THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 2022 Page 3 “I felt I was the luckiest person in the world” L A patient credits a Saugus kidney care center for helping to preserve his quality of life after COVID-19 and cancer By Mark E. Vogler ife dealt Dario Volante a dangerous double whammy two years ago that forced him to retire from his career as an optician to address some serious health issues. First, he came down with COVID-19. Soon after, he learned that his remaining kidney was being ravaged by cancer. He had lost his other kidney to cancer back in 2013, so the prospects of losing another one left his life in limbo. “Believe it or not, the COVID is how they found the cancer,” Volante, 58, said in a recent interview at Fresenius Kidney Care on Route 1 in Saugus, where he has been a patient. “My kidney was failing a litADVOCATES FOR HOME DIALYSIS: Pictured from left to right: Dario Volante, a kidney transplant patient who participated in a Transitional Care Unit at Fresenius Kidney Care in Saugus, and his nurse, Giavanna Cardarella, credit his home treatments to making him a candidate for a transplant sooner while improving his quality of life. (Saugus Advocate photo by Mark E. Vogler) out great,” Volante said. “It was not that difficult to make it work. About the kidney donation ... My wife tried. She couldn’t do it. I had a couple of friends who offered, but they couldn’t help. But my sister was the perfect match,” he said On average, dialysis patients THE COMFORTS OF HOME: This machine that Dario Volante used for his dialysis treatments at home is smaller, less noisy and more friendly than the ones he would be hooked up on at the Fresenius Kidney Care clinic in Saugus. (Courtesy photo to The Saugus Advocate) tle bit too fast. They originally thought it was the COVID ruining the kidney, but it turned out it was the cancer. Had I not had COVID, I’d probably have had to wait til the kidney showed other signs of cancer,” he said. “The COVID was a scary thing – because I did not know what to expect… If I had gone on dialysis after kidney failure, they probably wouldn’t have caught the cancer as quickly until it spread.” The doctors who discovered the kidney cancer removed the organ quickly, leaving Volante with a grim, life-altering prospect that he would have to go on dialysis until he could receive a kidney donation. “Once I got over the shock about the cancer, things worked have to wait seven years for a kidney transplant. With Sandra Volante, 56, of Wilmington, being willing and able to donate one of her kidneys to her brother, the retired optician from Lynnfield only had to spend 11 months on dialysis. Going home for dialysis Volante had his kidney removed in September of 2020. He received the new kidney from his sister last August and considers it a life-altering gift that may have extended his life another 20 to 25 years. The traditional life expectancy without a kidney transfer is five to 10 years. But Volante made a crucial decision about a year before his kidney transplant which enabled him to undergo the operation a lot sooner and end his dialysis much earlier, according to his registered nurse at Fresenius KidDIALYSIS | SEE PAGE 9 ney Care. “It possibly would have been years for the transplant because he wasn’t in such a healthy state,” Giavanna Cardarella said of
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