QUICK ADDENDUM – Germany, Poland and the Netherlands had the highest % of participation this year!  Germany and Poland also had the largest absolute numbers, with 36 and 23 respectively.  KT

Yo DaVita !

The end of MTM 9 !! 

First the details.  It is Saturday late afternoon.  We are up in the mountains, doing a business school mini-reunion with 9 couples.  We all graduated together way back in 1983.  Wow, that is a long time.

Today Saturday has been strong – 26 PT sets already, plus an hour of strong cardio.  That is good because yesterday was the worst day since I started therapy.  Only 4 sets.  I did get 75 minutes of strong cardio, including a great hike up a very steep hill, really pushing it.  Also zero meditation minutes.  Thursday was a bit better, 12 sets, and 22 minutes of cardio and 10 min of strong meditation.

I have been so rushed this MTM I have not written quite as much as earlier years.  Next year I will be back in fine form.  Regardless of my writings, 3300 of us working together to live healthier lives is such a cool thing.  I so so hope MTM helped you be a tad more thoughtful about your own life and health.  It certainly does for me, especially when I know I am going to write about it for thousands to read.

Until next year, all the best!  One for All & All for One.    Your Mayor, KT

Yo DaVita !

It is 8:30 Tuesday night, I am soon to leave our cabin in the mountains.  We have been having a kidney care retreat the last 30 hours.  It has been great, we hit a lot of subjects, including our strategy, our multi-year objectives, integrated care, PD, clinical outcomes, village programs, executive hires, etc.  Whew!

We also had each person go over what the love most about their job in the village, and what they most wish was different.  We also talked about perhaps arranging for special speakers on parenting, that everyone in the village could enjoy and learn from, if they so desired. 

I also had an AWESOME PT day.  31 PT sets already.  Plus 32 minutes of cardio.  10 minutes of meditation, sitting on the deck looking at the mountains, with the aspens changing colors and the wind blowing gently, it was beautiful.  I will not get home until 11 pm at the end of a 2 hour drive, and have to get up early, so I probably will not do anymore.  Monday I did 22 minutes of cardio, and I need to check my notes for PT sets.  Zero meditation minutes.

I hope you all had a great MTM start to your week.  3400 people taking accountability for their own health, that is so wonderful! 

One for All & All for One, KT

Yo DaVita !

It is Sunday morning.  Yesterday was 32 minutes of cardio, 15 minutes of meditation, and 28 sets of PT, a very robust mix.  My Range of Motion continues to improve, I drove a car for the first time in 97 days yesterday.  Just a simple drive to visit my mom, which is only 7 minutes away on quiet roads, so I did not risk having to make a sudden and significant move with my arm.  Felt amazing!

I started yesterday by working on a speech for the Colorado Women’s Foundation.  They are inviting us back after we did the same last year, which is quite unusual but we did well.  At last year’s event i/we announced our goal of having a majority of our Board of Directors be diverse (meaning female or men of color) within 2 years.  If we do so we will be in the first 2% of the entire Fortune 1000, although I need an update on that data.  We are now at 50%, so getting close.  Out of 22 Colorado Fortune 1000 companies we are one of the three that have at least 3 female directors.

Friday was a strong day for a week-day, 20 PT sets, plus the normal 25 minutes of cardio.  Zero meditation.  Friday night was a benefit for the Boys and Girls club, Saturday night was watching Stanford play USC in football (a Stanford victory) with 6 friends and a great Qdoba feast.

That is it for me. I need to get some work done, then do cardio, then head to my PT who is doing a special weekend session for me, then a meeting with JR, then off to the Bronco’s game with JR and his 2 boys, then a dinner with a medical group, after giving them a tour of our wonderful Casa.  If any of you have not visited our Casa, I hope you get to!  It is a strong physical manifestation of our Village philosophy, and our Mission and Values.

My weight was down to 192.6 today, as I am now at 11 days without dessert and 3 nights with no food after 10 pm (unless I had not had dinner).  I had hit a high of 195.4 a week ago, so this is good.

I hope you are all achieving your MTM goals!  Your Mayor, KT

Yo DaVita !

It is Thursday am, I am on a plane back to Denver.

As you know I started my day yesterday in the normal fashion, with cardio and PT.  Once I got to the Casa we had a big event with the Secretary of Labor and the Governor, at our own Casa, announcing a new apprenticeship program, pretty cool.  I gave a little opening, then the luminaries spoke.  We had over 250 attendees, big success!

Then I had a series of meetings on marketing, our shareholders, the upcoming board meeting, 2 potential acquisitions, etc.  At 4 pm I was in the air flying to San Francisco, where the annual award for clinical excellence at Stanford Health system is named after my wife.  Pretty cool!  She was Chair of the Board for a long time.  We got home about 10 pm.

I started today in normal way, 25 minutes of good cardio, and then 9 sets of PT, I did not have any of the right weights or straps for a bunch of my regimen.

Today will be meeting to meeting once I land, and tonight DaVita is getting an award on its community building work, with 1000 people and Vice President Biden on hand (Biden is coming to give the keynote speech, NOT because of us).  Cool!

I hope each of you are doing well on your MTM goals!  3300 of us, working together!  I want to go the rest of MTM with no food after 10 pm(unless I have not eaten dinner), and no desserts period.

All the best, KT

Yo Davita !

Quick one, yesterday home workout at 6:30 am followed by PT visit (big breakthrough!), followed by a sequence of 9 meetings and phone calls which ended at 7:30 pm, followed by a dinner with Denver Public Schools Superintendent with whom we do a lot of pro bono stuff, home at 10:30, call with Denise who is in California and then a friend with issues, bed at 11:45 after packing for my trip to California today.

This morning started at 6:30 in gym again, and now I have to run into office, am giving speech in an hour!  Talk to you later, hope you are MTM well !!!!!!!!!   KT

Good Morning Citizens of DaVita Village,

And also good morning to those of you who do not consider yourself to be citizens of our little community as well.  I hope your future experience with us persuades you to cross the bridge and declare citizenship, to yourself, no need to make it public but fine to do so also it is contagious.

29 PT POINTS YESTERDAY, on a week-day of work!  that is really good, starting with my home gym at 6:30 am (also 25 minutes of cardio), and continuing thru the day.  I only had to get on the floor in one meeting, so not too bad.  The other floor ones I did in my office in between meetings.  I also was able to reach up and grab a hanger that was on a pole a full 12 inches above my head, with my right arm !!  First time in 92 days I could do that !!  I had to move slowly, and had my left hand underneath to catch it if it gave out, but I made it!   ALSO I can now put on socks without significant pain!  Also 8 minutes of meditation.

Sunday was not a strong day, we got up and went straight to Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson for a great 4 hour tour with a wonderful guide who taught us lots of history. Then a 4 hour plane trip back to Denver, during which I used every minute to do email, as usual.  Then I visited my dear mommy –although I did some good therapy in her room, we can keep talking while I do it, and she critiques my form.

Then it was time for watching the Packers scramble to their first victory of the season, I had taped it so I could fast forward thru all commercials, half-time, etc – plus I did my icing and read the paper.  Anyway Sunday was only 14 points, including 5 minutes of meditation.

Monday was filled with back-to-back meetings with 5 minute windows in between, like all days.  I had an hour with Javier, 50 minutes with our CFO Jim Hilger, I got an update on some international stuff, had a federal policy meeting, had 45 minutes with Misha Palacek our Chief Development Officer, etc etc.  As always I ate lunch while talking to my assistant about scheduling … unless I am in a meeting where we eat lunch at the meeting table.

But at 6:30 I switched to an Open Primaries session with the CEO of another big company.  We talked about workplace culture and other topics until 8 pm.  He was a great guy, I had not met him before.  At 8:10 I headed home, doing voicemail during the drive.  Dinner at 9 pm, then Denise and I sat outside for 30 minutes to enjoy the beauty of the night, then newspaper and bed.

Now I am heading down to the gym, after which I go straight to see my PT.

I hope you are all well!   I hope you are achieving your MTM goals for a healthier life!  3200 of us, working together!

KT

Yo DaVita !

It is Sunday afternoon, we are flying back to Denver from Virginia, where we attended a wedding.  A wonderful celebration of life and love.

Yesterday I woke up in DC and headed down to the gym.  30 minutes of cardio on the bike, and then 12 sets of PT plus time doing other ROM in the pool, for a total of 15 sets.  No meditation on Saturday, but did 8 minutes on Friday.  The rest of Saturday was spent driving from DC to Charlottesville and then being at the wedding.  Does dancing count as PT?  It certainly involved a lot of arm movement, so I think I will declare that I did 17 sets of PT!

On Friday I also delivered 14 sets, spread throughout the day, on top of 30 minutes of cardio on the bike.  I finished work at 6:30 pm, and Denise and I had a wonderful quiet dinner together.

I hope you each had a great MTM weekend, all 3200 of you !  Just picture 3200 linked arm-to-arm, cheering you on!!!

KT

Yo DaVita !!
It is 10:30 pm, I am in Washington DC. We had a great 24 hours!

When I landed yesterday I started with a meeting with Senator Bennet, discussing some of our kidney care policy issues. We have a lot of earned credibility with his office. Then I had a long dinner with Senator Gardner, discussing the same things. After that it was off to check into the hotel, do some PT, some email and go to bed.

This morning, Thursday, I set alarm for 6:15, or 4:15 my body time from Colorado. I started with the gym, I was so bummed when the two lifecycles were taken! But after 7 minutes on a treadmill one of the bikes opened up, and I did 19 minutes of solid cardio. Then I did some PT, and raced back to my room to shower and take off.

That is when THE GREAT DAY BEGAN. The House Ways and Means Committee passed our Integrated Care Bill !!!! This is like a dream, it passed overwhelmingly, this is the result of the great clinical outcomes you have generated, the emails you have sent, and our policy prescription thoughtfulness !! Now the bill goes to the full House floor, it is quite amazing that a narrow segment like our dialysis operation is getting this kind of legislative attention!

I had a great meeting with Todd Young, Congressman from Indiana, who is one of our leaders. Then with Senator Cassidy of Louisiana, a doctor who asked great questions. Then Senator Wyden of Oregon, who is passionate about improving chronic care. Then a lunch with John Lewis, American civil rights hero. Then Diane Black, congresswoman from Tennessee, who signed onto our bill today. Then Congressman Upton, who helped pass our bill thru the committee. Then Chairman Brady from Texas who was key to the bill advancing. Then dinner with Congressman Kramer, to talk about charitable premium assistance. Then a post-dinner meeting for 90 minutes with a member of our Board of Directors. I know I am forgetting a couple meetings, but you get the idea.

I did get some therapy in during the day! I had to lay down on the floor in one Congressional office, and one dining room, which drew a lot of stares, but I got it in.

Time for me to move to bed. I hope you all had great MTM days. This was a GREAT day for our village. The one opponent of our beautiful integrated care legislation, as he was trying to find anything substantive to say, exclaimed that “this is nothing but a DaVita bill!”. While that is not true, this is for a better kidney care community, it does reflect the fact that you are the unambiguous leaders of this reform effort.

Oh, btw, I did about 16 sets today, about 14 yesterday. I will get back to you with the details.

All the best !! KT

Yo DaVita !!
It is 11 pm in Washington DC. My day started at 5:30, a little earlier than usual because of an early meeting. I did 25 minutes of cardio and about 5 sets of PT, then had to run.

At 8 am I was presenting on the subject of Open Primaries with about 50 civic leaders of Colorado. It went well, and was exciting to do, I intensely believe in this cause.

That meeting ended early so I stopped to see my mommy on my way to the airport. I had not seen her for 8 days, that is a lot for us. She was in bed, she is 88 and has a lot of issues. I sat on the side of the bed and we held hands and talked and joked. She wanted to see how much I could move my arms now, and joked that she is more mobile than I am.

Off to the airport I went. As usual I did calls the entire drive, same as on my way to the morning event, same as on the drive to my mom’s nursing home. Also as usual I got great work done on the 3 hour flight. 90 minutes of email and paperwork, 75 minutes of working with a fellow DaVitan. 15 minutes of eating and talking.

Off the plane and into a car, conference calls for the drive into a 5:45 meeting with Senator Bennet of Colorado. We had a productive hour together, and then I was off to dinner with Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado. That went until 9:15. I went to my hotel, checked in, did 5 more sets of PT and then had a call with my wife and daughter. I did a bit of email, and now will read the paper and do a little more PT, and some meditation. Will let you know how much tomorrow!

I hope everyone else had a productive and fulfilling day. Thanks for your good work! So many of you are wonderful!

KT