Karate studio event aims to raise funds for and awarenes of kidney disorder
Give a kid a break
By Alicia Doyle
Correspondent
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Photo by James Glover II
VenturaCountyStar News- Home- Communities
Andrew Stubblefield catches a pad during his karate class at the American Academy of Self Defense in Newbury Park.
Sondra and Bob Stubblefield were on vacation at Lake Arrowhead a year and a half ago when their son, then 4, woke up one morning with severely swollen eyes.
“We figured Andrew was having an allergic reaction to something because he said he didn’t feel bad, so we gave him Benadryl,” recalled Sondra of Newbury Park of the incident in the summer of 2007. The swelling went down a bit during the day but came back after Andrew took a nap.
“We again gave him some Benadryl and changed out sheets and pillows, thinking they might be the cause,” his mom said. “The swelling in his eyes reduced but a couple of days later we noticed that he legs were extremely swollen; you couldn’t make out knees or ankles.”
With that, they contacted Andrew’s pediatrician, Dr. Rhonda Gordon, in Thousand Oaks.
“After explaining the symptoms, Dr. Gordon said that she thought Andrew might be losing proteins and suggested that we get him to an E.R. right away,” his mom said. “We immediately packed up our belongings and drove back to Thousand Oaks and took Andrew to Los Robles Regional Medical Center.”
After various tests were conducted and pediatric nephrologists at UCLA were consulted, Andrew was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, a disorder in which the kidneys are damaged, causing them to leak large amounts of protein from the blood into the urine.
“We have heard and read many stories where it took doctors weeks or months to diagnose a patient because nephrotic syndrome is not that well known,” Bob Stubblefield said. “So we will be forever grateful and thankful to Dr. Gordon for nailing the diagnosis basically over the phone.”
Active and kicking
Now 6 and taking medication to control the disease, Andrew is a karate student at American Academy of Self Defense in Newbury Park. A kindergarten student at Banyan Elementary, he also enjoys swimming, playing flag football and soccer, and riding his bike.
Nevertheless, “sometimes I don’t feel right and I don’t know why,” Andrew said. “My eyes and legs get puffy. They take my blood a lot and sometimes I need to go to the hospital. I have to be on medicine that makes me hungry.”
Hoping to raise awareness of the disease and money to help find a cause and cure, the Stubblefields have planned a “break-a-thon” fundraiser on Friday at Andrew’s karate studio to benefit the Nephcure Foundation.
Anyone can participate and obtain pledges to break five boards — or folks can simply donate money to the foundation.
“What makes this fundraiser so unique for us is that it is one of our own students who will benefit directly from it,” said Rick Ostrander, owner of the American Academy of Self Defense.
Nephrotic syndrome occurs when there is a malfunction in the kidney’s filtering system causing valuable proteins in the blood to leak into the urine and out of the body. This leakage causes fluid to accumulate in the body resulting in pronounced swelling.
It also results in high levels of cholesterol and low levels of protein in the blood and large amounts of protein in the urine.
Andrew Stubblefield practices his kicks during karate class. Now taking medication to help control his nephrotic syndrome, Andrew, 6, says that still “sometimes I don’t feel right and I don’t know why. My eyes and legs get puffy.”
No known cause
In Andrew’s case, he has “minimal change nephrotic syndrome,” his dad said.
“Minimal change is the diagnosis given when a patient has nephrotic syndrome and a kidney biopsy reveals little or no change to the kidney tissue or filters,” he explained. “Minimal change seems to be related to abnormalities in the immune system that cause certain cells within the kidneys to function abnormally.”
There is no known cause, he said.
“It is not genetic and it is not contagious,” Bob said. “Childhood nephrotic syndrome can occur at any age but is more common between the ages of 1 1/2 and 5. It also appears to affect more boys than girls.”
When Andrew is relapsing — spilling proteins — it can cause his physical appearance to become distorted, his mom said.
“His legs, belly, cheeks and eyes will swell up. He can become very tired and moody,” she said, adding that the real problem lies with the side effects caused by the medications he takes to treat the disease.
“The primary line treatment is Prednisolone, or steroid therapy which comes with a whole host of nasty side effects, such as moon face, additional swelling of the belly, extreme hunger, severe mood swings, stunted growth, excessive hair growth, sweating and anxiety, just to name a few.”
Before Andrew was diagnosed with the disease, “we had never heard of it before,” his mom said.
“Breaking boards at a karate studio is a unique event itself,” she said, “and opening it up to anybody — kids, adults, students and nonstudents — who want to obtain pledges to raise money can get many people involved.”
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At a glance
What: “Break-A-Thon” fundraiser to benefit The Nephcure Foundation.
When: 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Where: American Academy of Self Defense
in Newbury Park, 3345 Kimber Drive, Suite D.
Information: For more on the event, call 499-1799. For more about The Nephcure Foundation, go to http://www.nephcure.org.
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Watch the Break-A-Thon Fundraiser Slide Show
Break-A-Thon Fundraiser
