Ray is a member of Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union 30 and a participant ImpactCare. Ray is a licensed plumber and specializes as a licensed medical gas installer. He’s been working in refineries and hospitals for at least 17 years. Ray and his wife, Laura, enjoy camping in their fifth wheel and traveling. They have 2 Chauweinies named Peanut and Brylie. Ray has lost almost 30 pounds since he started the ImpactCare program, and his blood pressure and blood sugars are in check.
“I have always been grateful for the coverage that the health and welfare committee provide for members. One day, a couple of years ago, I went to the doctor. The nurse said you’re in A- Fib. They checked the EKG, and my heartbeat was 268 beats per minute while I was just lying there in bed. They tried medication and it did not work, they shocked me, and my heart went back into rhythm and then, went back out. They sent me the Cath lab.
The cardiologist ran several tests and discovered that my blood sugar was high. He referred me to a specialist to manage my diabetes. Of course, I love to cook, and my wife is an excellent cook, too, so I became overweight with a cardiologist and a diabetes doctor. Life was changing, fast.
I found out about a program that’s free to me and paid for by Local 30 Plumbers and Pipefitters Union.
That’s when I called and met my Nurse Health Coach at Renalogic, Charlene. Charlene is a Registered Nurse who met me where I was at. I learned a lot talking with Charlene, and she taught me about diabetes.
She said to imagine your veins are a sewer pipe, and your blood is like food particles going down there. Your red blood cells are spiky and get stuck in your kidneys. Blood sugar is how you get clogs, and you want a nice vein or a ‘sewer pipe’ that is smooth, so the blood can move as it needs to throughout your body. No one had ever explained my health like a plumber before, and it worked.
I used to be proactive about my health, but as I got older, my knees became bad, and everything just seemed harder. If I’m working and climbing towers, I don’t feel like doing anything when the day is over. Charlene has educated me about making small changes, and now, my old choices don’t even sound good to me anymore.
I enjoy the camaraderie between everyone I work with, and the Local 30 Plumbers and Pipefitters is great to provide this kind of professional support for members. I am sharing my story in hopes of helping others. If you have access to Renalogic Nurse Health Coaches, you have a great advantage. Having a Nurse Health Coach to support your goals, someone who cares about how you’re doing and helps keep you on track, that is a gift. When an organization provides that to you for free, well, that shows you how much you are valued. I hope I can inspire people to make the call to find out how a Nurse Health Coach can help.”
