According to Donate Life America, over 100,000 Americans are waiting for an organ donation. Of those, 86% are in need of a new kidney.
On Friday, one Billings woman became a part of the 86,000 Americans who need a new kidney.
Tiffani Gallant, 37, is asking for help from the Billings community as she's battling a rare genetic condition that's resulted in the loss of one of her kidneys.
Learn how to become an organ donor and the potential benefits of organ donation below:
Gallant is a writer, mother to a five-year-old and a long-time Billings resident.
"I just can't even adequately express my gratitude and how much I love being a part of Billings, even though I wasn't born here," said Gallant on Tuesday.
When Gallant was born, she was born with a rare genetic kidney condition, poly-cystic kidney disease, which is when fluid-filled cysts develop in the kidneys, which can rupture and lead to kidney failure.
From the ages of 12 to 34, Gallant's chronic illness was easy to manage. But when a cyst ruptured during the pandemic, Gallant noticed she never began to recover.
"I know that historically, these things kind of clear up on their own with antibiotics in a week or two... And I didn't get better," she said.
Since 2022, Gallant has lost her left kidney, and her right kidney is failing.
"Ultimately, they decided that taking my left kidney would free up some space while my function continued to decline... As my function continued to decline though, now, I've lost about 40% function in those three years, which is really rapid," said Gallant.
Now, Gallant travels to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City to receive lidocaine infusions for her condition. She said while the first two and a half weeks post-infusion are (for the most part) pain-free, the rest of the month is followed with pain, nausea, and bed-riddance.
"It's hard to explain what it's like to be able to stand up straight, or eat a full meal, or play with my son the way I want to," Gallant said.
In March, Gallant began the process to register for the kidney transplant list through the United Network for Organ Sharing. On Friday, Gallant was accepted.
In order to receive a kidney transplant from a deceased donor, most patients on the list typically wait three to five years. Gallant said she's afraid she can't wait that long.
"With the rate of my progression right now, losing 40% in three years is a significant decline, and if my kidney continues to decline at that rate, they tell me the likelihood is I won't see my son graduate," she said.
Considering Gallant's urgency to receive a new kidney, she's hoping that a living person will be interested in donating, which is typically only an eight-month wait.
"I'm desperate, I guess if you will, to find a living donor, because those times are significantly less," she said. "It's hard to imagine that I'm coming really face-to-face with death."
Gallant began a GoFundMe in hopes of raising the necessary $15,000 for the surgery and travel, which can be found at this link.
"A living donor would have significantly better outcomes, not only in the timeline by which I could get a get a new kidney, but also that kidney is said to last twice as long," she said.
Now, Gallant is hopeful that a new kidney is on the horizon, so she can continue life as a mother and writer without debilitating pain and stress.
"It still seems so far way, but I know that it's possible," she said. "I'm not the only one... There are so many thousands of people in the United States, waiting just like me."
According to Christy Bexter, the director of critical care at Billings Clinic, kidneys are in extremely high demand, both in Montana and nationally.
"I just think there's many diseases... that lead to renal failure," said Baxter. "With the kidneys, you can go to hemodialysis to improve your condition and to live with hemodialysis until a kidney can become available."
Baxter encourages viewers to sign up to become an organ donor if interested, which can be completed at the DMV when renewing your driver's license or by signing up online at Donate Life America.
"So if you're really passionate and you want to be a donor, the best way for you to ensure your organs are donated when you're able to be a donor, is to mark that box," she said.
Baxter told MTN on Tuesday that becoming a donor can help patients, like Gallant, return to their everyday lives.
"It's not that you're helping them survive, but you're helping them return to life," she said.
If interested, to begin the screening process to become a living kidney donor, visit this link.
