Greetings from the jungles of Colombia!

On Wednesday I woke up in Rio in Brazil, at 6:30 am and headed down to the gym.   I did 45 minutes of lifecycle pedaling at a solid pace, followed by 8 sets of arm strengthening internal and external rotation exercises with the exercise bands I brought with me (I take them on pretty much every multi-day trips).  I was moving a bit slowly as we had flown in from Sao Paolo, Brazil the prior night and had a late dinner.  Anyway I then did 5 minutes of leg stretching, and 25 push-ups.

Off we went to a day of meetings with our kidney care team.  Their office, called The Rock, has some beautiful views and is filled with vibrant colors.  We are growing at a rapid pace in Brazil, and doing wonderful things in improving care, including dialysis adequacy and CVC reduction.  I had an earnings call with our shareholders at 8 pm that night, got back to the hotel a little after 10 pm, had a light late dinner and went to bed.

Got up about the same time on Thursday, yesterday, and had another good 32 minutes on the bike.   I did the same 5 minutes of leg stretching, and another 10 minutes of various stretching exercises.  We then headed straight to the airport to fly to Bogota, Colombia.  It was about a 6 hour flight, I got a lot of work done with that wonderful uninterrupted time.

Once we landed in Bogota I did a conference call back to the US, and then went to a meeting with the Health Minister of the country.  He is new in the job, and was quite thoughtful and impressive.  We had a good conversation about our accomplishments in Colombia, where we now take care of 20% of all the dialysis patients in the country.  Once again we have achieved excellent improvements in clinical outcomes, it was fun to talk about them.  It is also the case in both Brazil and Colombia that the Village spirit is high!

Even though my hotel in Rio was right on the beach, and a nice walk would have been good for my emotional well-being, so far each day on this trip which started on Sunday afternoon in Denver with a 13 hour journey to Brazil, has been too jam-packed to allow that to happen.  Oh well.

I then headed out to the jungle, for a meeting with The Nature Conservancy.  More on that later!  I hope each of you is achieving your goals!!

One for All, your Mayor, KT

Greetings to the Good People of the DaVita Village, and Welcome to MTM XI!!!!

Yes, it is once again Match the Mayor time.  Four weeks where we join hands across the world and strive to lead a healthier life, to break some not-so-good habits and start or strengthen some better ones.

Thousands of teammates participate every year, and we welcome all of you who will be checking this out for the first time.  I will write a little blog or do a little video every other day and report on what I am doing and how I am doing.  I will read every comment that is sent to me, but it is unlikely that I will be able to answer each.   The answers I do write, however, will be for everyone to see.

Right now it is Sunday night.  I am on a 12 hour journey to Sao Paolo, Brazil.   I will be spending a week in Latin America, specifically to see our teams in Brazil and Colombia.  I will be in 4 cities over 5 days, on a plane every day I believe, and then fly home on Saturday.   These trips are always a bit of a challenge, so I am getting myself psyched up.

The focus this year is on steps and emotional wellbeing.  Good stuff to focus on.

On the steps front, I work out almost every day all year. Getting a workout in each day when I am traveling internationally is tough because I am so fully booked, but we will see how I do.

On the emotional wellbeing front I need to do my best to get my sleep and exercise, and get a little quiet time each day to reflect, and try to remember all that I should be grateful for each and every day.

I wish each of you well, and hope we can help each other do good things for ourselves, which will help us do good things for others.

Until Tuesday, this is KT from a plane … I am going back to work!

One for All & All for One …. Your Mayor, KT