Peritoneal Dialysis at Home: My Nights, My Meds, and My App

Who I am

Hi, I'm Justin Pham. I live in Los Angeles, and I have been living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) since I was 9 years old. That year I had my first surgery, which left me with two partial kidneys and a lifetime of careful management ahead. At 9, I didn't fully understand what that meant. As I grew into adulthood, my kidneys slowly lost all of their function, and I came to understand everything.

I chose not to let kidney disease define me. Instead, I started sharing my story openly on social media: the hard nights, the hospital visits, and the hope. Today more than 86,000 people follow along on TikTok and Facebook, and I hear from patients and families around the world who are living with the same invisible illness. My story has been featured in Newsweek and on BBC Radio, and I serve as a patient advocate on kidney advisory committees and campaigns. I am also on the kidney transplant waitlist in Los Angeles and searching for a living donor.

Kidney disease is invisible until it isn't. My goal is to make it visible, so that other people don't have to go through it alone.

The dialysis I do

When my kidneys failed, I chose peritoneal dialysis (PD), and I do it at home. PD uses the lining of your belly, called the peritoneum, as a natural filter. A cleaning fluid called dialysate flows into the belly through a soft tube (a catheter), pulls waste and extra water out of the blood, and then drains away. You can learn more about PD and other home options at homedialysis.org.

I use a cycler, a machine that runs these fill and drain cycles for me while I sleep. Every night, seven nights a week, I am connected for 9 to 10 hours. It is hard, and I won't pretend it isn't. Some nights are long. But it keeps me alive, and it keeps me moving forward.

Day to day, home PD means my treatment is part of my home life. My supplies are delivered to my door each month, and setting up the cycler is part of my evening routine. I keep my space clean and follow the steps my home training nurse taught me, every single night.

Home dialysis works for me because the treatment happens while I sleep. That leaves my days open for work, friends, advocacy, and building things I care about. I don't have to plan my week around trips to a dialysis center. I have even been able to travel while on PD with some planning ahead. For me, home dialysis means more control over my own schedule and my own life.

The app I built

Dialysis is only part of the job. The other part is medicines. Like a lot of people with kidney disease, I take several meds a day, including phosphate binders with meals, each with its own timing. I'll be honest: I struggled to take my meds on time. Between nightly treatments, a busy schedule, and a long med list, it was easy to miss a dose or forget a refill.

So I built PlatinumMeds, a kidney med reminder app, available in both English and Spanish, designed BY a kidney patient FOR kidney patients. I wanted something made for us, by someone who actually lives this every day. There is a free version, plus a paid platinum version with more features. You can download the PlatinumMeds app multiple ways: from the Apple App Store for iOS devices, the Google Play Store for Android devices, or through the download links at platinummeds.org.

PlatinumMeds comes with kidney meds preloaded, so setting up your list is simpler. It sends time-based reminders for your doses, including binder reminders set around your usual meal times. It also helps with refill tracking, caregiver notifications so a loved one can stay in the loop, and lab tracking so your information is in one place when you meet with your care team.

It also helps me stay on track when I am away from home. When I travel on PD, my reminders and my med list come with me on my phone.

PlatinumMeds does not give medical advice. Your care team is always the place to go for questions about your medicines, your doses, or your labs. The app is just a tool to help make the daily routine a little easier to manage.

You are not alone

If you are on home dialysis, or thinking about it, know that there is a whole community of people who understand what you are going through! Ask your care team questions, find a routine that works for you, and reach out to others who get it. You can follow my journey on platinumkidney.com, TikTok, and Facebook.