by admin | Oct 18, 2012 | Determination, PKD Will Not Beat Me
“Brakes set for Valen. Brakes set for Valen,” said one of our zip-lining tour guides from his walkie-talkie. He was standing on a platform way off in the distance, which was my destination. I was in my harness dangling from a zipline when one of our other tour guides...
by admin | Oct 11, 2012 | PKD Will Not Beat Me, Positivity
“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 red,...
by admin | Oct 4, 2012 | Knowledge, PKD Will Not Beat Me
I have a history of being quite judgmental when it comes to my doctors. It’s pretty cut and dry. I like them or I don’t. My health is in their hands. I won’t settle for anything but the best. The first day I met my current nephrologist, Dr. Bhat, I was impressed like...
by admin | Sep 27, 2012 | PKD Will Not Beat Me, Positivity
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 loved...
by admin | Sep 20, 2012 | PKD Will Not Beat Me, Positivity
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 Sacramento....
by admin | Sep 13, 2012 | PKD Will Not Beat Me, Positivity
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...
