PKD Life - Summer 2021 - 20

O'CONNOR PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAROLINE YANG. WNUK PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMIE DAVIS.
Kevin O'Connor, with
wife Lori and their
grandchildren, says the
pandemic has made his
family closer.
ALL IN THE
FAMILY
KEVIN O'CONNOR, 58
MINNEAPOLIS,
MINNESOTA
Strong family ties have
always gotten the O'Connors
through tough times. When
Kevin was diagnosed with
PKD in his 30s, his sister
Mary Bauer knew it would be
a matter of when, not if, she
donated a kidney to him. She
gave him that gift on December
24, 2018. Mary told her
family: " God blessed me with
two healthy kidneys. I only
need one, and so in my mind
it was, 'Why wouldn't I do this
for Kevin if our doctors determined
I could?' "
When the pandemic shut
down most of the world,
again it was family seeing
each other through. PKD
runs in the O'Connor family;
in addition to Kevin, his kids
Ryan, 31, and Kelly, 27, have
the disease. Kelly is living at
home while working on her
20 PKD LIFE * SUMMER 2021
master's degree, and Ryan
lives 20 minutes away. Lori,
Kevin's wife, watches Ryan's
children four days a week at
their house.
" After my transplant, I
was told by my care team
that it was important to
limit my risk of infection. I
thought I had always done
a pretty good job of it, " says
Kevin, who is president of a
company that manufactures
medical alert systems. Now,
he realizes he probably had
not been as careful as he
thought. Once the pandemic
hit, the family set up stricter
protocols on hand-washing,
wearing masks, limiting
social interactions, and more.
Any time the grandchildren
are ill, they stay home. So far,
their precautions are working.
Both he and his children
have maintained good health.
When Kelly started dating
someone new, the family and
Kelly's boyfriend, Michael,
worked together to safely
expand their pod. " It was a
Preciou s
time wit h t
grandkids .
process that you wouldn't
normally go through when
your daughter starts dating
somebody, " Kevin says. " I
mean, there's always questions,
but the questions are
diff erent during a pandemic.
It's not so much 'what are
your intentions?' but 'who
have you seen in the last
week?' Michael has been
great about it. "
The best part of this forced
togetherness has been the
ability to appreciate the little
things and be a little gentler
with one another. Kevin says,
" We've always had very busy
lives. I used to travel a lot for
work. I think the fact that
everything slowed down dramatically
has been a positive.
We're defi nitely focusing on
the process of learning new
things and fi nding coping
skills as a unit, and it's made
us all even closer and more
understanding of each other. "
PKD Life - Summer 2021

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