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| (CARLOS ORTIZ staff photographer) |
The current story line of the comic strip JumpStart has been pulled from the real-life health problems of retired Rochester police Officer Greg Raggi, a dialysis patient who has been in line for a life-saving kidney transplant for 3 ½ years.
Artist Robb Armstrong's strip, which is printed daily in the Democrat and Chronicle, features the lives of a fictional police officer, Joe, and his wife, Marcy, a nurse.
Since April 12, the strip has focused on Joe's "cop lifestyle" of eating fast fatty foods, working long hours and dealing with high stress. In the past few days, Joe and Marcy have discussed how that lifestyle can lead to diabetes and renal failure. In a subplot of the comic, Joe's partner, Crunchy, has left the fictional world of JumpStart to give his brother, Stanley (also a police officer), a kidney because Stanley has diabetes.
Armstrong said he developed the story line after a phone call from Mike Mazzeo, a friend and longtime partner of Raggi's in the narcotics unit of the Rochester Police Department.
Mazzeo, who is also the president of the Locust Club, the city police officer's union, first met Armstrong last year during a dust-up over a strip by Armstrong depicting a police shooting. The strip ran about the same time two city officers were shot and some in the community criticized Armstrong and the newspaper for being insensitive.
Mazzeo disagreed and publicly came to Armstrong's defense.
A bond was formed and the next time Mazzeo talked to Armstrong, he was asking him to help his friend, Raggi, and bring awareness to a problem many officers are concerned about.
"It's something that has affected many of us," said Mazzeo, who spent many hours taking his own father to dialysis treatments.
At least one other retired Rochester officer, Stan Prewasnick, is on dialysis and a third, Lt. Lou Genovese, died this past year after spending a year on dialysis, Mazzeo said.
Armstrong said he loved the idea right away.
"I have people walking up to me all the time saying, 'This is so funny, you have to write about it in JumpStart,'" Armstrong said from his home in Pasadena, Calif. "Mike came up to me and told me about something that wasn't funny but was so important. I said: 'Wow, this isn't just good for JumpStart, this is perfect.'"
Dr. Carlos Marroquin, a transplant surgeon from Strong Memorial Hospital, said no studies have been done to calculate whether police officers have a higher incidence of renal failure compared to other professions. But it's clear, Marroquin said, poor diet and stress can be a harmful combination.
"Clearly it is an issue, given the lifestyle, the stress, the dietary habits of a police officer," said Marroquin, who, at Mazzeo's invitation, spoke to union members in March to discuss kidney health and the safety of becoming "live donors." Donna Dixon, education director for the local chapter of the National Kidney Foundation, also spoke to the officers.
For his part, Raggi acknowledges that many of his old habits as an officer likely "caught up with him."
"I'm sure, eating the way I did, sleeping the way I did, middle shifts, night shifts, waking up early for court, it all took a toll on me," he said. "I'm not complaining. I loved it. But I wish I'd known better."
He retired in 1993 after 20 years in the department, and was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1995. The symptoms became more prevalent following a heart attack in 2004 and he went on the donor list in 2006.
He began peritoneal dialysis about 18 months ago, which requires Raggi to attach a tube leading from a suitcase-sized machine to a permanent tube in his abdomen each night for about nine hours while he sleeps. The process takes the place of the natural function of Raggi's kidneys, to filter toxins from his blood.
"I feel OK. I have good days and bad days; my doctor tells me to hang in there," said Raggi.
Doctors told him to expect it to take four to five years to find a donor kidney from the date he was placed on the list.
That surgery would change his life, he said. He's been looking forward to one thing, in particular.
"We never travel anymore because of the dialysis," he said. "I'd like to take a trip with my wife."
JHAND@DemocratandChronicle.com
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