As the number of people with kidney disease in British Columbia continues to climb every year, the need for education, support, and dialysis climbs as well.
The newly-opened Royal City Centre Kidney Care Centre in New Westminster is the first location in the Fraser Health region that combines both kidney care and dialysis services in a single location.
The first patient to get dialysis treatment at the centre last month was Daphne Harris.
The local resident has been on dialysis for the past 15 months, after her kidneys started failing about three years ago.
She started her treatment at Royal Columbian Hospital but is now able to access the new clinic closer to home.
"It's wonderful for me because I just live across the street, so I just walk," she said. "It's really made a big difference."
Harris visits the centre three days a week, for four hours at a time, to have her blood filtered because her kidneys can no longer perform this vital function.
She is on a waiting list for a kidney transplant but at 78, unless she gets an organ through a live donor, her chances are not as good as they would be if she were younger.
Her expected wait time for a transplant is about eight years.
Sitting in a padded reclining chair, she and a row of other patients have access to individual TVs.
They can also read or sleep while their blood is being filtered.
Being on dialysis usually means being unable to travel because of the necessity of being close to a dialysis treatment centre.
It's a huge life change, but Harris said she feels better since she started dialysis.
"These machines do wonderful things," she said.
There are about 100 regular kidney care patients at the centre who learn how to manage their health and receive support from the nurse, dietician, social worker, doctor and others on staff. At full capacity, the dialysis section will be able to accommodate up to 24 patients at a time
The kidneys perform several important functions, including balancing the body's acid-alkaline level, maintaining a set volume of fluid, keeping electrolytes in balance, helping to absorb vitamin D, stimulating a hormone that helps produce red blood cells and filtering toxins from the blood.
There are several causes of kidney failure, including injury and infection.
Risk factors include having high blood pressure or diabetes, said renal nurse Gary Lacroix, who noted there are also many people who can go years without any symptoms of kidney disease until they become seriously ill.
"Four out of 10 patients we have are here because they had high blood pressure and didn't deal with it," he said.
The most important steps for keeping kidneys healthy are to eat a diet low in salt and potassium, and to exercise and avoid stress, he noted.
The average age of dialysis patients is 63, though some may be younger due to kidney injury or infection at an earlier age.
There are 700 hemodialysis patients and 2,500 kidney care patients in the Fraser Health region, and the number of hemodialysis patients grows by about three per cent every year.
Terry Satchwill, manager of the kidney care centre, said it's good for patients to have access to both services in the same place for continuity of care.
"It's really good if the staff get a good idea of the patient journey because these patients stay with us," she said. "They come to us in moderate to severe renal failure and really can stay with us right up to the end of their lives."
Most patients prefer the community centre to a hospital setting because it is less busy and has a less clinical atmosphere, with new interior design focused on nature and wellness, she noted.
Though she must spend 12 hours each week at the centre, Harris said she has accepted this schedule and likes to take advantage of the time to read and do some shopping at Royal City Centre after her treatments.
"If you have to be on (dialysis), you have to have the right attitude," she said.
