March is Kidney Disease Awareness Month, a time to recognize the impact of kidney disease, which affects more than 35 million people across the country. This disease can impact anyone at any age, and while treatment options like dialysis exist, the ultimate goal for many is a kidney transplant.
Evan Zuiderveen was a typical 22-year-old enjoying life until an alarming change hit him in October 2023. He suddenly found himself short of breath after simple activities.
“I was, like, having trouble breathing. And then when I was, you know, maybe going up a flight of stairs, it was just a little bit hard to breathe. I didn’t really think much of it,” Evan recalled. After three days of persistent shortness of breath, he sought help at urgent care, after which his life took a dramatic turn.
Evan underwent numerous tests and was eventually diagnosed with kidney failure. His mother, Lynn Afendoulis, was devastated by the news. “I couldn’t breathe, I just couldn’t breathe, you know, I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t know what that meant for him. I didn’t know what I just don’t want to know what his life was going to look like,” she shared.
This diagnosis meant long hours of dialysis some at home before transitioning to an easier schedule of four-hour sessions, three days a week with Trinity Health. “It’s just cleaning my blood, and then, because, you know, I’m not able to, you know, really go to the bathroom much. That’s what the dialysis is just doing what the kidneys do,” Evan explained…