By Cynthia Flash
Larry Davis was one of those guys who was larger than life. He was the life of the party. He loved to cook. And every Sunday, his family would gather at the West Seattle home he shared with his wife, Mary, for weekly Sunday dinners – a joyous affair filled with Larry’s delicious food, games, stories and plenty of laughter.
“Sunday mornings, he’d wake up at 6 a.m. and would talk about dinner,” Mary Davis said. “It was just really about bonding, being together, catching up for the week. If there was a birthday, we have the Davis birthday song. Sing the ‘Happy Birthday’ song in the most boisterous, vibrant and off-key way you can.”
Good times!
Larry kept up this routine until kidney disease stopped him in his tracks a few years ago. Although Larry had high blood pressure as a grade schooler – something that contributes to poor kidney health – he actually beat the odds and avoided a serious kidney disease diagnosis until he was 62 years old. While in Connecticut on a cross-country work trip, he reported to Mary that he wasn’t feeling well. His legs were swollen and very sore. He wasn’t sure how he’d be able to drive his truck back home, including stopping in Texas for a family reunion.
“His sister, who lives there, called me and said ‘something is not right. He’s not really eating. He’s having a hard time getting around,” Mary recalled.
Once back in Seattle, Larry’s doctor told him he had prostate cancer and kidney cancer. He was treated for both and had one of his kidneys removed. But the other one was so bad that he would need dialysis treatments to clear the waste and water from his blood – something his kidney could no longer do. With help from Northwest Kidney Centers, Mary learned how to help Larry undergo dialysis at home.
Eventually, the dialysis stopped working and it was time to stop treatment. He was connected to Northwest Kidney Centers’ first-in-the-nation palliative care program, which can provide end-of-life guidance in addition to comfort care.
“Larry’s goal was to feel well while spending time with his family,” Mary said. “His dialysis was changing over time so they tailored his medical care so it was right for him.” Along with a hospice provider, “they came here to take care of us, not just Larry,” Mary said. “Helping us walk through this process of saying goodbye and having someone to talk to was incredibly important. I felt cared for. Everybody knew you. You felt like you were with family and the love and care that a family would have.”
The team came to Larry and Mary’s home and provided support to the whole family – children and grandchildren included – throughout the process.
Always the cook, Larry wanted to eat, but couldn’t swallow. But that didn’t stop him from attending Sunday dinners – even if it was from the hospital bed that was delivered to the family’s living room.
“That week that Larry was dying, he pretty much just slept,” Mary said. Once everyone went home after Sunday dinner, Mary and her sister-in-law discovered that Larry had passed away. He was 63.
He not only left a beautiful legacy for his family, but Larry’s story offers the opportunity to raise awareness of kidney disease, which affects more than 1 in 7 Americans and more than 1 in 3 Black Americans.
March is National Kidney Month, a time to focus on health and learn about kidney disease, which oftentimes can be prevented and controlled. Here are some tips:
• Follow prescribed treatments to control diabetes and/or high blood pressure, the biggest causes of kidney disease.
• Lose extra weight with a healthy diet and regular exercise.
• Don’t overuse over-the-counter pain medicines.
• Don’t smoke.
• Eat more fresh food to avoid the damaging salt that preserves our processed food.
• Know your family health history.
• Ask your doctor to test you for kidney disease if you are at risk—take a quiz to find out at
For more information, go to nwkidney.org.