I am a National Guardsman and Army veteran and had just finished two deployments in Saudi Arabia when I was diagnosed with PKD in 1995. At the time, my only symptom was high blood pressure. Eleven years later, those symptoms began to worsen. I was slated to deploy to Afghanistan with the National Guard, but I couldn’t go due to low kidney function. In 2011, I went on the kidney transplant list and began preparing for dialysis. On November 7, I received a kidney transplant, avoiding dialysis by a week and-a-half. Currently, dialysis and kidney transplantation are the only treatment options for PKD. Our hope is that while research continues on PKD, that we can help get the word out about all the people in dire need of transplants. We hope that by sharing our story and our time that we can help many other families.
