Bobb's 180 Medical Community Story

TRANSCRIPT

I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2002. It started, you know, just with a little limp, just kind of hard to walk. You know, within, I want to say, six years, I was up to a cane. In 2018, I moved to a walker, and now I'm using a walker all the time. So mobility is really, really the biggest thing. It's getting harder to use my hands, especially, I'm a righty, and that's the one that gives me the most trouble. You know, there's a lot of symptoms, but the big one, the relevant one for us here, is the neurogenic bladder. And by 2004, the urologist said, "Well, you need to start catheterizing."

I was petrified. I mean, I should be able to go to the bathroom like God intended. And then, you know, just the thought of sticking a tube in yourself, I was not thrilled about that.

But I will say this: it always felt like, you know, when you go to the movies and you have a giant soda and you just can't wait to get out and get to the bathroom? I just felt like that for, I don't know, like two years. I mean, I would be able to go, but never completely empty. So the first time the urologist catheterized me, it was like, "My God, this feels great." I mean, not the act of doing it, but afterward I felt like I was done at the movie theater.

That's been one of the symptoms that has worsened over the years. I started catheterizing, I don't know, two or three times a day, and then it would just progressively get more and more. So about this time last year, I stopped using those straight catheters completely, and I've switched entirely to the closed system. I have two styles of those. One works best in bed, and another one works best when I'm in my chair.

I've had three different medical supply companies. The other two were both local companies, and they were just not great. I was just about out. I mean, I had like two or three left.

"When can you deliver?"

"We don't know. Like next week."

"Okay, well, I kind of need them now."

"Well, we're over here, you know, 10 miles away."

So I drove over to them to get them, and I was not thrilled. So I cut them off, went to another supplier, and it was just a big pain to get my order from them. Finally, my urologist's assistant said, "You should call 180 Medical," and she told me some great customer service stories.

I gave you guys a call, and it's been perfect. You know, I've changed many times over the years. You guys have really been great about helping me find the ones that worked best. I had some closed system that had the lube inside, and it worked, but it wasn't great. Thankfully, you guys sent out some samples. We found the ones that worked, got a sample, worked great, and that was perfect.

You know, nobody wants to catheterize. It's not the most fun, man. It's very stressful. I'm worried when I start running low, and there have been a couple of times where I've called you folks and you've been able to move up the order. Or if insurance didn't work, the phone reps would send me samples of what I already had to bridge me until my order shipped.

About this time last year, we found out that my wife's insurance was changing, and I was very concerned because I had heard that some insurances only cover six catheters a day. So I was very nervous about that. I gave you guys a call and said, "What are my options here?" And the customer service rep that I spoke to was very comforting and said, "Look, we can work with this, and here are some of your options."

So it put me at ease. That was huge.