Connect

This is the latest installment in our Connect article series “Hope at Work” — showcasing inspiring stories about how our team members contribute to UVA Health’s 10-year strategic plan: “One Future Together Health and Hope for All.” No matter where you work, you have an opportunity to inspire hope in others. These stories show how:

Anthony Reed was only about four months old when he we adopted from Guatemala City, Guatemala in the early 1990s by an American couple, Marshall and Sherry Reed — making their dreams of parenthood come true. They had high hopes for their new son: “To grow up and be kind and caring and have a family,” shares Anthony. 

About two decades later, another declaration — this time in Central Virginia from a healthcare provider to Anthony—almost derailed those dreams: “You have kidney disease and you need to start dialysis.” 

Anthony was only a 22-year-old young man. He recounts: “Hearing those terrifying words was a life changing experience!”  

Not only did the diagnosis change him personally, it also had quite an impact on what eventually would become his new career. 

Career Pivot

When Anthony was diagnosed with kidney disease, he was working in retail. Because of dialysis, he sought other opportunities. He was hired as a maintenance technician at a water treatment plant in Waynesboro and adjusted his work schedule to undergo patient care at UVA Health Augusta Dialysis. 

“Life can be tough, and everyone has different challenges. My challenge was dialysis,” he explains. “But the dialysis staff and I would banter, sometimes talking about the foods I could not have because of my condition — the banter really helped to keep my mind off treatment. Once, I even sang during treatment, and none of the third shift team warned the first shift nurse who was taking care of me that I would do that. She came running into the room and asked if I was OK — I am sure it scared her half to death! The team members walked through those days with me and gave me the encouragement that I needed to make it through!” 

At some point, Anthony had to change his dialysis times so he could work. “I love working in water treatment!” he told a UVA Health Dialysis Augusta team member. She asked, “Have you ever thought about working as a biomed?” He said he hadn’t heard of the field. “They work on dialysis machines and the water treatment systems for the clinic,” she explained. 

That same day, Anthony says he set a clear career goal of becoming a dialysis biomed — hopefully, in the clinic where he’d been receiving treatment, and with the team members with whom he’d developed camaraderie! 

(By the way, during dialysis, he’d also spent about 12 hours a week working on his electrician certification and earned that, too!)

Surreal Experience

Anthony started in his new role as a dialysis biomed in 2017, just a few months after what was already a chaotic time — undergoing a kidney transplant and witnessing the birth of his son! “To walk back as part of the care team at the same clinic where I used to be a patient was surreal, to say the least. One of the nurses who used to care for me looked up and said, ‘Anthony, what are you doing here?!?’” 

“My boss was with me and told her, ‘He is your new biomed!’ I can only imagine how it felt that day for them to know that one of the patients they’d cared for is now one of their teammembers! One of the greatest honors of my life has been to work with my heroes — those who took care of me as a patient!” 

Fullest Potential

Anthony explains that biomed techs work on machines and water treatment behind-the-scenes for the clinic. But in doing so, his work supports patients. “My patients may never see what I do, but I hope that because of what I do, they have another day of opportunity to achieve their own dreams. Sometimes I do have the opportunity to talk to the patients and share with them part of my journey. Or as motivational speaker Les Brown’s puts it: ‘I can have my dream!’” 

Adds Anthony: “I am not sure if I have changed someone’s life, but when my journey on this earth has come to an end, I hope it can be said of me: ‘All Anthony wanted to do was to change a life, and he can rest easy, he achieved that goal.’” 

He sums it up this way: “I live life to its fullest potential. Certainly, there are challenging days, but everyone has challenges. In a way, I look at those days as an adventure. Had I not been diagnosed with ESRD [end-stage renal disease] and started dialysis, I would not be where I am today — and for that I am grateful!” 

SPARE TIME

“Music has also been a big part of my life — whether it’s playing the banjo or just sitting at the piano and playing chords. Also, coffee and reading are something I enjoy!”