested in donating money via an e-transfer can express interest by contacting Shantz at winston.shantz78@gmail.com.
The past two years for the Brubachers have been the hardest thing the family has been through, but Ken says “resenting the whole thing and fighting it” would be just as exhausting.
“As a parent you always want to protect your kids from stuff that hurts them, but you can’t, all you can do is be there with them,” Ken said.
“You go through phases where you try to reconcile what’s going on.
“You try and search for a reason why, and it drives you crazy … that approach doesn’t work.”
He’s since arrived at a place where he’s okay not knowing.
The family is merely doing what they have to do, the same as anyone else, and Kens says they’re “really blessed” and “very cared for.”
“I think the thing we need that no one can give us is time away from the madness,” he said.
As for Trevor, he’s stable and doing incredibly well.
“Doesn’t mean that it’s easy, but he’s been handling it very well,” Ken said.
“He doesn’t want attention; he just wants to live and he would like it all to go away.”
