Anna's Story: Home Dialysis to Second Transplant

Anna Raub is the kind of person who fills her home with life. Two dogs, two cats, and a husband who shared her love of travel—twice a year, they'd pack their bags and head somewhere new together.

In May of 2021, her first kidney transplant failed. She had done peritoneal dialysis at home before, so when a nurse at her dialysis center mentioned that home hemodialysis was an option, she didn't hesitate. "I did have my husband at that time who helped me do my dialysis, and I did it from home for three years," Anna says.

Then, last July, she lost her husband. But Anna kept going. She learned to do her treatment on her own—and discovered a strength she hadn't known she had.

Fueled by hope, Anna kept moving forward. Two months later, the phone rang. A kidney was available. She went in for her second kidney transplant. “At first they were saying they didn't even know if it was going to work,” she recalls.

But it did. Anna went home and hasn’t needed dialysis since.

These days, Anna's smile is bright. And she says she couldn't have done it without her care team. Even though she no longer needed to visit the dialysis center, "they were still calling me and making sure that everything was okay," she says.

"They never made you feel like a patient," Anna adds warmly. "You were always a person. They always cared and went out of their way for you."

For Anna, that made all the difference.