At Puget Sound Kidney Centers’ Port Townsend clinic, Jerry and CeCe are known affectionately as “Mr. and Mrs. Hollywood.” They arrive at each monthly appointment with a spread of food for the staff, warm smiles, and a deep sense of gratitude despite a journey with kidney disease that began in fear and uncertainty.
“We went in pretty scared,” Jerry recalls. “But from the very beginning, we had the absolute best care. They made me feel comfortable and treated me with such kindness all the way through.” Jerry and CeCe give high praise to all of the PSKC staff they have worked with, from Port Townsend clinic’s medical director Dr. Gill, to their “beautiful angel Joel, and the wonderful Nurse Vickie with her beautiful smile that greets us every time.”
The happily retired couple, former Seattleites who spent 30 years in Los Angeles where Jerry was chef/owner of a restaurant that CeCe calls “the best on the planet”, returned to Washington to be closer to family. Not long after, Jerry’s learned he needed to begin dialysis. What followed was a life-changing transition to peritoneal dialysis (PD) at home, with CeCe as his dedicated care partner.
“CeCe really takes care of me,” Jerry says. “She handles so much of what I need to do to be on this system.”
With her background as a nurse’s aide in the Air Force and a lifelong exposure to healthcare through her mother who was a newborn ICU nurse, CeCe embraced the complex training. “When we got the nighttime PD machine, it was God’s gift,” she says. “It gave him his strength back.”
After a difficult period on in-center hemodialysis during a surgical recovery, the difference was unmistakable. “With home PD, I really have no bad effects,” Jerry shares. “It gave me my life back.”
Their journey has not been without challenges including supply disruptions, power outages, and the long, uncertain wait for a transplant. In every moment, the PSKC team has been there. They still talk about the night a staff member, Joel, drove through a blizzard to deliver warm dialysis solution so Jerry could safely complete his treatment.
“I will never forget that,” CeCe says. “I can call anytime, and they are there for us.”
For staff, the impact is mutual. “They are supportive and so thankful for their care,” says nurse Vickie. “They both encouraged me to finish school, and it gave me the strength to finish.
Today, Jerry is active on the transplant list and looking toward the future with hope. “On a good day, I feel it’s coming my way,” he says.
To PSKC donors, CeCe offers a simple message: “Your money is well spent. This is the best organization on the planet.”
And Jerry adds, “It’s the best family you could ask for at a time like this.”