Home dialysis patients seek rebate

Some kidney dialysis patients in Ottawa who do the procedure at home instead of the hospital want to be reimbursed for their hydro and water costs.

Most dialysis patients have to go to hospital three times a week for dialysis because their diseased kidneys can no longer clean blood, and remove waste and excess water. The process takes blood out of the body and filters it through a machine, which acts as an artificial kidney, then returns the clean blood.

Marie-Eve Chainey and 20 other patients in Ottawa say having a hemodialysis machine at home has given them back control over their lives.

Chainey, 23, uses it six nights a week for nine hours at a time while she sleeps. One tube attaches to a vein in her arm and the other end attaches to a kidney filter in the machine.

"The program has just completely changed my life," said Chainey. "I just entered university, I'm starting my second year, I'm coaching a track team, I work in a gym. Those are all things there's no way I wouldhave been able to do [getting dialysis] three times a week."

Canadian research suggests there arehealth benefits to home dialysis. The nocturnal procedure can helpreverse heart thickening and improve blood pressure, compared to the conventional hospital approach.

But for Francois-Rene Dussault, doing dialysis at home led to a water bill that was six times higher than before because of the demands of the dialysis machine.

Dussault has asked the city of Ottawa's health committee for a $500 annual rebate for himself and other patients to help with their water bills. Some home dialysis patients spend up to $700 per year on extra costs.

The health committee approved the request without any debate on Thursday.

"I'm pretty happy, but the game is not over, because the budget committee will also have to approve that $500 rebate in 2007," Dussault said.

Chainey said she's grateful for the machine and the possibility of a rebate, but dreams of having a kidney transplant to free her from the nightly ritual.