About Michael R. Gaudet in Brief

At age 20 I was oblivious to my rapidly deteriorating health. Kidney disease is insidious this way, as the toxins accumulate in one's system, the mind grows progressively foggier, disabling one's mental acuity.  In extreme cases such as I experienced, it is often difficult to fully grasp the extent of one's illness.

It came as a big shock for me to hear the words "You have End Stage Renal Failure," from the doctors shortly after I was admitted to hospital in Toronto. I needed to have an emergency surgery to enable immediate dialysis if I was to survive.

After several months of this grueling, albeit life-saving intervention, my mind was clear enough to devise the concept of the "Recovery" mural. If nothing else, I was determined to leave my mark on the world, in the form of this plaintive cry out for help in the form of a mural.

"Recovery" was my visual prayer for health and vitality.

Seven months after my admission and frightening diagnosis, (Remember, only fifteen years previous to this, ESRF was a death sentence.) my brother Steven stepped up to offer one of his kidneys as a "Gift of Life". This changed everything! Steve's loving sacrifice allowed me to thrive and prosper for over 34 years, a longevity record in Western Canada.

In 2013 I founded the group "Kidney Transplant Donors and Recipients" on Facebook. Within a year, the membership swelled to over 900 members. Within about two years, this number mushroomed to as astonishing 11,250! This is a peer-to-peer support group for anyone associated with kidney disease. 

In the beginning, I used the above image as the masthead, as I strongly felt that it elicits a certain "healing energy", even though it is quite crude. Fast forward to the present. I have returned to thrice-weekly dialysis treatments since mid-May 2014 while I hope and pray for a second transplant. During this time, I have been working on writing my memoirs and have finished Book 1 of the trilogy "Dancing with Rejection". I revisited the "Recovery" design as the cover art for Book 1. 

The 2015 version of "Recovery" features a conspicuous "kidney".

I decided to incorporate this freshly-minted artwork as the masthead of the group, as its latest incarnation now features the last figure striding triumphantly off the canvas, sporting a conspicuous kidney in his lower abdomen. Once again, this is my visual prayer for the "Gift of Life".

Ever hopeful, ever optimistic, ever faithful.

To read more, please visit my website.