CINCINNATI — If she had her way, Cathy Eaton would spend every spare moment she had on the tennis courts at the Western Athletic Club.
A favorite sport of hers since she was a kid, tennis was a constant throughout Eaton’s life despite her training in track and field, figure skating, powerlifting, and countless other disciplines she had the curiosity to dabble in.
“There used to be a time when I played and coached and I thought if I didn’t get to play, I wouldn’t be able to live,” she said.
That was until 2019, when what Eaton thought was a stomach flu turned her life upside down.
“Five days later I was in emergency and they did the blood work and said I was critical,” she said. “They took me to Good Sam Emergency right away. I was in for over 28 days.”
Eaton said she was diagnosed with renal failure and over the next few years, she underwent dozens of surgeries. Every day, she undergoes dialysis roughly every four hours, even dedicating an entire room of her home to keeping the supplies and station ready.
“This is what I go through in a month,” she said ,pointing out a pyramid of boxes about four feet high filled with fluid bags.
Despite the grueling treatment and recovery process however, Eaton felt the urge to move whenever she got the chance. Counting the 38 steps from her house to her local gym, Eaton made a point of going whenever she felt well enough.
“Sometimes I’m too tired to do it and I just rest instead,” she said. “But right now I’m just trying to get myself back to where I was.”
For her, it was a way to get back to a semblance of normalcy, even though her workouts are nothing like they once were.
“I went from a 200lb deadlift to, now I’m not supposed to be going more than 10 lbs,” she said.
Eaton said it’s been a frustrating experience confronting her new limitations, but getting out of the house and returning to her community of athletes
“I’m really excited every day I can come and do something,” she said. “This is a big deal for me.”
She even found a way to make it back to the tennis courts she loves. Eaton tries to make it out to hit with her former training partners whenever she gets the chance, making sure there’s a chair on the court so she can rest every few minutes.
“I used to do four half an hours a week, and I had to cut back to two,” she said. “I get real fatigued.”
Despite that, she still believes it’s an important part of her healing process, mentally as well as physically.
“Emotions are the biggest deal when it comes to improvement,” she said. “I’m not going to let any of this stuff get me down. Look at all the fun I’m having.”
At 68-years-old, Eaton is still in treatment, hoping to improve enough to qualify for a kidney transplant and get some of the function back in her heart. She still goes in for regular testing with her doctors and undergoes dialysis several times a day.
Despite everything, however, she plans to keep moving, keep going to the gym and keep playing tennis however she can for as long as she can.
“You get a lot of negativity that you hear about your condition and it’s not pretty,” she said. “Everybody just needs to keep perspective, appreciate each day, be happy for what you’ve got, and move on.”