Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Patty Price is the perfect example of just how invisible a kidney disease can be.
To those who meet Price, who owns and operates Napanee’s A&W and Petro Canada, they’d have no idea she has lived with the chronic disease for nearly two decades. Though she could choose to keep that personal information private, she’s speaking up to help others who live with the disease every day.
On Sept. 25 she’ll do her part to help raise awareness and fund research of the disease by participating in the Kidney Foundation of Canada’s Kidney Walk.
“The thing about kidney disease is it’s a very hidden disease,” said Price, who noted there are 12,000 people with advance kidney disease in Ontario on dialysis, an additional 10,000 people who are pre-dialysis and 9,000 people living with a transplant. “There’s 1 in 10 people walking around with some sort of kidney disease and you don’t see it. You can look at me, I look like an extremely healthy person but I’ve had this chronic disease for 19 years.”
Price was diagnosed with vasculitis, which caused major damage to her kidneys. There is no cure, only treatments.
“For me the treatment was immune suppressing drugs in order to get my kidney function back,” said Price. “Looking at me you would never think at any point in time that I was ever sick or that I am sick, but I live my day-to-day life with certain diet restrictions. When I’m exercising it’s a lot harder for me but I still do it because it’s what’s pushing me and keeping healthy.”
When first learning to live with the disease she noted it could be socially awkward and wasn’t a topic she was comfortable discussing.
“Myself mentally I was never prepared to tell my story,” she said. “Up until about five or six years ago I started to tell my story a little bit more because I thought by me telling my story and what I went through and what I go through on a day-to-day basis, I’m able to help others. I’m able to take the stigma away from people who might be suffering from a chronic disease like kidney disease, share my story and have them feel a little bit better because it doesn’t need to be a life sentence as long as you’re able to live with it and be positive, you can do great things.”
Taking part in the walk is her way of not only raising much needed funds for the Canadian Kidney Foundation, but a chance to advocate for her fellow Canadians who know all too well the struggles of living with the disease.
On Sept. 25 Price will walk locally with a small group of friends. She’s collecting pledges at https://kidney.akaraisin.com/ui/ONWALKS22/p/b41ddb1a10704775aae13a8601c3447d?fbclid=IwAR3rZokshoGYhbhBsxlDj5H1pISEtdbysbpSZQrbke2fSABVK7CUX4ymdAs.