Mindful of his own clients, Morgan considered how these individuals might adapt to home dialysis treatment. They must do it on their own with their own knowledge, skills and ability or with support of family. Home dialysis is not a simple procedure. The procedure usually done at clinics and hospitals is called hemodialysis in which the blood is removed by a pump. An artificial kidney acts as a filter and the blood is treated by the dialysate solution and returned to the body.
Peritoneal dialysis is the method used at home.
In this procedure a plastic catheter is implanted in the patient's abdomen. The dialysate solution flows into the abdomen through the catheter from a plastic bag. The patient's own peritoneal membrane serves as the filter. Later the fluids are drained from the abdomen by gravity. Dialysis at treatment centers may have become routine for the patients, yet Morgan saw their lives as anything but routine.