For six years, Bob has been living with what he jokingly calls his “part-time job”—dialysis. His journey began in 2019 after a double kidney infection left him hospitalized. “I flatlined at another hospital,” he said. “When I got out, I started dialysis.”
It was a shock. Nobody in his family had ever had kidney disease. Bob suspects his years of smoking may have contributed. “I didn’t take great care of myself,” he admitted. “I took care of my family and kind of let myself go.”
Since then, dialysis has been a way of life – three days a week, over four hours per session. The treatments leave him feeling drained. At home, he sleeps in a recliner next to his wife of 34 years, Becky, who also sleeps in a chair. “If something happened to me in bed,” Bob said, “she’d never know it.”
On an early Sunday morning, Bob woke and attempted to get out of the chair. Without shoes or socks on, his foot slipped on the laminate floor. Down he went, crashing into a snack tray and bruising himself badly.
It was Becky’s birthday. They had plans for a big dinner. “I felt so bad,” said Bob. Paramedics came and made him comfortable, but he decided to stay home. By the time Becky returned from the party, the pain was too much to ignore. A second call to EMS brought him to NMC Health. Bob had broken his hip and was treated by Dr. J. Scott Pigg of NMC Health Orthopedics and Sports Specialists.
“For as long as I’ve been on dialysis, I’ve been told I couldn’t be a patient at NMC Health,” Bob said. Without an inpatient dialysis program, he would have to be transferred to Wichita for hospital stays, leaving Becky behind.
“I don’t like to drive on the highway or at night,” said Becky
Just weeks before Bob’s fall, NMC Health had launched its new inpatient dialysis program. For the first time, patients like Bob could receive their life-saving treatments while hospitalized, without leaving town.
“I can come and visit him every day,” said Becky. “It just means the world to me that it’s right here.”
“I was excited,” Bob said with a laugh. “I guess if there’s an upside to breaking your hip, that was it for me.”
From the start, Bob and Becky felt at ease. He was met with familiar faces who knew Bob’s needs.
“The staff’s wonderful,” Becky said.
“Absolutely perfect,” echoed Bob. “No equipment issues, nothing. Everything runs just right.”
For Bob, the combination of top-notch care and the comfort of being close to home made all the difference. “It just couldn’t be any better,” he said. “My advice? Stay the [heck] out of the hospital, but if you have to go, they will take care of you.”
For Becky, it’s no stressful highway drives. No being apart during difficult days. Just the ability to be there for her husband, every step of the way.
Thanks to NMC Health’s inpatient dialysis program, Bob’s not just recovering from a broken hip – he’s finding peace of mind knowing that the care he needs is now available close to home, delivered by people who treat him like family.
