'Just keep him alive until medical science catches up'
A medical breakthrough is making a normal life possible for a Northshore teenage with a rare disease. Seventeen-year-old Christian Billingsley has Atypical Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome, which is usually referred to as aHUS.
For now, Christian's young life is dominated by kidney dialysis. An in-home dialysis unit sits permanently in his bedroom. Christian is hooked to the unit six days a week, for three to four hours at a sitting.
"It's painful getting on, and sometimes, because of the way fluid comes off your body I can get cramps while I'm on it," Christian Billingsley said. "That can be painful too."
