Posted by Harry van Vugt
on May 11, 2008, 11:48 am
24.57.117.112
Cam had a long radio career in Windsor and also a stint in Ottawa:
Cam Gardiner recovering from kidney transplant
Former radio personality waited three years for new kidney
Ted Shaw
The Windsor Star
Friday, May 09, 2008
Cam Gardiner
Wherever he is, it seems, Cam Gardiner runs into somebody he knows.
There he was at a London hospital this week recovering from a kidney transplant when Gardiner encountered Patrick Muldoon, a fellow Windsorite whose own heart transplant was front-page news earlier this week.
"I grew up with him," Gardiner said Friday.
Gardiner, the affable former AM800 radio morning personality, had surgery last Sunday following a three-year wait for a kidney.
"It was tough waiting that long and doing the dialysis. But when it happened, it happened fast."
Gardiner got a call 10 days ago that he had been added to the surgery list, and less than a week later he was in hospital.
"I'm feeling fine considering," he said from his hospital bed. "A little weak, but that's about all."
Gardiner, 57, has been battling a series of health problems since being diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes in 2002. While the diabetes is now under control, he said, side-effects are keeping him from resuming an active life.
Gardiner co-hosted the popular Cam & Lisa morning show with Lisa Williams on CKLW-AM (800) for more than 16 years. His last on-air appearance was on the afternoon program, Live Today, in October 2003.
Despite failing health, Gardiner has continued to appear in public at charity events. In October 2006, he was recognized along with The Windsor Star's Karen Hall by Hospice of Windsor for his work for charity.
Keith Chinnery, AM800 program manager, said the station gets many inquiries about Gardiner's condition.
"That's the number one question we get whenever we're at a public event.
He's so well-liked in the community."
Gardiner asked that well-wishers refrain from calling or visiting him at the hospital during his convalescence, which could take up to two weeks.
Chinnery has offered to pass on get-well cards sent to the station.
© The Windsor Star 2008
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