D Tour: A documentary about kidneys, music and health care

                                    Pat Spurgeon, photo courtesy of Fresh Clean Media

Pat Spurgeon was born with only one kidney. While that may seem dangerous, it's actually more common that people might think. In fact, according to the National Kidney Foundation, approximately one out of every 750 people is born with only one functioning kidney, and most of those people have little-to-no reason to worry about problems with their kidneys.

Spurgeon wasn't so lucky. The drummer for Oakland-based indie rock band Rogue Wave was not only born with one kidney, but has since undergone dialysis twice, and lived through as many kidney transplants. His struggle is highlighted in D Tour, a new documentary about kidneys, music and health care.

Spurgeon's kidney problems first began when he was living in Indiana and attending junior high. During a routine checkup, his blood work came back showing something was wrong with his kidney. It was determined that he had Glomerulonephritis, a renal disease, but it was something the doctors assumed would go away in time.

"I don't remember anything really drastic happening," he said. "By the time I moved away from home I completely forgot about it."

He went through junior high and high school paying no mind to his condition. But then when he was attending college in Bloomington, Ind., it "caught up to" him.

"My kidney had completely deteriorated," Spurgeon said. "It was almost completely done with. It had no function at all."

His only option was to go on dialysis, which he did immediately. Had he not, he would have died within ten days, to less than a year. Once on dialysis, the waiting began, however it wasn't too long before he received a call that a donor kidney was available. In 1994, at the age of 24, Spurgeon went in and had his first transplant.

He began taking anti-rejection medication, which kidney transplant patients must take for the remainder of their lives. The drug also has various side effects, from mild to severe, that patients must learn to live with.

                                    Pat Spurgeon, photo courtesy of Fresh Clean Media

In 1997, three years after his transplant, Spurgeon graduated college and moved to San Francisco. It was there that he began playing with Rogue Wave.

In the time since, he had been going to the doctors twice a year to have his kidney checked on. 

"Then the doctors at UCSF noticed that some of my lab work [showed]...the numbers were indicating that my kidney was on the outs," he said.

Spurgeon went back on dialysis straight away and was put back on the donor list. But he faced a tough decision. It was 2005 and Rogue Wave was preparing to go on tour. To not-go was not an option for him. He was insistent that he could do dialysis while on the road, but the rest of the band was hesitant and concerned about him.

"I kind of knew that I should be able to do this, because I had done this particular type [of dialysis] before," he said. "I knew that I would be able to be mobile."

But the band had already gone so far as to recruit a friend to fill in on drums for tour. Meanwhile, Spurgeon maintained that music was his life, and he wasn't going to let dialysis get in the way of that.

"It was really kind of nerve-wracking," he admitted. "Nothing against [the friend], but I was absolutely not going to let that happen."

But eventually the band and Spurgeon determined that they had to continue as a group.

"We're a band, and the band needs to keep moving and keep working [together]," he said.

So it was up to Spurgeon to proceed with caution and be responsible on tour, making certain to wake up earlier and stay up later than the other members in order to do dialysis. Another important component was ensuring he always had a sterile environment to perform it in, as well as make certain he was eating healthy.

"Those are two really hard things to find when you're out touring," he said.

While on tour, Spurgeon underwent hemodialysis. The process involves hooking a machine up to his abdomen via a cord and running fluid into it. Once it's in there, Spurgeon had to wait eight to 10 hours before hooking back up to the machine and draining the fluid out.

He also had to keep a bland diet that strayed away from sodium, potassium and high amounts of protein.

"With kidney failure, you're really unhealthy, so you have to have an even more unhealthy diet," he said.

                                Pat Spurgeon, photo courtesy of Fresh Clean Media

Meanwhile, the band began referring to their tour as the D Tour. 

This time around, Spurgeon was on dialysis for seven or eight months before he got a kidney. First, the wife of the band's bass player (at the time) wanted to donate one of hers. She made it to the very last stage of testing before a kidney stone was discovered, which ruled her out. Another potential donor from Vancouver, Wash., offered her kidney, but in the process of her testing, Spurgeon ended up getting his kidney.

What happened was a man in Redding, Calif., died. Although Spurgeon wasn't at the top of the transplant list, the man's kidney is what is called a zero-mismatch kidney, which means that it is such a perfect match that it shot Spurgeon to the top of the list.

"This is the best match I could possibly get," he said. "I wasn't expecting a call for years, [and] the next day I had this kidney in me."

It has now been nearly three years since the transplant and Spurgeon reports that he has a clean bill of health.  Yet throughout all of his trials, he recalled that the hardest thing was dealing with health insurance, which is why he believes that health care reform is such an important topic today.

He said that people like himself - who didn't have insurance at the time of initial diagnosis - have two choices. Either they get a job at a big corporation or chain and get good health insurance, or stay poor and under the radar in order to remain eligible for Medicare. And even then, it "doesn't stay in place forever," he said.

The documentary, which covers this most recent period of Spurgeon's life, airs tonight on PBS at 11 p.m., as part of the Independent Lens series. Be certain to check it out if you can, or order the DVD on the website.