The Kidney Walk.

I spent my alloted blogging time today writing the following memorial to my brother.  I am walking in the National Kidney Foundation's "Kidney Walk" later this year and was asked to share my story by the Kidney Walk's Facebook app...

Last October I lost my brother, Billy, to a 23 year battle with chronic kidney disease. He was 30-years-old. Our family first found out that his kidneys were failing when he was 7 years old. He was immediately put on dialysis.

It wasn't long and a transplant became available. Unfortunately, it didn't take. Later, my mother donated one of hers with the same result.

I remember the day that we got word that Billy would be getting another transplant. It was years later, when I was 8 and Billy was 11. My second grade teacher came out to the playground to get me. My parents picked Billy, Beth (my sister), and me up from school to give us the news. That is one of my happiest childhood memories.

The transplant was successful. That 60-year-old kidney served Billy well. Don't get me wrong, his life was not like yours or mine. What teenager wants to take a handful of pills every day and go to the doctor every few months? He couldn't be on any athletic teams and his body had been left pretty beat up from years of transplants, biopsies, and dialysis. You never would have known it from his attitude. He knew that life was a gift and was glad to have it.

Thirteen years later the kidney failed. Billy was 24 and suddenly found himself in need of 4 hours of dialysis every other day. It was a hard reality, but he refused to let it get him down. He was convinced that he was going to get another transplant if he was patient. I don't think the thought of death ever crossed his mind. He worked full time and would go to dialysis after work on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. A few years later he even managed to start in an electrical apprentiship. He lived life like he had fifty more years ahead of him.

In spite of his already hectic schedule, Billy had a very active social life. He had more friends than I could ever hope for, which isn't surprising because he would have bent over backwards to help anyone that needed it. I will be forever amazed at the way that he lived his life, never knowing what day would be his last.

Typically death is somewhat predictable for someone that is under close medical observation like Billy. There are signs. In kidney patients, usually their heart starts to fail as well. In Billy's case, he died in his bed at home after spending an evening with his friends. According to the medical examiner, he suffered from cardiac sarcoidosis. There was no pain or struggling, his heart just stopped beating. He went from goofing around with his buddies to meeting Jesus in a matter of hours.

It was a shock to us all, because he was alive and well the last time any of us had seen him. I'm glad that he didn't spend his last hours in a hospital bed and in pain, but the shock of that news will probably never wear off. In fact, sometimes I feel like he's not gone at all.

Kidney disease finally claimed Billy. I wish I had done more with the NKF when he was alive. It's never too late to start though.