The Facts On Organ Donation

“Are you an organ donor?” I recently asked this, repetitively, over the course of two hours. It was an enlightening experience to volunteer at the Sierra Donor Services Donate Life booth for the DMV Wellness Fair. People would stroll down the line of booths and as...

Punt PKD

There have been numerous times throughout my PKD journey when I have been in a medical facility, such as the emergency room, and have had to explain what polycystic kidney disease is to a staff member. On several occasions, while providing my health history and...

We’re Better Together

As a grade school student, I often ended up in the nurse’s office due to excruciating kidney pain. After a role in a school play that called for me to have a pretend fainting scene, a cyst on my kidney ruptured and bled. I was always forced to sit on the sidelines in...

Numbers Driven

Our days and world revolve around numbers. From how many hours of sleep we get by what time we set our alarm clock to wake us the following morning. To how many hours we work a day and what our target income is. By what age we think we should have a certain number of...

Déjà Vu All Over Again

Last Saturday I was sitting in the recliner in my parents’ living room in a daze of illness as mom got off the phone with 911. I heard mom say, “We are supposed to unlock the front door, put the animals in their cages and pack Valen’s medicines in a bag.” I felt so...