Independent Dialysis

Peritoneal dialysis

During a treatment, you will fill your abdominal cavity with dialysis fluid. This is done using your catheter. Waste and excess fluid in your blood pass from the blood through the lining of your abdominal wall. It then goes into the dialysis fluid. The fluid is then drained and discarded, and you refill your abdomen. This process happens several times a day and is called an exchange. With peritoneal dialysis, you will almost always have fluid in your abdomen, so your blood is constantly being cleaned.

There are two main types of peritoneal dialysis:

CAPD (Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis). CAPD is a manual therapy that involves connecting your catheter to a set of bags. This is to empty your abdomen and then refill it with fresh solution. People usually do four exchanges per day at regularly spaced intervals. This may be early morning, lunchtime, late afternoon, bedtime, for example. Each exchange takes 20 to 45 minutes. When it’s complete, you can disconnect yourself and carry on with your normal activities.

CCPD (Continuous Cycler Peritoneal Dialysis). With CCDP, your exchanges happen while you sleep by a machine called a cycler. You’ll connect yourself to your cycler when you go to bed at night and disconnect in the morning when you get up. Most people remain connected to the cycler for 8 to 10 hours every night. During that time an average of four exchanges are performed. Once you disconnect from the cycler in the morning, you’re free to go about your daily activities.

Home hemodialysis

Home hemodialysis works the same as hemodialysis done in a clinic.

If you run into any problems during your dialysis, you can call our clinic at 604-806-9017. One of our nurses will help you troubleshoot.

The Renal Program at Providence is home to many specialized health professionals. They provide expert, compassionate care to people with kidney disease.

Our goal is to provide quality care while recognizing the individual’s needs. We support patients and their families as they learn to cope with kidney disease.

Currently, our program employs 13 nephrologists (kidney specialists) and approximately 350 staff members. This includes nurses (RPNs and LPNs), renal technicians, biomedical engineering technologists, dietitians, physiotherapists, social workers, pharmacists and administrative/program staff.