“Valen! Look at this!” Dr. Robert Montgomery exclaimed. My world-renowned transplant surgeon cradled the chalk-white kidney in his hands and seconds later, the mustachioed, rock ‘n’ roll music-loving doctor transformed this lifeless organ into a beating, crimson...

As I proudly held the microphone and looked out at the crowd of Denver Walk for PKD participants, I asked, “Those of you with PKD, please step forward.” I watched the crowd separate into two sections as those affected with PKD walked away from their friends and...

I was blinking through tears as I read the words in an email from Brenda Cogley that said, “I wanted to email you because he loved you so much. Bob passed away this morning.” I was sitting in the airport with Noah about to board our plane from Honolulu to...

Valen and Noah married on September 17, 2011 at Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park. As I sat down to write my wedding vows one evening last year, I smiled as I thought of a conversation I had previously shared with my fiancé, Noah. I had said to him, “You know...