Monday, April 28, 2025
Vera Davis, a 64-year-old Long Beach resident, real estate attorney and longtime advocate for lupus research, is seeking a living kidney donor, after being diagnosed with Stage 5 kidney failure.
“A few years ago — I still see a rheumatologist — he noticed my numbers in the laboratory work I get done every month were starting to go up, which means that my functioning was going down,” Davis said. “And now, unfortunately, I’m in Stage 5 kidney disease, and I’m on a waiting list, but it’s very hard to get a donor.”
Davis, who is originally from Rockville Center, began her journey with lupus in 1980, at age 19, when she was misdiagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. With the help of her primary care doctor and her father, a doctor, she was correctly diagnosed with systemic lupus nephritis — a chronic autoimmune disease that causes pain and inflammation in organs and tissues, but mostly affects the kidneys — two years later.
The disease initially caused extreme joint pain and swelling, which lasted for about a year. With medication, the symptoms subsided, but Davis experienced severe flare-ups throughout her 20s and 30s, which required high doses of steroids and chemotherapy to suppress her immune system. Since she turned 40, the lupus has been under control, but her kidney function began to decline a few years ago.
Davis has long been committed to advancing medical research and advocating for those living with lupus.
“I’ve been on medication, various medications, for many years,” she said. “I’ve been in different trials to study various lupus drugs. I’ve been to Washington and spoken with the Lupus Alliance group, and to representatives, to put more money into this disease. I also volunteered to be on a patient-consumer council with the National Institutes of Health to review protocols that scientists and doctors submit to the government for studying lupus and other diseases as well.”
Davis is currently on a number of waiting lists, and has partnered with Renewal, an organization that helps kidney patients find living donors, particularly when family members aren’t a match. Renewal covers the costs of transportation for testing, lodging and food for family members, ensuring that the patient and donor have the support they need throughout the process. More information on the donation process can be found on its website, renewal.org.
Finding a match is particularly challenging, because a donor must have a compatible blood type and tissue markers. Davis’s boyfriend, Siegy Adler, had hoped to donate, but was ultimately disqualified due to health concerns. But Davis remains hopeful that someone will come forward.
“It’s a very important, selfless act, and it obviously can change somebody’s life,” Davis said. “I haven’t started dialysis, but I can only imagine how that would negatively impact my life. I never realized how important it is.”
Davis has also devoted more than 20 years to volunteering for The Arc Nassau, which supports people with developmental disabilities, raising funds and awareness for those with conditions such as Down syndrome and Asperger’s.
Amid the challenges of her life, Davis’s husband, Thomas, died in 2022 of an aggressive form of neuroendocrine cancer, a rare illness affecting fewer than 1 percent of cancer patients. Despite his active lifestyle, the cancer was discovered only after it had spread to his liver, and he died less than two weeks after the diagnosis.
And since 2016, Davis has been the primary caregiver for her 97-year-old mother, who has Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Balancing caregiving, her own health struggles and advocacy has been demanding, Davis acknowledged.
She said she hopes that by sharing her story, she can inspire someone willing to help give her a chance to live a longer, healthier life.
If you are interested in donating a kidney to Davis, email veraneedsakidney@gmail.com.
