By Cynthia Flash
When Steve Woods talks about living with kidney disease, he doesn’t start with illness. He starts with responsibility, family and the determination to keep going.
Born and raised in San Francisco, Woods grew up in a bustling household with six brothers and a sister. From an early age, he learned the value of hard work. By the time he was eight, he had a paper route. As a young adult, he worked a variety of jobs before discovering his passion: carpentry.
“I took to that trade like fish to water,” Woods said.
After working across California, Nevada, and Texas, he eventually followed a housing boom to the Pacific Northwest. In Seattle, his skills quickly earned him leadership roles, and he became a construction foreman overseeing housing projects across the Puget Sound region.
Life was busy but fulfilling. Woods and his wife, Tammie, were raising their children while he made a name for himself building homes.
Then everything changed.
A Life-Altering Diagnosis
One day in 1992, Woods became extremely fatigued on the job. At first, he pushed through it. But one morning, he was too exhausted to get out of bed – a first in his decades of working.
His wife insisted he go to the hospital. Doctors at Harborview Medical Center delivered devastating news: his kidneys had failed. Within days, Woods began dialysis, the multi-hour process where a machine takes the place of failed kidneys by cleaning waste and water from the blood.
“I was overwhelmed,” he said. “I wasn’t prepared for this new life.”
At the time his wife was pregnant with their fifth child.
For several days, Woods struggled to process what was happening. But a conversation with a visiting friend helped him find clarity and purpose.
“I realized it wasn’t just about me,” he said. “I had five children who needed their father.”
Dialysis and Family Sacrifice
For more than a decade, Woods underwent in-center dialysis treatments three times a week for four hours at a time. The schedule was grueling and often meant long hours away from home.
“My kids suffered because there were nights they never saw me,” he said. “When they woke up in the morning, I was already gone.”
The emotional and physical toll was enormous. “It burns you out,” he said.
Still, Woods remained focused on providing for his family and setting an example for his children. Eventually, hope arrived in the form of a kidney transplant from Tammie. He also was offered a dream job of teaching the construction trades to students through the Seattle Vocational Institute at Seattle Central College.
The transplant gave Woods 15 years of renewed health and freedom.
Everything was going great until he was in his truck to pick up materials for a project at the college when another vehicle T-boned him. It left him with terrible injuries – including damage to his transplanted kidney, sending Woods back to dialysis.
But Woods continued to persevere – one of the three “P”s he taught his students: Punctuality, Perseverance, Positive Attitude, along with a “W” for Work Ethic.
Using all his technical knowledge and curiosity, Woods learned everything he could about the dialysis machines at the Northwest Kidney Centers’ Broadway clinic and became comfortable enough with the process that in 2024 he decided to try out in-home dialysis with excellent training from the Northwest Kidney Centers staff and support at home from his wife.
“Hemodialysis at home has changed everything for me, not only physically but mentally,” he said. “Being home allows me more flexibility. It allows me to live the best life possible.”
It also gave him more precious time with family and friends. These days, Woods and his wife regularly host gatherings at their Skyway area home. Friends and neighbors gather on the backyard deck while jazz music fills the air. “We sit under the gazebo and just enjoy the music,” he said.
For Woods, these simple moments represent something profound: a life reclaimed.
“Northwest Kidney Centers helped us continue to be a family,” he said. “They helped me see my kids grow from boys into men.”
Now, at age 70, Woods is also exploring the possibility of qualifying for another kidney transplant through a special program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California. Until then, home dialysis is allowing him to remain active, engaged, and hopeful.
A Message for the Black Community
March is National Kidney Month, a time to focus on health and learn about kidney disease, which disproportionately affects Black Americans, who are nearly four times more likely than white Americans to develop kidney failure. High blood pressure and diabetes—two leading causes of kidney disease—also occur at higher rates in the community.
Woods said he hopes his story encourages others to take their health seriously and seek care early.
“I knew I had high blood pressure,” he said. “Looking back, I wish I had understood more about what it could lead to.”
He also wants people living with kidney disease to know that a fulfilling life is still possible. “Dialysis doesn’t have to stop you. You can still live your life.” For Woods, that life includes family, faith, music, and a backyard filled with friends.
Although kidney disease is difficult, it oftentimes can be prevented and controlled. Here are some tips:
- Follow prescribed treatments to control diabetes and/or high blood pressure, the biggest causes of kidney disease.
- Lose extra weight with a healthy diet and regular exercise.
- Don’t overuse over-the-counter pain medicines.
- Don’t smoke.
- Eat more fresh food to avoid the damaging salt that preserves our processed food.
- Know your family health history.
- Ask your doctor to test you for kidney disease if you are at risk—take a quiz to find out at https://www.nwkidney.org/living-with-kidney-disease/am-i-at-risk/overview/
For more information, go to nwkidney.org.
