I turned 40 and seven days later I was on dialysis. I didn’t know I had PKD until one day I went to see my primary care physician about a headache. She did labs, called me while I was walking in Wal-Mart, and said I needed to redo the labs because my numbers were crazy. When I went back, the lab tech told me to stay there until the doctor could talk to me. It was a whirlwind after that.
We assume I inherited PKD from my mother’s father. When I was three, he passed away from a heart attack. I spent 18 months on dialysis. I averaged that I was in the hospital for a week every six weeks with something wrong related to my kidneys.
Luckily, I received a cadaver kidney and I’m 15+ years post-transplant. Now, I try to keep my weight under control with a variety of exercises: Zumba, Silver Sneakers, tai chi, swimming, and most recently, granny Basketball. I have two sons. One is currently on dialysis, and the other is showing signs of PKD but won’t go get it checked. The PKD Foundation has helped me with articles on staying healthy pre- and post-transplant.