Dave Riegler

Welcome to Dave's CaringBridge site. It has been created to keep friends and family updated about Dave as he progresses through kidney disease trials and triumphs!

Be sure to read the latest updates in the journal, view the photo gallery, and drop us a line in the guestbook.  Be sure and bookmark this webiste for future visits!

Dave’s story began on Saturday April 21, 2007 when he was diagnosed with IgA Nephropathy (End Stage Renal Failure) at the age of 37. Dave is full of life; he has been married for 23 years and has a beautiful 21-year old daughter. 

In 2008 Dave was on the organ transplant list, which was 8 years long, I was surprisingly Dave’s donor match.  In 2008 we did the transplant however, within a month it had failed.  Our transplant team tried for a month to save the donated kidney, but to no avail, they could not. Unbeknownst to us Dave generates an extra AT1 Receptor which attacked the new kidney and destroyed it.  We did not know of this Receptor because the United States did not test for it. But in 2009 after our case was sent to Germany for further testing, it was discovered WHY he rejected my kidney – basically his body generates too many antigens.  Now that we know what the issue is, next time the transplant team will be more prepared to address this Receptor issue with more immunotherapy. 

What was the culprit of Dave’s kidney disease? It was a genetic disease that was lying dormant for 37 years; it became active somehow (we don’t really know what set it off) and he developed hypertension which then sent our lives spiraling into this new lifestyle. As we struggle through each day with its ups and downs we keep a pretty positive attitude. On a daily basis Dave deals with mood swings, the emotional stress that comes with the unknown, fatigue, as well as a lot of hope! The metabolic imbalances that come with kidney failure produce deadly toxins in his body that he can’t get rid of; dialysis helps his body remove the toxins. Dave is a strong, caring, loving person that is unselfish in every way; and it is our goal that he is able to live a normal life as possible!

At this time Dave is not currently listed on the transplant waiting list.  He has decided to continue with dialysis treatments for now.  Medical Science is continuously advancing and we hope that one day there will be a cure for kidney disease.