My husband’s name is Rob Visda. When he was diagnosed with PKD at 18, he was going through the process of enlisting in the Marines. He inherited the disease from his mom’s side of the family. Because of his diagnosis of PKD, he was not accepted into the service. Finding this out did not defeat the person he was at his young age but it did change his career path.
His kidneys failed after he started his career as a State of California correctional officer. He has now been on dialysis for five years. For his first year, he was doing his treatments in the center and now he does his dialysis at home. Home treatments allow him to work and provide for his family. When he’s tired from dialysis, he makes it a point to listen to his body instead of pushing his limits. I’m his care partner, and since the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve been able to work from home which has made it less stressful on my part.
My husband is on the transplant list along with many others. He is O positive and can only receive a transplant from O. He recently graduated college from Devry University which was a true accomplishment for him. This was also his way of showing his son that even in the darkest of times, you can still achieve anything and everything.