Dan Krinsky, chef-owner with wife Ticha of Tierra in Ansley Park, suffers from PKD, polycystic kidney disease, quietly suffering for years, telling no one but close friends and relatives. This genetic disorder causes his kidneys to develop cysts that will eventually fill with fluid and engorge. In time, the condition will cause kidney failure.
His illness causes extreme fatigue, and he even has trouble tasting acidic flavors. He and Ticha normally share a one-week-on, one-week-off schedule of rotating between the kitchen and the front of the house, but these days Dan is too tired to spend that much time in the kitchen. What he needs is a kidney. He explains:
Q: How often do you work in the kitchen these days?
A: I've been working about two evenings a week on the cooking line.
Q: Where do you stand on getting a new kidney?
A: I've had four people come forward for testing. But so far, no one has been a match, including my sister. I need a living organ because a cadaver organ will more than likely have to be replaced in a few years.
Q: What about dialysis?
A: We're trying to avoid that if possible, though I tried to start dialysis a few months back and got a staph infection from the insertion of the catheter. Now I have a fistula in my wrist that increases my blood flow. That, with a very restricted diet, is helping a lot. And it will make it easier for me down the line when dialysis is unavoidable.
Q: How restricted is your diet?
A: You name it, I can't eat it.
Q: How has the disease most affected your work habits?
A: I just can't work as much as I used to, and owning a restaurant is pretty much a 24/7 kind of operation. Ticha has had to make up a lot of the slack, and I worry about how tired she gets, too. We used to share duties equally, but now she works in the kitchen a lot more than I do.
Q: You're a professionally trained chef. Do you miss the kitchen?
A: Oh God, yes. It's —- oddly —- the only time anymore that I don't feel tired. Time goes by on the cooking line so fast. I look up at the clock and five hours have passed.
Q: What's the future hold?
A: I really don't know. I keep working. I keep looking for a donor and hope for a match. I will start dialysis in a few months when I have to —- hopefully I'll make it to the first of the new year without having to do that. In the meantime, I want to keep cooking. I've got a lot more cooking to do.
If you or someone you know would like to help the Krinskys through live organ donation, please e-mail them at danneedsakidney@gmail.com, visit their blog at danneedsakidney .blogspot.com, or call them at the restaurant, 404-874-5951. For more information about living transplants, go to www.gatransplant.org.
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