On Monday, October 19, Marianne Katz Perper celebrated her seventh anniversary as a triumphant kidney transplant patient. Now thirteen years after she discovered her condition and underwent a successful kidney transplant, Marianne devotes her time to her family and the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois. “I have learned to embrace my illness as a part of my life; to continue with hope and spirit; and not be overcome by fear,” Marianne says. “It took time for me to come around to this way of thinking.”

In 1994, Marianne was diagnosed with kidney disease. Working as a licensed Illinois attorney, Marianne didn’t let her condition get in the way of her career. Although she admits, “when I first learned I had a kidney disease, I couldn’t even look at a kidney bean without squirming.”

In 1999, Marianne’s condition was considered “chronically stable,” but as her blood nitrogen level increased, her health decreased. After being placed on a kidney transplant waiting list by Stuart Sprague, MD, of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Marianne ended her 20-year career as an attorney.

Just months before Marianne would have been put on dialysis, the kidney treatment that helps extract waste and fluid removal from the body, she received a call from Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee informing her that a kidney was available for transplant. “I was very fortunate to get a kidney before I ever went on dialysis,” Marianne says, “but I was that sick and would have needed it within six months.”

Trying to avoid all negativity helps Marianne keep a positive attitude. “I always have a vision or a plan and I go to that place in my heart and picture myself in a positive light to keep me going when things are really bad,” Marianne says.

Post-transplant, Marianne has devoted her life to her husband, two daughters and reaching out to others through the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois. “It took me a couple of years post-transplant to really accept my illness. I stayed away from it all until about two years ago, so surgically and mentally I had healed. I decided it was time I tried to help other people,” she says.

Growing up in a family of doctors, Marianne wanted to find a way to contribute to patients suffering from kidney disease and describes donating her time to the Kidney Foundation as “second nature.”

The National Kidney Foundation of Illinois CEO, Willa Lang talked with Marianne and encouraged her to become apart of the foundation’s Board of Directors. “One thing I’ve been able to do the last few years is fundraising (for the NFKI),” says Marianne. “Willa knew I was really motivated to help the Kidney Foundation.”

In a speech to the Anshe Emet Synagogue, on the North Side of Chicago, Marianne explains the Jewish mitzvah of how saving a life can be fulfilled through organ donation and is accepted by Conservative Judaism. “When a doctor is on call, even though it’s a religious holiday, he has a greater duty to save a life than to abide by the rituals of the holiday,” Marianne says. “It’s the same thing with organ donation; it’s something we’re obligated to do.”

Marianne’s past has been an inspiration for her future with the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois. She is currently working on fundraising and raising kidney awareness through the Kidney Mobile, which travels throughout Illinois offering free screening for chronic kidney disease and diabetes as well as high blood pressure. Marianne has also helped at the Kidney Foundation’s 3k race, where she helped pass out healthy food to runners.

Other events the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois Marianne fundraises for each year include the Gift of Life Gala, honoring instrumental leaders raising awareness for kidney donations, as well as The Kidney Cars Program, which is a towing service for people wanting to donate motorized vehicles in support of the foundation.

In addition to fundraising for the NKFI, Marianne keeps up with her kidney disease statistics. These astonishing statistics reveal that 960,000 people are living with Chronic Kidney Disease in Illinois alone, and a good proportion of those people are unaware of their condition. Many things can cause CKD, but the most common is untreated high blood pressure and diabetes.

Living a healthy lifestyle and continuously taking the right medications every day, Marianne says, “It’s a full-time job being a transplant patient. I’m very lucky because I’ve been successful for seven years.”