Dialysis Patient Stories

Gentler method of dialysis gives toddler and family more mobility.

Alex went in for a routine physical in 2009, not expecting to find anything wrong. The results were shocking. He was diagnosed with pediatric nephronophthisis, a serious kidney disorder, and immediately began dialysis. Due to the severity of his illness, Alex needed a kidney transplant, which he received in November 2009.

When he was 8 months old, Shawn-Brooklyn contracted bacterial meningitis, an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and the spinal cord. Three days after he was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit at his local hospital, his kidneys failed and he needed dialysis. Since UI Stead Family Children's Hospital is the only facility in Iowa that offers pediatric dialysis, he came to UI Stead Family Children's Hospital.

Brandi’s life changed forever in October 2006; it started with a bloody nose that just wouldn’t stop. When her parents took her to the local hospital’s emergency room, her blood pressure was dangerously high and her kidneys had shut down. Air-lifted to UI Stead Family Children's Hospital, the only facility in Iowa that has a dedicated pediatric dialysis center, she began dialysis.

Grant was suffering life-threatening post-operative complications and infection. UI Stead Family Children's Hospital is home to Iowa’s only pediatric program for continuous renal replacement therapy, a procedure that does the work of the kidneys for critically ill patients.

Korri and her parents traveled three times a week to UI Stead Family Children's Hospital for dialysis. It’s about 160 miles round-trip, but an alternative option was in the works. Korri became the first UI Stead Family Children's Hospital patient to receive dialysis at home.