Kidney disease is no match for these siblings — or their specialist

John Costulis is three years older than his sister, Cindy Killough, which gave him a head start on life’s milestones. Except one: Cindy had a kidney transplant last November; John’s was a month later.

The siblings needed transplants because both inherited adult-onset polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a genetic disorder that causes fluid-filled cysts to grow in the kidneys and sometimes in other organs. Cindy was diagnosed at 25 during a pregnancy; John’s disease manifested in his early 40s. Their late father inherited PKD from his mother and underwent two kidney transplants.

Cindy’s husband, Brian, proved to be a match for her and became her kidney donor. John’s wife wasn’t a match, so his godbrother, Mike Griffith, who is also John’s second cousin, was his donor.

After growing up in Norfolk, both siblings now live in Poquoson with their families. John is a workforce manager at NASA Langley, and Cindy teaches at Poquoson High School.

Along with settling in the same town and having the same disease, the siblings also had the same transplant nephrologist: Thomas McCune, MD (MD ’85, Internal Medicine Residency ’88), Associate Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine and Nephrology Fellowship Program Director at EVMS. They were referred to Dr. McCune by a Peninsula-based nephrologist, who had praised him as the region’s PKD expert.

“We consider Dr. McCune to be more than our doctor,” John says. “He’s actually a friend.”

“There’s no one else I would put my faith in,” Cindy says.

They also had a special connection with him that they weren’t aware of at first. When Dr. McCune was a resident physician, he trained with their father’s transplant nephrologist, and he remembered the siblings right away.

“He treats us like family,” Cindy says. “He talked to my daughters recently about what to expect and gave them a lot of hope.”

Today, post-transplants, Cindy and John also have a lot of hope. Both are doing well with their new kidneys and are now down to monthly follow-up visits.

During those visits, John appreciates that Dr. McCune takes time to listen and give thorough explanations. “He looks to engage not just on medical level but on personal level. Everyone we’ve met in his practice has been phenomenal. We’re very fortunate to have him and his team here in our region.”