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First I want to thank all of the people who participated in making last year's event amazing. To those who donated money as well as those who joined us for the walk...your help made a HUGE difference in the fight against PKD.
I have decided to join the Walk for PKD again this year. I am trying to make my mark against this disease and I ask that you make a monetary donation only if you are able to do so, but I especially ask that you join us for the walk. The more noise we make against this disease, the more recognition the disease will get, therefore more financial support will be attained for research from congress...we hope. The Walk for PKD is the signature fundraising event for PKD patient education and research.
My father learned he had PKD when he was in his late 30's. He was lucky to receive a kidney at the age of 42 from his sister Maureen, AKA Sister/Aunt Kidney. Amazingly, that was 23 years ago. He still has her kidney and both of them are doing well, despite my father's recent challenges with recovering from a total hip replacement.
I have recently started to develop the complications of PKD. At this point my liver is more affected than my kidneys are and I will likely need a liver transplant. I visited The Mayo Clinic in August 2009 and again in October 2009. I am now on a liver transplant list out in Rochester MN.
Unfortunately, we know that our 7 year old son Ian has this disease as well. The diagnosis was confirmed by an ultrasound that was performed when he was 1. I am walking to raise money for a cure so that he and no one else have to suffer the effects of PKD. There is a 50% chance that I have also passed the gene on to my older son Brendan who is now 8 years old. When he was 1, he also had an ultrasound. At that time there were no cysts on either of his kidneys. Regardless, that is not enough evidence to say that he does not have this disease.
Polycystic kidney disease is one of the most common life-threatening genetic diseases, affecting more people than Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and sickle cell anemia - combined. Currently there is no treatment and no cure… But there is hope.
The PKD Foundation is here to ensure that someday, no one suffers the full effects of PKD. The PKD Foundation aggressively seeks to convert:
· Ignorance into knowledge through high quality patient education materials
· Despair into hope through communications, support groups and research advances
· Isolation into community by involvement in more than 70 PKD Foundation chapters and by lobbying congress
· Ideas into reality through the research the Foundation funds and through clinical drug trials
· Basic science into therapies through ‘translational’ grants and the Foundation’s work with FDA
· Small dollars into large dollars by leveraging grants into expanded PKD National Institute of Health (NIH) research through ‘passionate advocacy’
And it is your financial support that makes this all possible. Please help me make a difference by making a donation or by joining us for the walk today!
Thank you and God Bless,
Renee
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