Ian Perry, Lucy McElroy and Amanda Murdoch with Mark Walsh at Taranaki Base Hospital.
Photograph: RNZ/Robin Martin

An Ōpunake farmer says the new service at Taranaki Central Hospital has changed his life.

Mark Walsh has had kidney function problems for most of his life and sometimes travels out of the area twice a week for specialist dialysis treatment – but no more.

The father of two, who also runs an adventure tourism business, first realized he had kidney disease when he was 13 years old.

He had his first transplant at the age of 16, but the life of the new organ was only about a year and a half.

Now in his mid-30s, he’s had a second since.

“I had my second transplant from my father two years ago in 2022, but it didn’t go as well as they hoped. They were hoping that the disease would go into remission, so it’s not in remission, but it’s not attacking the kidney as hard as the first time,” he said.

Walsh had an autoimmune disease, which complicated his condition.

Until now, this has meant traveling for treatment.

“I was going from Opunake to New Plymouth (I was taking a flight from New Plymouth to Auckland at the time), taking a taxi to the hospital there and having my plasma apheresis there.

“It usually took three and a half hours and then I usually had to wait for the 4.30pm flight back to New Plymouth and then get home again, so I didn’t get home until 7-7.30pm.”

Without the machine in Auckland it would have been an even more arduous journey to Hamilton.

“So, I would get there at 3:30 or 4 in the morning and get on the machine there around 8:30 in the morning and do that for three or four hours and then I would kind of take a break and then go get something to eat.

“I would usually drive home for about an hour, stop and take a break, sometimes get some sleep for an hour or so, and then continue home again.”

But now Taranaki Base Hospital has adapted an acute kidney dialysis machine that can be used to treat Walsh’s condition by performing the plasma apheresis he needs to extend the life of his new kidney.

Staff had to be trained to use the machine for this specific function.

Nurse Amanda Murdoch explained the process.

“Mark’s blood comes from the pump here and it goes up through the circuit and the circuit here is a filter and what it does is it filters his plasma and lets it go through and we mix his blood back with the albumin and then we go through a second port in his chest.

“So, we remove the plasma that has the bad proteins that are affecting your kidney and replace them with fresh aqueous albumin protein.”

Albumin was a protein in blood plasma produced in the liver. It prevented fluid from leaking from the bloodstream and helped vitamins, enzymes, hormones, and other substances circulate throughout the body.

Treating Walsh was a two-man job, and Lucy McElroy was second-hand.

Nurse Lucy McElroy keeps an eye on the Prismax kidney support machine.
Photograph: RNZ/Robin Martin

“I’m currently changing the albumin bottle, so we need to change the bottle every 15 minutes or so because they only come in 500ml bottles and Mark consumes about 4.5 liters of these.

“So, I’m actually perched next to the machine, keeping an eye on Amanda while she keeps an eye on Mark.”

Walsh said the new service has changed his life.

“Along with the fact that I don’t have to travel as much. Here I can go shopping after I’m done returning home, spend more time with my family and kids, maybe go fishing, that sort of thing.”

“It just gives me options and time for myself, and there’s less stress on my body and mind.”

Murdoch said staff and Walsh formed a close bond as each session lasted more than three hours.

“We’re having a good time here, a lot of laughter. We know him and his family pretty well. We chat a lot about fishing and what we’re going to do for dinner tonight.”

“Mark likes to cook, but I don’t really like it. We’ve shared a few recipes, but I’m passing them on to my husband.”

Critical care clinical nurse manager Ian Perry, one of the staff behind the new service, heard evidence of the banter regularly.

“Every Wednesday, actually, because my office is behind the wall and you hear the laughter and joy as I provide Mark with excellent service.”

Perry said there was a serious side to establishing the new service.

“We did this because we saw that sometimes he had to fly to Auckland twice a week and missed treatment if he couldn’t fly during flights.

“We know healthcare is about equity and equality, and we thought it would only be fair if we had the capacity and the machinery to provide the service locally with the right training and equipment.”

Taranaki Base Hospital said the new service would be available to other patients as soon as they applied.

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