Kevin Reynolds works full time doing public relations and special events for Cincinnati Public Radio. He also volunteers for the American Cancer Society. Home hemodialysis has given him back “a comforting sense of normal” he is grateful for. This is his story.

It’s been five months since I began home hemodialysis, a treatment that takes place while I sit comfortably in my recliner in my family room surrounded by pictures of my family with my wife and daughter on the couch nearby and all the amenities of my home close at hand - my books, my laptop, my remote and my TV.

How did I get to this place? The short answer is cancer got me here - malignant tumors in both kidneys caused me to lose them in separate surgeries just two months apart. We were fortunate that at a modality training session on the day before I was to enter the hospital for my second nephrectomy, we learned that there was such a thing as home hemodialysis.

It is astonishing the level of normalcy that I have attained through home hemo, a level that I truly thought would never be possible again. So, here I am today, fully entrenched in my life as a dialysis patient, but working hard not to let that define me totally. I am, more importantly, a husband, a parent, a son, a friend, an employee, a co-worker, a volunteer and hopefully a well-rounded human being.

In spite of my lack of kidneys and in spite of my almost daily dialysis, I’m leading a life fairly close to the one I lived before all this happened. Had you asked me a few months ago if I thought this was possible, I would have said, “No way.” But time, love, patience, modern technology and the support of great professionals has made it possible. Home hemodialysis has meant all the difference in my life and my family’s life. It’s given me back a comforting sense of normal, and for that, I’m eternally grateful.

Learn more about home hemodialysis at www.davita.com/home.

Marvin Burney’s life is finally returning to normal, thanks to home hemodialysis (HHD). The at-home dialysis treatment has given him the energy to get moving again and live the active life he’s used to. This is his story.

I started my walk down “Dialysis Road” almost thirteen years ago. When ESRD grabbed me, I was young, busy and relatively healthy, but all of that soon changed. After just a few months on in-center hemodialysis, I looked, felt, and moved around like an old, old man (and I was only 39 at the time!). My life had been very busy with working a full-time job and then spending an additional 25 to 30 hours a week volunteering as a youth baseball, football and basketball coach. But all of that stopped because my “new” life revolved around dialysis, and after treatments, I didn’t have the strength to work or coach anymore.

HHD has allowed me to reclaim my life. This is now my body, my disease, my treatment and my life, and I’m in charge. That’s a feeling I haven’t had in thirteen years, and boy, it’s a terrific feeling! HHD has also made me young again. After finishing my HHD training in August, I decided to coach a fall, youth baseball team, something I haven’t done in years.

The last year I coached when I was on in-center dialysis, I had to do all of my coaching from a golf cart because I couldn’t walk to the field or walk around during practice. On HHD, I got out on the field with the boys and led them in warm-up exercises. I walked for two hours and only stopped to demonstrate fielding and batting techniques, and I wasn’t even tired!

Yes, it’s true, dialysis still keeps me alive. But now, home hemodialysis keeps me alive, but it also lets me be young, busy and healthy again, and that makes ALL the difference!

Visit www.davita.com/home to learn more about home hemodialysis.