Brian Pineda's kidneys may have failed, but he's a success story

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Brian Pineda's kidneys may have failed, but he's a success story

By Robert Kelly-Goss
Albemarle Life Editor

Sunday, June 08, 2008

If you were to meet Brian Pineda on the street today, he might not strike you as someone extraordinary, who one year ago was two days from dying from kidney failure. In fact, if you were to meet him, the only way you might tell he's a kidney dialysis patient is by the shirt he wore at a recent half marathon he ran that reads: "Got kidneys? Can I have one?"

Last year Brian, now 35, worked 10-to-12 hour days at a Sarasota, Fla., Best Buy, ate poorly, drank lots of caffeine, and smoked nearly two packs of cigarettes a day. He had a predisposition for a genetic kidney disease known as Polysistic Kidney Disease, but he hadn't been going to a physician for regular checkups.

"I knew that my family had a genetic kidney problem but I had felt fine," says Brian.

He felt fine but then his father had once felt fine too, until his kidneys failed and he had to have a transplant.

Knowing you have a genetic predisposition to a disease like that might motivate you to get regular checkups, but Brian admits he was too busy being busy to pay attention to what may have been signs leading up to that one day when everything would change.

"I was a typical retail manager on the go," he recalls. "I would run into work, working 10-to-12 hours a day. I would drink lots of energy drinks, lots of caffeine. I had lots of stress because I was always on the go. Then I would go home, eat and crash."

And then he would start it all over again; at least until July 23, 2007 when, after a few weeks of flu-like symptoms, he decided to head over to a walk-in clinic.

"I went to get checked out," he recalls. "I went to a walk-in clinic and they took blood, looked at the blood test and I was sent directly to the hospital."

Brian's sister, Darlene Pineda, was at home in Elizabeth City when she received a phone call. He sounded odd, she recalls, and thought he was calling to say he was in jail judging by the tone of his voice.

"Oh no, what's happened, I thought. But he had kidney failure," she says. "I drove down to Florida and met our dad there and had a meeting with the doctors."

Brian Pineda was, in fact, days short of dying, he explains. Had he waited much longer to seek medical care, he could have died of complete kidney failure.

Brian needed care and lots of it. In the hospital he was put on hemodialysis, the most common treatment for kidney failure, and requires fours hours a day, three days a week, plus a regimented diet and lots of care and support.

Darlene determined that her brother needed family around him. She made the decision, along with their father, to pack up his belongings, end his apartment lease, load him up and bring him back to North Carolina.

"Brian was in no condition to take care of himself," says Darlene. "He was pretty vehement that didn't want to change anything. He was not happy at the time."

Nonetheless, the family would step in and help Brian.

Even Brian's 12-year-old nephew RJ was willing to make concessions for his uncle's sake.

So Brian Pineda, originally from Long Island, N.Y., was about to become a resident of Elizabeth City by way of Sarasota, Fla. He couldn't say that he was happy about the situation at the time, but what he didn't realize was that he was about to change his life entirely.

Brian was now dependent upon hemodialysis, a form of kidney treatment that essentially filters his blood out of his body, treats it and returns it to his body. But he wanted more mobility. He wanted to be free of frequent visits for treatment.

Last November he got his wish once he convinced his doctor and his treatment team at the Elizabeth City Dialysis Center he was capable of doing at-home treatments.

Tammye Hill, a registered nurse at the center and a kidney transplant recipient, says she's met plenty of patients over the years who have lived multiple years on dialysis, some as long as 20 years.

The at-home treatment, known as Peritoneal dialysis, is not as common as hemo and can only be done by someone who is a self-starter and motivated, says Hill. Brian, it seemed, was able to convince his caregivers that he is just such a person.

Brian, while he's not officially on a national transplant recipient list yet, has only been doing at-home treatments since November and essentially has a fruitful life ahead of him while he awaits the possibility of a transplant. Hill says Brian is an inspiration to the staff at the dialysis center because he's taken charge of his life and his treatment and is moving forward.

What Brian has done is not unheard of, but not common either, says Hill. That's why he's inspiring people, because he refuses to let his disease get him down.

"I was determined not to let it (kidney failure) get the best of me," he says. "I knew it was going to change my life but I wasn't going to let it end my life."

When he arrived in Elizabeth City he says it took him 20 minutes to walk to the neighbor's house. And while he had given up smoking and his unhealthy lifestyle overall, he hadn't made any plans to make other dramatic changes. He just needed to get in shape.

Because of his condition, and several variables associated with his condition, it seemed that running was his only viable option of getting into shape at the time. And Darlene, her husband Steve Carlton and their son RJ were big runners, so why not?

At first, Brian says, RJ would walk with him and the two became "training buddies."

Eventually, Brian began to run and he began working his way up to eight miles a day. That eight miles a day eventually became a half-marathon, or 13 ½ miles. He completed that in April in 3 hours, 19 ½ minutes.

"It hurt," he says of finishing the race. "It felt great to set that goal. Something a year ago I wouldn't have thought of."

These days, Brian is now an avid runner. He works 40-hour weeks at the Best Buy in Chesapeake, Va. He's also hopeful about getting a kidney transplant.

Brian is currently looking to family members who might be a good match as kidney donors. His sister Darlene is a perfect match, except that she too has the same kidney disease, only its not active like it was with Brian.

Tammye Hill at the dialysis center says if he finds a family or friend able to donate a kidney, the process could take up to a year while tests are done to assure a good match. Once Brian is officially on the organ recipient list, it could take up to five years or more before a match is found.

In the meantime, Brian is taking care of himself and he has family around him and he seems happier than he was before his kidneys failed. And he's setting higher goals for himself.

"I'm considering competing in a half-triathlon," he says.

A triathlon consists of running, cycling and swimming long distances. Brian says he's fairly certain he can do it, but has to overcome a few obstacles like how to protect an open tube in his stomach used for his dialysis treatment. A dry-suit, he says, may do the trick.

However, he says finishing that half-marathon was rough on his body.

He wants to finish a couple more of those, first, and then he might be ready to step up to the plate for his next goal; something that goes hand-in-hand with his treatment and recovery, really.

You see, it would seem that whatever it takes to stay alive, be healthy and feel good, Brian Pineda is willing to listen to his doctors these days, and follow through.

"Listen to your doctors. Do what you're told to do every day. Keep as active as you can and know that you can beat it," he says. "It's not rocket science."

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