Brielle Gazzara is a natural bodybuilder and twelve-year dialysis patient.
Are you worried about dialysis?
Do you know somebody on dialysis who could use some encouragement? Do you have a child starting dialysis who needs an emotional boost from someone who has been there?
e-mail Brielle at Vince's Muscle Shop
Despite weeks in the hospital being treated with the latest in anti-rejection medications, Brielle's body rejected the kidney that had been given to her by the person she credits for her indomitable spirit.
"I got my positive attitude from my dad,: she said. "He was always there saying, 'Keep positive, stay focused."
Now the other steadfast support of her life - brother Shaun, l9 -- has stepped forward to be a donor like Vince. Neither of them, of course, sees donating a kidney as a sacrifice, but as an opportunity to help their hero.
On June 2, as soon as Shaun finishes his freshman year at Morehead State University in Kentucky, the brother and sister will enter University Hospital. Surgeons will remove one of Shaun's kidneys, then transplant it to his sister.
Shaun said there was no decision to make on his part. Doctors would not attempt the procedure until he turned 18.
Brielle postponed the surgery for a year so that she could build up her strength and stamina with exercise and diet. Now they are both ready.
"We're really excited to do this," Brielle said. We were close growing up, but this has brought us closer."
Their closeness shows in many ways. They finish each other's sentences. He calls often, and knows from the tone in her voice if she is not doing well. Whenever she must undergo a medical procedure, he makes the 3-1/2 hour drive home to be by her side.
Brielle and Shaun learned to rely on each other at a young age. When she was 9, he 8, their mother died of cancer. Vince, then their stepfather, adopted them soon after.
They are drawing strength from the memory of their mother to help them face the challenges ahead.
"I don't have any fears at all any more. I can't wait," Shaun said. "I have faith our mom is watching over us."
Brielle agreed, "We have this real strong feeling she will watch over us and take care of us."
A normal life
It is that kind of faith and energy -- plus the support of her family -- that has enabled Brielle to lead what she calls her normal life.
The beginning was a routine physical when Brielle was two months short of her tenth birthday. She showed no symptoms, but a high blood pressure reading led to further tests, which led to a diagnosis of bilateral vesico-ureteral-reflux, or VUR.
VUR is a congenital abnormality that prevents the valves at the end of the ureters from closing completely, allowing urine from the bladder to cause pressure on the kidneys.
What followed was years of tests and medical opinions about when or if she should begin dialysis, or when or if she should have a transplant.
In May 1990, when she was 14, she was operated on to correct the VUR at Childrens Hospital in Columbus. The operation was successful, but the damage had already been done.
Brielle began dialysis that fall, when she was an eight grader at McCord Middle School. She did the peritoneal dialysis three times a day at home, by herself, and continued to be an active teenager.
Transplant surgeons at OSU then offered the Gazzaras some encouraging news. Vince could donate a kidney to his daughter.
"When he heard he could give me a kidney, he was so excited," Brielle said. He has been there through it all with me. He always tries to find ways to make it easier for me."
None of the eight regularly tested genetic markers were the same between Vince and Brielle, but their blood type and antibodies were compatible. Doctors believed new immuno-suppressant drugs would compensate for the genetic incompatibility.
On March 22, 1991, Brielle received a kidney transplant at OSU. She spent 38 days in the hospital and received multiple anti-rejection treatments, but was not able to use her father's donated kidney.
For the next six months, she received hemodialysis twice a week. For those treatments, she visited a clinic for three hours at a time. Brielle used the time to do her homework.
When she was a junior at Worthington Kilbourne, the hemodialysis began not to work. Her dialysis fistula [vien/artery dialysis access] was enlarging the size of her heart. She returned to the peritoneal treatments, giving herself three exchanges a day at home.
She has been on that treatment ever since, though today she gives herself four exchanges a day. Each takes 25 to 30 minutes.
A typical day for Brielle includes an early morning exchange, followed by breakfast, then work. She works at Maple Lee Florists in Worthington, either answering phones or working on the sales floor. She loves the work, and hopes to someday become a floral designer, She goes home for another exchange in the late afternoon, relaxes, then goes to the gym for a workout.
She usually sees her boyfriend, fits in another treatment, watches television or visits her parents, then goes to bed, and gets up and does it again.
Shaun said he has learned a lot from watching his sister take on challenge after challenge, and still have the energy for others.
He laughs when he calls her big, of course. Brielle barely reaches the five-foot mark. Shaun stands six feet two inches tall. "She doesn't look like my big sister, but I really look up to her. She is one of the people I most admire. Now it is my time to be there for her"
April 29, 1998
Brielle Gazzara says she is just an ordinary 20-year-old. She has an apartment, a job, a boyfriend. She attends college classes, works out in a gym four or five times a week, visits her family whenever she finds the time.
But one need only meet Brielle to sense that ordinary does not tell the whole story. Maybe it is the sparkle in her eyes. Maybe it is the energy in her voice or the determination in her step.
But you know. You know that this is someone who has faced that decision -- either you become one of life's victims, or come out fighting -- and she chose the latter.
For Brielle, the decision was made early. Diagnosed with a congenital kidney abnormality when she was not quite 10 years old, she has been on dialysis since she was 12.
Over the past 11 years, she has amassed a medical history that would fill a text book, including a transplant at age 14, when Vince, her adopted father, donated one of his kidneys.
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