Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 7, 1 July 2015 — For an OHA intern, kidney disease hits close to home [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

For an OHA intern, kidney disease hits close to home

By Maya Uemoto

1 A #arrenTsarkisthestorytellerinour 1 l\ / family. "Unele Renny" to

\ / \ I me, the story of his life \l \ī could be a tale of its own. V V Born to a Hawaiian-Chi-nese family of eight and raised in Palolo Valley, he was the youngest welder in the state at age 21 . A veteran fireman of more than 20 years, he also built the house in whieh my family and I live today.

But several years ago, his story took a turn, as he was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease, or PKD, an illness that runs in our family. PKD causes numerous cysts to grow in the kidneys, often damaging the organs, reducing kidney function

and leading to kidney failure. Unele Renny was always a healthy, active man - someone who, in my mind, could do virtually anything. But now, at age 55, he suddenly had to change his heahh habits as his disease started to worsen. According to the National Kidney Foundation, about 600,000 people in the United States suffer from PKD. The fourth leading cause of kidney failure, it is found in all races and occurs equally in men and women. When a change in diet did not slow down the progression of the disease in Unele Renny, doctors turned to medicine and, finally, dialysis. "I got this shot every week and it kept me off of dialysis, but after a year-and-a-half, it got worse

and then I ended up on dialysis," he says. "But it didn't really help me. Everyone is affected by

dialysis differently. With me I would end up in emergency room right after dialysis." When I moved home in 2012, 1 could see the physical toll the disease had taken. His onee healthy, dark brown complexion had tumed ashen. Dialysis was keeping him alive, but it involved some hardship, including seven surgeries for an arteriovenous fistula - the joining of an artery and vein in the arm to provide access for dialysis. He needed a donor. "It could take one to two, seven years before you get a donor," Unele Renny says. "But I was fortunate I had two people who wanted to donate their kidneys to me: one being my nieee, Maya Uemoto, and my daughter Kaila Tsark. My daughter was the better match because she was a

closer bloodrelation. It was my daughter's kidney that I got." Although confirming a donor was a happy moment, there were still many more doctor's visits and medical tests my unele would have to endure before he was ready for surgery. For Kaila, becoming an organ donor required many tests and numerous doctor visits to ensure a good

match and that she was healthy enough to give away a kidney. Although receiving a kidney from a family member is ideal, it ean also

be emotionally complicated. Even at his sickest, Unele Renny never asked anyone in his family to be his donor. "I didn't want a kidney from any of my children," he says. "I would accept the kidney from my nieee because her mom didn't have the disease. And I didn't want from my children because they might have the disease, so they might need their kidney. But my daughter insisted, and she got tested and she found out that she does not have polycystic kidney disease, whieh was a good thing because the disease ended with me and I did not pass my disease on to my daughter and my son." Onee all the approvals were met, father and daughter had the surgery at Queen's Medical Center. Their surgery was successful and Unele Renny's body accepted Kaila's kidney. "No pain but discomfort," Kaila said of the recovery. "But it wasn't painful. Everything was just very tight." Unele Renny had a different take: "(The surgery was) painful, but it all went away in time. And life was never better." Today, Kaila sometimes forgets she has only one kidney, "Until I see my dad and then I remember because he looks so mueh better. ... I ran half a marathon to show my dad, I have one kidney but I'm fine!" "It wasn't a decision that only I had

to make, it was a decision for my whole family," Kaila adds. "But it was a no-brainer. ... I can't say everyone should give, for me it worked out. But I had to watch my dad change his life because of his disease. He adapted and he had a loving family to support him. It would be wonderful if you ean give your kidney, but the main thing is to be supportive of the person that has to live with the kidney disease." For Unele Renny, "Life is good." "You're never going to feel how good it is until you finish the process I have gone through," he adds. "So live happy, 'cause it ean end." ■ Maya Uemoto is an intern in OHA's execntive office.

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It could take one to two, seven years before you get a donor. But I was fortunate I had two people who wanted to donate their kidneys to me: one being my nieee, Maya Uemoto, and my daughter Kaila Tsark. — "Unele Renny" Tsark

"Unele Renny" Tsark and daughter Kaila Lui-Kwan. Tsark is an unele of OHA inlem Maya Uemolo. - Courtesy: Emma Lui-Kwan