New Kidney, New Lease on Life
By Becky Hershberger
Daily Home
February 8, 2006
Gary Sentel's blood pressure was always 120/80 -- solid as a rock.
That's how he knew when his blood pressure skyrocketed that something was wrong.
He was later diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD), the same disease his father had battled.
"He had to undergo dialysis three times a week for five-hour sessions," Gary remembers.
"This disease is different because the pathways to the filters are being obstructed by the growth of the cysts."
The genetic disorder is characterized by the growth of numerous cysts filled with fluid in the kidneys.
PKD cysts can slowly replace the majority of the kidneys, which reduces kidney function and leads to kidney failure. The condition eventually requires dialysis or a transplant.
Gary and his sister Lisa, who grew up in Carnegie and graduated from Carlynton High School, knew in the back of their minds that each of them had a 50/50 chance of developing the disease.
Since symptoms usually appear between the ages of 30 and 40, they wouldn't know for sure until later in life.
At 34, in 1992, Gary started to see warning signs.
"I knew that high blood pressure is one of the first signs of it. PKD never skips a generation and each child has the same 50/50 chance. My father was on dialysis for two or three years before he died at 49 in 1977," he says.
"I had a suspicion that PKD is what it was -- they did a sonogram. It was caught in the very early stages."
But that does not mean Gary's road to effective treatment has been easy.
"[Just before the transplant] my kidney function was decreasing and I had a hard time keeping my iron up. I started to have severe kidney pain and this time it wasn't going away," he says.
"I had gout probably about four years before the transplant. I was put on diet of no more than 8 ounces of protein per day. My doctor said that I was lucky and I've been pretty fortunate because I've had atypical symptoms of polycystic kidney patients."
Throughout the entire process of checking to see if she was a proper donor, Lisa underwent blood work, tissue typing, a sonogram and the list goes on.
"If I were healthy enough, I wanted to be able to donate. I don't know if he thought I was serious or not, but I always told him that," she says.
"I actually didn't get tested for PKD until Gary needed a kidney. I didn't want to know. I had no problems of any kind and I assumed that I was fine."
Three days before the surgery, the doctors ran a test checking to make sure there were no major arteries running through Lisa's kidney. Luckily there were none.
"I didn't actually know until two weeks before the scheduled surgery that they were going to be able to do it. It was pending a test," Lisa says.
When the outcome of that test came back in their favor, reality set in.
"I thought, OK, this is going to happen. I was so scared and I questioned whether I should do this, but they said it was normal (to feel that way). Gary looked so tired and very gray. We've always been pretty close. We lost our dad pretty young and our biological mom too. When it came down to making my decision, he never asked me to do this. "
Gary and Lisa grew up with the love and support of their (step)mom Dee Santel who raised them on Marshall Avenue.
Gary went in for surgery on Jan. 18, 2005, and a new kidney was graphed below his right kidney.
A little more than a year and one major operation later, he is a new man.
A survivor thanks to his sister's healthy left kidney -- there to routinely filter out what his own kidneys could not.
"The kidney worked immediately after the operation. I felt like a million bucks. I was so used to feeling tired, and my color was really bad, gray and yellow. I felt normal again," Gary says.
That outcome had to come, however, after a series of tests, the constant probability that things may not come out right and an uncertainty virtually impossible to define.
Both the recipient and the donor were strong enough to go through the process and procedure, and wound up lucky enough to experience a successful transplant.
"I don't have any regrets at all. It was worth everything just to see him doing better," Lisa says.
"They said that if he didn't have the surgery then he would have to go through dialysis. I never had surgery so I was really really scared. I think it was well worth it. It doesn't change your life. I know it's a great thing to do, but at the same time I didn't even realize. I just wanted him to be better. It's like I was able to give him another chance at life."
It's tough for Gary to put into words how he feels about his sister donating her healthy kidney to him and he still gets teary-eyed trying to explain.
"When she was getting ready to leave the hospital [after the surgery], I broke down and cried. I am so thankful for what she did -- she got teary-eyed and said, 'I wanted to do it. I don't want to see you sick anymore,' and we hugged each other," Gary says.
"My biggest fear is if she had any problems from it. I would've been devastated."
For the rest of his life, Gary is on a specific diet and must take a series of at least 10 medications every day including anti-rejection drugs, blood pressure medicine and a water pill.
With comfort and strength from his wife, Dianne, 16-year-old son, George, and grown stepsons Rich, Sean and Todd, Gary knows the importance of a good support system of family and friends.
His stepsons pitched in and had a brand-new bed waiting when he returned from the hospital, and he couldn't believe it.
Gary's co-worker and friend, Ryan Meanor, has been his coach through all of this after going through a kidney transplant himself with his father four years ago.
"Ryan talked me through a lot of things. I hated to keep calling the doctor," Gary says.
"We've definitely had a lot of people in our corner. We received well over 60 cards and at least a dozen mass cards. People had me on their prayer lists. I figured I can't go wrong with all of these prayers being said. My aunt Mary, who lives in Ingram, told us both before the operation and after that she didn't have a doubt in her mind that it would be OK."
Gary's fellow Carlynton 1976 grad Joe Trombetta, of Heidelberg, whom he has known since kindergarten, was also diagnosed with PKD not long after him.
Family and friends continue to keep Joe in their prayers since he is currently on the transplant list at Allegheny General Hospital.
Lisa and Gary participated in the Walk for PKD in North Park last September. They helped raise over $200 for the PKD Research Foundation.
"There is no cure for PKD, With treatment, it's a better quality of life," Gary says.
For information about Polycystic Kidney Disease, visit www.pkdcure.org or www.nih.gov/news/pr/jan2006/niddk-24.htm.