Billie Manning

I’m a 36 year old who loves to garden, read fantasy books, and play with my two dogs Steve and Seamus. On the outside I look just like everybody else, but on the i side I’m battling. I have type one diabetes and Stage 4 Chronic kidney disease.

T1D started for me when I was 8 years old which eventually lead to my CKD in 2019. By 2020 I was meeting with nephrologists to go over treatment plans. By the beginning of 2021 I had a tunneled catheter placed while we worked on a fistula. The fistula matured and was used but it didnt work very well so I had a second surgery on my arm called a transposition surgery, to move the fistula closer to the surface.

I struggled on dialysis. I became allergic to the chemicals being used and had to be switched to a special treatment combo. I lost a lot of weight very quickly, I had to quit my job that I loved, and I lost friendships.

On January 14, 2022 after extensive testing I was put on the Henry Ford Transplant list. There is waited for a miracle. That call that transplant patients hope for every day.

As I waited for the call, a friend of mine from dialysis got his kidney! He had gone through the Universitty of Toledo Medical Center, a teaching hospital in Ohio. I did some research and then I too signed up to be on their transplant list. All the while still struggling with dialysis 3 times a week.

By December 27th, 2022 I was having a surgery to switch from hemodialysis to peritoneal dialysis. I now had 2 tubes sticking out of my belly in which I would use for treatment during the night.

As we waited for the catheters to heal, I still attended my hemodialysis appointments. On January 4th 2023, not even a month after signing up with UTMC, I got the call! I finished my treatment and hurried down to Ohio with my mom, dad, and boyfriend.

Surgery took 15 hrs but I had a kidney. It was difficult to find the right drug combo of immnuosupressants that I wasn’t having severe reactions too. I was in and out of being hospitalized the first six months after surgery. Once the one year mark hit we knew something wasn’t right. Deep down we had known all along, but my kidney function just wasn’t up to par.

Weight gained, miles traveled, and my new kidney is only functioning at 23%. It’s been a while since surgery and luckily we’ve found medications that work for my body including a monthly IV infusion. I am now back on the transplant list. This time with the University of Michigan. I’m no longer needing dialysis at this time and I’m awaiting that second call of life.

Please contact the University of Michigan Transplant Center at 800-333-9013 to test for Billie!