Running, and biking and swimming, for a cure

Oceanside resident Daniella Shiloah-Yaniv spent years trying to figure out what was wrong with her. She went to many different doctors and received many different diagnoses. She even went so far as to contact a doctor in California to see if they could help her.

Finally, after years of searching, she came up with the diagnosis herself: Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, commonly called FSGS. It’s scarring of the kidneys that impairs their function and eventually causes them to shut down. There’s no cure.

Yaniv’s particular case is caused by protein leakage, which, in turn, her doctors believed is caused by high blood pressure. So she manages her disease with blood pressure medication. Just 26 years old, Yaniv recently moved to Oceanside with her husband, Eldad, from their home in Rhode Island so she could be closer to the doctors she needs to see in New York City.

“There weren’t many kidney doctors in Rhode Island, and the medical care there isn’t as good as here,” Yaniv said. “So that’s why my husband finally transferred his job here so we could live back here.”

To help find a cure, Yaniv joined the NephCure Foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure for FSGS as well as Nephrotic Syndrome, another disease that attacks the kidneys.

That is how Honeyrock Ingram entered into Yaniv’s life. Ingram, 33, lives and works in New York City. By all rights, she and Yaniv probably would have never met. But Ingram decided to participate in the New York City Triathlon on behalf of the NephCure Foundation. According to Ingram, NephCure paired her with Yaniv. And the two have decided to work together to raise as much money as they can.

“Meeting someone as young as myself having to deal with this was awakening for me,” said Ingram. “I have the ability to get up off my butt and do something.”

And she is definitely doing something. A triathlon is a three part race — swimming, biking and running. The New York Triathlon starts with a mile swim across the Hudson River, then a 27-mile bike ride into the Bronx and across the George Washington Bridge, and then finishes with a 6.5 mile run through Central Park.

To train for such a grueling event, Ingram wakes up at 5 a.m. every day and heads to the gym, where she either does a swim and some biking or some biking and a run. “We call those bricks,” she said. “I do physical therapy twice a week, and I mix in some bikram yoga on the weekends to keep my muscles as limber as possible.”

The strain is great. Because of it, Ingram has started to wear out the cartilage in her knees. This will be her last triathlon, and she wanted to make sure it was in New York.

“I’m a young professional woman living in New York, and just sitting at my desk 10 hours a day isn’t enough for me,” said Ingram. “I wanted to do something else. I wanted to feel like I was participating and using my skills, knowledge and resources to add value and help someone in need.”

Ingram and Yaniv have met since they were paired by the NephCure Foundation. They chatted and realized they had a lot in common. They’re working together to raise money, and hope to hold a fundraiser in a month or so. The first of many hopeful fundraisers before the Aug. 7 triathlon. Yaniv hopes they can raise at least $5,000.

And even though she won’t be participating in the triathlon, Yaniv will be in Central Park, waiting for Ingram at the finish line and cheering her on.

“Knowing that [Daniella} is going to be there supporting me, during that last mile, that last hour, when my body is screaming, ‘no,’ my mind will be thinking about her,” said Ingram.

To donate money to Yaniv and Ingram’s cause, visit http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/daniellaandhoneyrock/nautica-nyc-triathlon-nephletes.