Tommy Underwood, diagnosed with kidney disease 30 years ago, will participate in the 2026 Mobile Kidney Walk before starting at-home dialysis. He emphasizes quality of life, supported by his wife. His journey includes a potential kidney transplant, following his sister's successful transplant. Dr. Steve Wilber discusses treatment options, risk factors, and advancements in managing kidney disease.
) - Tommy Underwood was diagnosed with kidney disease 30 years ago. This weekend, he will walk in the 2026 Mobile Kidney Walk for the first time — just weeks before he is set to begin dialysis. Underwood is a new patient at Fresenius Kidney Care and has chosen at-home dialysis, a route that allows him and his family more flexibility than traveling to a dialysis center three times a week for four-hour sessions.
“I’m working towards living longer and living not just longer — but quality,” Underwood said. “I lead a pretty quality life — and a lot of that has to do with — I just have — and she’s going to love me saying this — but a fantastic wife.” Underwood is also on the path toward a kidney transplant. His sister received a new kidney in July after six years on dialysis. “I was diagnosed 30 years ago... almost to the day,” Underwood said. “So, I’ve been knowing this was coming... but I didn’t know this was coming.”Dr. Steve Wilber, managing partner of Nephrology Associates, said not every patient with kidney failure is a transplant candidate, and treatment decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. “Then you start to talk to the patient about how would you like to pursue this — would you like to do dialysis at home,” Wilber said. “Or are you really advanced in age with a lot of other issues. Do you want to do dialysis at all?” Dr. Wilber said kidney failure can be genetic, with diabetes and high blood pressure among the main drivers. He said simple testing can determine whether a person is at risk.“We have several new drugs and therapies that are slowing the progression of kidney disease and we’re seeing that now in our patient population,” Wilber said. “The growth of kidney disease was steady or the growth of dialysis patients was steady at about 3% for forever — for as long as I can remember — and we’re bending that curve and it’s now coming down.”The 2026 Mobile Kidney Walk is Saturday at UMS-Wright Preparatory School. Registration begins at 8 a.m., with the walk starting at 9 a.m. Underwood is walking in honor of his sister, himself, and others affected by kidney disease. He is approaching his $2,500 fundraising goal for the Alabama Kidney Foundation.“I’m just so grateful,” Underwood said. “Because I’m told in the old days — it was not good. It’s much better now. Much better.”Conecuh County shooting claims life of Greenville teenBreeze Airways celebrates inaugural flight from Pensacola to OrlandoMobile County jury awards $50 million in wrongful-death malpractice case
Kidney Disease Dialysis Kidney Transplant Mobile Kidney Walk Health
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