'Passionate & Precise' about Kidney Care
Renal Therapy Services (RTS) training specialist shares his journey with kidney disease and the opportunity he has every day to make an impact on other patients’ lives.
If you want proof that the journey and the destination can both, be rewarding, look no further than the life of this ‘passionate and precise’ Baxter Kidney Care training specialist.
Chris spends his days providing training support to the operational teams taking calls from kidney patients on home peritoneal dialysis (PD) around the world as part of the Renal Therapy Services team. And there's no one better equipped to manage what's on the other end of the phone call.
"I know that RTS is a technical-support lifeline to the caller," Chris said. "I know what it's like to be on the other end of the line."
I truly believe I'm here right now at this moment with my experiences to try to make as much difference for patients and clinicians as I can.
Survivor in Training
As a teenager, Chris was a caregiver for his mother who had kidney disease. His commitment to helping people continued during his tenure in the U.S. Navy, where he was a high-risk survival instructor teaching cadets what to do at 20,000 feet when things go wrong.
"I took that method of passion and precision into my career after the Navy," he
said. "Typically focusing on transferring knowledge to peers and clients to integrate new technologies into their businesses."
The survival skills he taught in the Navy were put into practice when his congenital kidney disease progressed to the point where it required him to start PD at home.
His thoughts were not only about his own kidney care journey but knowing firsthand what it would mean for his family. Chris recalls feeling guilty for how this process would impact his wife and four kids.
"Starting therapy was tough, especially emotionally, as I was reminded of my time helping my mom and vividly remembering things that I hadn't thought about for almost 30 years," Chris said.
Did You Write This for Yourself?
After four years on dialysis, Chris received a transplant. He called it a life-changing event.
Several months later, he began looking for an opportunity to return to the workforce. Eventually he saw a job posting for a Baxter training specialist position and shared it with his wife.
"I remember her saying, 'Did you write this for yourself?'"
RTS is a 24/7, 365-day operation that provides technical support for all of Baxter's chronic and acute devices and digital services for home patients on PD and for healthcare providers in clinic settings and ICUs.
"I know what it’s like to call at 3 a.m. … having to rely on the voice on the other end of that call to help me," Chris said. "Sometimes those interactions can feel like a transaction, but you have to remember that's not how they're feeling on the other end. It's a journey for them."