Today is a special day for chronic kidney disease patient Heather St.Pierre.

Not only is it her birthday, but it's also World Kidney Day.

St. Pierre is on the kidney donor waiting list. When she was 29, she found out she had kidney disease - all while being pregnant.

“It was completely not on my radar when I was diagnosed," says St. Pierre. “I was a high school teacher, I have a busy job, I was probably stressed out and I didn't realize that these were symptoms of kidney failure. I just thought these were symptoms of being a young active young woman."

St. Pierre says at the time, she was already in complete kidney failure so she had to start on dialysis immediately. She was admitted to the hospital on a Friday and was on dialysis the following Wednesday.

She had to go on dialysis six hours a day, six days a week.

After luckily giving birth to a healthy baby boy, her symptoms eased, but she remains on home dialysis every night for eight hours while she sleeps.

"You have to be aware of your body and listen to your body and you know,” says St. Pierre. “I don't know if that would have helped me in my case, but maybe it will help somebody else in their case, just listen to your body and take care of yourself."

Dino Villalta, director of renal stroke and allied health at Windsor Regional Hospital, says kidney disease is on the rise in Windsor-Essex, citing an aging population as a factor.

"We've had growth of about 10% year-over-year for the past four years," says Villalta.

The patient volume in Windsor’s renal dialysis program has increased 45 per cent in the last five years.

“Unfortunately our numbers are growing faster than the provincial average in terms of people with chronic kidney disease," says Villalta.

Hospital officials gave preventative tips Thursday at the Ouellette Campus of WRH, not far from where the new and more spacious dialysis unit will eventually be in the old Bell building.

"Everybody's going to have a window, so we're really excited for that for the patients who spend a lot of time with us to have some space, a window new technology new TV's,” says Villalta. “We're really looking forward to getting into that old bell building."

The new unit is expected to be open is about 18 months.