Montana Mom Needs a Kidney

While many people are making Christmas wish lists, Tiffini Gallant’s list is simple – she needs a kidney.

She’s fighting a serious kidney disease that could end her life and leave her young son, who just started school, without a mother.

Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is usually inherited. It causes painful cysts to grow on the kidneys, making them larger, scarred, and unable to work properly.The disease affects people differently, but Gallant needs a kidney transplant to stay alive.

She’s part of a transplant program in Utah, as Montana doesn’t have a medical center that performs kidney transplants. She’s also speaking out to raise awareness about organ donation, reminding people that many on the waiting list are young.

Organ transplant groups say most people on the waiting list need kidneys. This is because medical advances help people with kidney problems live longer, giving them time for a transplant.

Gallant has had many medical procedures. She’s also worried about the cysts bursting, causing internal bleeding and severe pain.

Doctors originally told her she couldn’t have children, but she had her son, Holden, who is now a lively 6-year-old and started school this year. She struggles with pain that sometimes forces her to use a walker.

She’s also fought off sepsis four times in the hospital.

“I am just glad to be here,” gallant said. “I want to see my son grow up.”

Anyone interested in learning more about becoming a kidney donor can visit The National Kidney Foundation or OrganDonor.gov.