Family takes steps to fight kidney disease

[okarol]

Article published Sep 20, 2008

Family takes steps to fight kidney disease
By David Bruce
david.bruce@timesnews.com

Jennifer Reynolds has something no one else in her family has.

Healthy kidneys.

Reynolds is the only member of her family who doesn't have polycystic kidney disease, a genetic disorder that causes fluid-filled cysts to form on both kidneys. Her husband, Ty, and all three of the North East Township couple's sons have the incurable disease.

"When your children have a disease you can't fix, your heart breaks every day," Reynolds said. "You wish there was something you could do for them."

Today, Reynolds and her family will walk to raise money for PKD research. They are coordinating and taking part in the annual Erie Walk for PKD at Presque Isle State Park.
Besides raising money, Reynolds and her family are trying to teach people about the disease, which affects about 600,000 people in the United States.

"It's more common than Down syndrome, or cystic fibrosis, or muscular dystrophy," Reynolds said. "But hardly anyone knows about it."

About 60 percent of the people with PKD develop kidney failure, because cysts enlarge the fist-sized kidneys to the size of footballs and hinder their filtering ability.
It also causes high blood pressure, kidney stones and urinary tract infections.

"My dad died from a heart attack that was related to his PKD," Ty Reynolds said. "It seems like I go from doctor's visit to doctor's visit."

The couple's sons, Jakub, 10, Troy, 8, and Everson, 3, all have been diagnosed with PKD. Troy seems to have the most severe symptoms, his mother said.

"It hurts when he urinates, and there's blood in his urine," Jennifer Reynolds said. "His cysts are bigger than the other boys' cysts are, and his kidneys are bigger."

Parents who have PKD have a 50 percent chance of passing the disease on to their children. The Reynolds say they don't understand why all of their children have the disease.

They also lost a daughter to PKD during the fifth month of pregnancy.

"The walk is so important to me because it gives me a chance to do something about this disease," Ty Reynolds said. "I have it, my kids have it. I feel helpless because I can't do anything."
Kidney dialysis and transplant are the only treatments for PKD. Jennifer Reynolds said that she knows one day she will probably have to donate a kidney to a sick family member.

The trouble is, she doesn't know who is going to need it most.

DAVID BRUCE can be reached at 870-1736 or by e-mail.

PHOTO: Ty and Jennifer Reynolds, with Jakub, 10, Troy, 8, and Everson, 3. They live in North East and they all have PKD, a genetic kidney disease, except Jennifer. Jennifer Reynolds has outlived one of her children already and fears that because of PKD, she may outlive more. Her husband was diagnosed with PKD in 2000 and the diagnosisÕ of her three sons soon followed. Four years ago, JenniferÕs daughter died of PKD complications. No one in her family has received a transplant though Jennifer hopes that they will have one before having to endure dialysis. She is the walk coordinator for the Erie Walk for PKD. Her family supports the foundation because they believe that the only way to find a cure is to raise awareness. Participating in the walk helps raise funds to make research and trials possible. (Contributed photo)