On the afternoon of May 26, the Shawville Fairgrounds will be host to the Pontiac’s first Kidney Walk, put on by the Shawville Rotary Club. The walk is one of many that will take place across Canada in an effort to raise money for the Kidney Foundation of Canada and to bring awareness to the subject of renal health.
Rotarian Randy Russell and his wife Francine Lyrette spearheaded the local initiative because for them, the walk is very personal.
“We’re trying to create awareness so that people are proactive and find out early rather than later that they may have kidney disease,” Randy said. “It’s become a big part of my life because I’m so grateful.”
Randy was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD), at the age of 29. The disease is genetic, and several members of Randy’s family also live with PKD.
“This disease I have, you’re born with thousands of little cysts on your kidneys and as you age, the cysts get bigger,” he explained. “It’s really gross.”
He briefly showed a picture of what kidneys with end-stage PKD look like: sickly organs festooned with a multitude of bulbous growths. He compared it to carrying two footballs in his lower back.
“Some people have a lot of pain, these kidneys are very heavy and they kind of just hang,” he said. “You don’t sleep well. You’re just full of toxins.”
People with PKD typically suffer renal failure at the age of 60, and Randy was no exception. In 2013, he was referred to a multi-care kidney clinic by his nephrologist and they began looking at the options for a transplant. By that time, his kidney function was getting down to 15 per cent, but he was still able to do contract work up until 2016.
“The decline is so gradual,” he said. “Your understanding of well isn’t the same as everyone else’s.”
Randy was lucky enough to have 25 friends and family volunteer to be donors, however, only Francine and his nephew were eligible. They decided that Francine would be Randy’s donor, and in 2015 they both began an intense series of pre-transplant diagnostic tests. The couple share a very common blood type, A positive, but Randy was surprised by how closely he matched his wife.
“Francine and I are not genetic matches but we are as strong a non-genetic match as you can have,” he said.
In September 2017, with his kidney function down to nine per cent, they both underwent surgery in Ottawa.
“When your spouse is your donor … it’s amazing, but it also adds another layer of stress,” he said. “You would never want anything bad to happen to one of your family members. With any surgery there’s risk.”
Francine’s kidney was extracted in the morning and Randy underwent his operation that afternoon.
“They brought our gurneys side by side in the hallway,” he said. “We weren’t able to hug each other but I was able to give her hand a big squeeze.”
Both surgeries were a success and Francine even went Christmas shopping a few days later.
“She was maybe showing off a little bit,” Randy said with a laugh. “My recovery was a little bit slower.”
“It’s like it never happened, I’ve had no problems whatsoever,” Francine said nonchalantly. “I always say, it’s nothing like having a baby. There’s no comparison.”
Randy’s new kidney sits in his pelvis area just under the skin, which means that he has to be very careful about blows to his lower abdomen. He also has to keep a close eye on his personal hygiene (due to the medication he’s on) as well as his diet. But those are small prices to pay for his new quality of life.
“My new normal today just blows me away,” he said. “I knew that my renal health would be better but never, ever in my wildest dreams did I think it would be what it is today.”
Randy said that he’ll soon be canvassing for support and noted that he’s hoping to find other locals to share some testimonials before the Walk.
“I absolutely want to get a patient from the dialysis unit in Shawville,” he said. “That would be extremely powerful, someone talking about how being dialyzed in Shawville has improved the quality of their lives.”
Pledge forms and more information will be available from either Randy or other members of the Rotary Club.
