Dialysis Center honors Camaco's support

COLUMBUS - Ed Szatko patiently waits for his pager to start beeping.

When it does, there is the possibility the Platte Center resident and Camaco employee could be receiving a kidney transplant soon.

Until then, Szatko continues to live his life as if there is nothing wrong with him. He also continues to work full days at Camaco.

"Some people just can't work when they're on dialysis," he said. "I just take it day by day."

On Monday, Camaco was honored by the Dialysis Center of Lincoln for its support of Szatko and Jim Gonka - two longtime employees diagnosed with kidney failure. The center gave the Columbus manufacturing business the "Partners in preserving quality of life" award.

Szatko, 60, is waiting for his second kidney transplant. He had his first transplant in 1995 and was required to rest five months before going back to work as a haven operator.

"A lot of companies, if you take off a lot, that would be the end of your job," said Szatko, who has been a dialysis patient since 1993.

Ever since then, Szatko has had to balance work and his dialysis program. He goes into the Dialysis Center of Columbus every other day for treatment. After a four-hour treatment, he then rests before going to work at 3 p.m.

"There are days I feel fatigued, but I kind of wing through it," Szatko said.

Gonka has been working at Camaco as a quality engineer for 20 years. Camaco immediately accommodated Gonka after he was diagnosed with kidney failure in the early '90s.

He was allowed to come into work early so he could be off shortly after 3 p.m. to make his scheduled dialysis appointments.

Gonka said he was skeptical at first about how the company would react to his condition.

"Yeah, it goes through your head," he said. "You hope they don't fire you. But these guys are very good to us. They didn't hesitate."

Last May, Gonka's wait for a kidney transplant ceased after two years.

"My brother-in-law stepped up and gave me a kidney transplant," Gonka said. "He did me a big favor."

Gonka is now off of dialysis treatment and has just begun to work full days again. He still has to make visits to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, but he's happy about the direction his health is heading.

"I still have some restrictions," he said. "Other than that, I feel I'm doing fine."

Mike Allen, assistant general manager at Camaco, said receiving the award was nice, but the real award is the dedication and hard work Szatko and Gonka put into each day.

"These guys are valuable assets to us," he said. "We've got two really good people, and we really appreciate that. They're doing really well and that's the main thing."