James Pagounes first learned he had something wrong with his kidneys when he got an abdominal ultrasound 15 years ago.
“The doctor said, your stomach looks fine, but the guy looks and finds that my kidney has a problem,” he recalled. “It’s been declining ever since then. You don’t get signs. I haven’t had pain. When the go they go, and you go to the hospital.”
Doctors informed Pagounes that he had polycystic kidney disease. Those with the condition have cysts grow in their kidneys until they no longer function.
“There are two kinds, hereditary and non-hereditary,” Pagounes said. “I have the hereditary version.”
When his kidneys shut down, Pagounes will have to have dialysis, but he is hoping to avoid that by finding an organ donor.
“I still am at bat trying to take all the swings I’ve got,” said Pagounes, who works as a
supplier quality engineer at Abiomed, and has worked at other medical device companies, including Boston Scientific in Watertown.
The waiting list for a kidney is three to five years, but he will likely need one before then. He can move up the list, however, by finding a donor.
“There are two ways that would help. One is if you stepped up and you are going to be a donor. If you are an exact match to me, doctors will say ‘OK next Tuesday, meet at the hospital and donate the kidney,'” Pagounes said. “If you are not a match, the donor goes into the pool and someone who is a match — they get it, and then I move up the rank so I’m next. It helps me either way.”
Pagounes has lived in Waltham for many years, and he and his family attend the Taxiarchae/Archangels Greek Church in Watertown, as well as frequenting businesses in the town. His wife Joanne distributed letters about her husband’s search for a kidney at Artemis Yoga.
By spreading the word, Pagounes hopes to find a donor.
“I saw something on Channel 5 six months ago. This guy needed a kidney and this guy stepped up and now friends for life,” Pagounes saidl “It happened in the last two years, I’ve seen it at least two times.”
He also heard about someone seeking a kidney who put up a notice in a local hair salon, and one of the people from the salon mentioned it to her cousin who knew a firefighter who decided to become a donor.
“He stepped up and saved that person’s life,” Pagounes said.
The procedure does not cost the donor a dime, Pagounes said, because insurance covers it. And the person who donates the kidney will be out in a day or two after the procedure. He said some people have some concerns about giving one of their two kidneys to someone.
“People fear they can’t live with one kidney. I will live with one kidney and so will they,” he said. “They won’t have to take any drugs. It will be living like normal. I will take drugs to make sure my body accepts the kidney.”
Because his form of polycystic kidney disease is hereditary, Pagounes asked his three sons if they wanted to get tested.
“One of them does have it,” he said. “When he is my age he will need a new kidney.”
Anyone interested in becoming a donor, or for more information, contact James Pagounes at 781-697-6856 or jamespagounes@gmail.com.