Behind Noel’s tough facade is a woman of great faith and resilience who has navigated and overcome a host of professional and personal hardships over the last few years, beginning in January of 2014 when she was diagnosed with stage 5 chronic kidney disease, also known as end-stage renal failure.
N
oel Bittinger, broker/owner of Bittinger Team, REALTORS®, says that many local real estate professionals view her as a “tough babe who is detail-orientated, systematized and tough to work for,” and, although she’d love to erase that last characteristic, she admits that her reputation is not ill-founded. “Yes, I am all of those things, and that’s how I got to where I am,” Noel said. “I am tough, but, deep down, I care about everyone, and I would love for my colleagues to see my softer side.”
A Reputation of Remarkable Resolve and Resilience
NOEL Bittinger real inspiration — top producer
For over a year prior to her diagnosis, Noel experienced intense nausea and struggled to keep anything down. After undergoing “much prodding, poking and testing,” her doctors finally discovered the source of her symptoms: Noel’s kidneys had lost their filtering capabilities, resulting in dangerous levels of fluid and waste build-up in her body. A normal glomerular filtration rate (GFR) ranges between 90-120 — Noel’s was 11, which put her in the highest risk category for kidney failure. “The doctors said my kidney disease was idiopathic, which means it came out of nowhere — no high blood pressure, no diabetes. It wasn’t until later that I found out that my father, aunt and uncle all have the same condition,” she said. “My nephrologist put me on a boatload of meds and a megadose of 80 gm of the dreaded Prednisone, which caused me to gain a ton of weight. However, with medication and a diligent diet, I got my GFR back up to 65.” Then, in April of 2015, Noel began suffering from profuse night sweats and fatigue. These symptoms led to another daunting diagnosis: stage 3 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. “I agonized over whether or not I should put chemo in my body as I was so concerned about what other harm it might do,” Noel said. “Finally, the doc told me that my choices were
By Jane K. Asher, Ph.D. • Photos by Stylish Detroit
14 • January 2021
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