By Cynthia Flash, Special To The Seattle Medium
Highline College President Dr. John Mosby leads a crazy busy life juggling his work leading the Des Moines college, promoting equity causes, and living as a kidney patient who undergoes dialysis treatments three times a week for four hours at a time.
For Mosby, his dialysis treatments are just part of the job. Every Tuesday and Thursday, his staff see him leave his office before noon, knowing he’ll be working off site – from a dialysis chair at Northwest Kidney Centers Auburn clinic.
Although he has been steeped in education for more than 28 years, nothing prepared Mosby for what suddenly hit him in 2021.
“I was at a restaurant, and I wasn’t feeling well and I asked my friend to walk me out to get some air and I was having a difficult time breathing,” Mosby recalls. “Then, next thing you know, I woke up in ICU eight days later, unconscious and I had severe edema.” His body was retaining fluid because his kidneys were not working. He underwent kidney dialysis twice while lying in the hospital bed unconscious and continued to dialyze in the hospital during his nearly three-week stay.
At that point, there was no going back. He has continued his thrice-weekly dialysis treatments at Northwest Kidney Centers’ Auburn clinic as he waits to get a kidney transplant.
March is National Kidney Month, a time to educate the public about kidney disease, which affects more than one in nine American adults. Kidney disease is even harder on people of color. Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians are at high risk for developing kidney failure, due in part to high rates of diabetes and high blood pressure in these communities. Black individuals are almost four times as likely as their White counterparts to develop kidney failure. While Blacks make up about 13 percent of the population, they account for 35 percent of the people with kidney failure in the United States.
“It has definitely been a life changer,” said Mosby, who now spends 12 hours a week undergoing dialysis to clean the water and waste from his blood to replace the work of his failing kidneys. “I work full time. My job is extremely demanding on a more than 40-hour a week job. So it’s been a little bit of a challenge. But I’m a pretty optimistic person. I really looked at it as something positive because it was an opportunity for me to remain healthy and for me to remain alive with the end goal to get a transplant and to live the rest of my life.”
Mosby’s college colleagues offer him professional support. Likewise, his dialysis community at Northwest Kidney Centers – the staff and other patients – provides help as well. “I get dialysis in the center and the staff is a community. I’m supported by people, a staff who really care and that’s been very helpful. That’s also built confidence because this is extremely overwhelming.”
Mosby, who lives in Auburn and serves on Northwest Kidney Centers’ Foundation Board, became the first person of color to hold the position of president of Highline College when he was appointed in 2018. He has more than 28 years of higher education experience. A staunch advocate for student and community success, he is committed to advancing and supporting anti-racist policies and practices across Washington’s community and technical colleges. He holds a Ph.D. in Leadership/Higher Education Administration from the University of San Diego, and earned his master’s degree in educational and counseling psychology from the University of the Pacific, and his bachelor’s degree in English from St. Mary’s College.
Despite his crazy work schedule and his other activities related to his job, Mosby said he feels “the best I have probably felt in five years. I feel very optimistic about the future.”
Now is the time for everyone to take steps to improve their kidney health. Tips include:
• Following prescribed treatments to control diabetes and/or high blood pressure.
• Eating a kidney-friendly diet (low or no salt). Look here for a kidney-friendly diet and recipes or attend an Eating Well, Living Well class to learn how to eat a kidney-healthy diet. See classes at https://www.nwkidney.org/living-with-kidney-disease/classes/.
•Staying active through exercise that is enjoyable.
•Avoiding overuse of over-the-counter pain medicines or prescription medicines.
Learn more about kidney disease at Nwkidney.org.
