The Monroe County commissioners proclaimed Sept. 4, 2025, as Polycystic Kidney Disease Awareness Day.

The commissioners presented a proclamation to Kathy Sickler, an advocate of the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation.

Commissioner Sharon Laverdure said, “Raising public awareness about PKD is essential to support research efforts, improve patient outcomes, and ultimately find a cure.”

Laverdure read the proclamation, which included information about PKD, which stated that “PKD is one of the most common life-threatening, genetic diseases affecting an estimated 600,000 Americans and over 12 million people worldwide.”

The disease causes numerous fluid-filled cysts to grow in the kidneys, which can lead to kidney failure, kidney dialysis or a kidney transplantation.

There is no cure for PKD.

“Research is critical to developing treatments to improve the lives of those affected by this disease,” Laverdure said.

Sickler said that her mother had PKD and received a kidney transplant from one of her brothers in 2000.

She received a transplant from her sister, and another one of her brothers received a transplant from her son.

“We were all fortunate, my mom included, that we never had to go on dialysis, but it’s something that there is no cure for,” Sickler said. “Bob (her brother) and I still have PKD. It’s not cured because we have the transplant.

“There’s other issues that continue on, but at least now we can live a nice, much, much better life than what we had before.”

Sickler said that many people — even in the medical field — don’t know about polycystic kidney disease.

“We really want to get the awareness out there,” she said.

The Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation was founded in 1982. As stated in the proclamation, it “is dedicated to finding treatments and a cure for PKD through funding, research, advocacy, education, support and awareness, and supporting individuals and families by offering them the resources they need to manage their condition.”