07/29/2025
“My kidney hero is my husband, George Cooksey. George has been an amazing support for me throughout my journey with PKD (Polycystic Kidney Disease), from the time of diagnosis over 20 years ago to this day. In this time, George has been by my side for countless medical appointments, surgeries and other procedures.
When my kidney function went below 20% and I began the process of being evaluated for a kidney transplant, George was first in line to be a kidney donor for me. After going through quite an arduous evaluation process himself, we found that he was a match, and we were preparing to move forward with getting me a kidney transplant. Unfortunately, a second diagnosis of breast cancer derailed our kidney transplant plan. So, we had to quickly move to plan B, focusing on fighting the breast cancer and dealing with surgery, chemo and radiation.
As soon as the cancer treatments were completed, it was time to begin dialysis. Once again, my hero, my husband George stepped up in a HUGE way by getting trained and becoming my Care Partner to do home hemodialysis. We chose to take this on together to give me the best shot at managing the kidney failure while still continuing to work full time as high school teachers. So far, we have been able to manage doing home hemodialysis and teach full-time for the past couple of years (since July 2023) and we plan to continue this challenging process as long as we can.
I am so grateful for George and could not ask for a better husband and kidney Care Partner, my hero!” - Basia Tokarska
Thanks for sharing, Basia! If you would like to share your story, please DM us!
