Leader/Jessica TannerIn 2006, Brenda Fowkes was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease. both her kidneys were removed in November 2010, and she received the gift of life on April 5, 2011, when she received her cadaver kidney. Her husband, Heber has been there for her all along the way and they are closer now than ever.

Jessica TannerLeader Staff Writer

Every day a person’s kidneys process about 200 quarts of blood to sift out about two quarts of waste products and extra water, which becomes urine. so what would happen if your kidneys were failing or were removed? Local Beaver Dam woman, Brenda Fowkes, experienced this first hand.Polycystic kidney disease is hereditary and several of Brenda’s family members experienced symptoms in their 20s. she did not think she had inherited the disease until she too started experiencing symptoms at the age of 46.“I was getting tired a lot but I figured it was because I was getting older and did not think much of it,” she said. In 2006, when she had her gall bladder removed, she found out her kidneys were enlarged.“I went downhill fast. I was angry and depressed for a long time, and went through the total grieving process,” Brenda said. It was devastating for her to know she could pass this disease on to her children.she added, “For the longest time I was just going through the motions, there was nothing I could do. It is a weird disease because you wait for your kidneys to fail.” Brenda just had to wait until she got sick enough for dialysis and for when it would be time to remove her kidneys.After grieving for so long, she realized she did not want to feel this way and decided to change her attitude. she said, “I thought, this is ridiculous…I decided to get glad, I guess and I got over it.”(For the rest of the story pick up a copy of the paper at the Leader or call 435-257-5182 to subscribe.)