Devastating flooding from Helen has temporarily shut down a major IV fluid manufacturer in North Carolina. Baxter International serves hospitals nationwide. Now living with stage 5 kidney failure, the Sunman, Ind., father knows his dialysis treatment will be affected. Eight-year-old Walter Gilbreth is on peritoneal dialysis and receives monthly supplies to help him get the care he needs from the comfort of his home. This week, he learned that the manufacturing plant that supplies the treatment had suffered major damage. He was told that his next shipment would only be half full and that he would have to start reducing his treatment to ration what he currently had. “It's life, so it's very important to have the supplies you need,” said Rachel Gilbreath, Walter's wife, who currently has just over two weeks' worth of supplies, but she's also carrying less. Combined, it won't be enough to last until November. His wife is worried he will have to return to hemodialysis treatment, which she says has made him feel sick and tired. He also had to drive more than an hour each way to receive four-hour treatments three times a week. Now his family is looking for answers and even reaching out to people online who say they have spare dialysis kits. “I had a woman contact me from Iowa, and I was going to drive eight hours to Iowa to pick her up.” Walter's blood type is B positive, one of the rarest blood types. . He is currently on the waiting list for a kidney and pancreas transplant, but it will likely be a year before a donor is found. WLWT reached out to several local locations. See how IV shortages are impacting hospital systems. We have heard that patient care is not affected at this time and that they are actively working on this issue.
Devastating flooding from Helen has caused a major IV fluid manufacturer in North Carolina to temporarily suspend operations.
Baxter International serves hospitals nationwide.
Now, his father, who lives in Sunman, Indiana, has stage 5 kidney failure, which he knows will affect his dialysis treatment.
Walter Gilbreth, 38, receives peritoneal dialysis and receives monthly supplies that allow him to receive the care he needs from the comfort of his home.
This week, he learned that the manufacturing plant that sells his medicine was severely damaged by the hurricane.
He was told that the next shipment would only be half full and that he would have to start reducing treatments in order to ration what he had now.
“This is a life-or-death situation, so it's very important that we have the supplies we need,” said his wife, Rachel Gilbreath.
Currently, Walter has just over two weeks' worth of supplies, but combined with low shipments, he doesn't have enough to last until November.
His wife is worried he will have to go back to hemodialysis treatment, which she says has made him feel sick and tired.
I also had to drive more than an hour each way for the four-hour treatments three times a week.
His family is now searching for answers and even reaching out to people online who say they have spare dialysis kits.
“I had a woman contact me from Iowa, and I was going to drive eight hours there to pick up supplies,” Rachel said.
Walter's blood type is B positive, one of the rarest blood types.
He is currently on the waiting list for a kidney and pancreas transplant, but it will be a year before a donor is found.
WLWT reached out to several local hospital systems to see how their hospitals are being affected by the IV shortage. We have heard that patient care is not affected at this time and that they are actively working on this issue.
