SLO County business owner needs life-saving transplant — so friends, breweries stepped up
Before his kidneys began to fail, Mike Hiebner was already a busy person.
Hiebner and his wife, Deshia, have owned ManRock Brewing Company in Grover Beach for the past 12 years, with Mike brewing dozens of unique beers while Deshia worked the front of the business.
But in recent years, Mike’s formerly boundless energy has waned while the Hiebners have navigated the challenging world of healthcare in an attempt to find a life-saving kidney transplant.
Transplant care is expensive, and not available in Central Coast hospitals, Deshia said, meaning receiving the transplant and considerable number of post-surgery appointments would take the couple away from San Luis Obispo County — and their business — for extended medical stays in Los Angeles.
As Mike’s condition has worsened, the Hiebners have found themselves relying on friends and fellow business owners more than ever.
“There’s been a lot of times where I’ve taken a step back and gone, ‘I don’t know if I can go anymore,’ and they’re by our side, and they’re telling you, ‘You can continue to do this, Mike, we’ve got you,’” Mike said. “’We’ll help you do whatever we need to do to make it keep going.’”
To help, a fundraiser has been launched to raise money for Mike’s treatments and travel costs. So far, the fundraiser has raised more than $3,200 from 38 donations, with a goal of $20,000.
Kidney disorder threatens business
Mike said he has a genetic kidney disorder known as focal segmental glomerular sclerosis, or FSGS, which can only be treated using dialysis treatments or kidney transplant in more advanced cases.
In Mike’s case, he often has to deal with fatigue and swelling, and was recently hospitalized for a buildup of fluid around his heart that threatened his life.
He said many health issues he’s experienced over the past two decades — including hearing loss, gout and nausea — were in fact caused by FSGS, and have made running ManRock Brewing harder than ever, he said.
“I’m a guy that used to get up at three o’clock in the morning and go until 11 o’clock at night,” Mike said. “I may get here and I’ll be brewing at eight o’clock, finish at three, sleep in the car for about two hours and then come back in and help out, close it and stuff like that.”
As business owners who work around 70 hours a week, the loaded treatment schedule has required the Hiebners to make many difficult adjustments to their life and work plans, Deshia said.
When Mike started treatment at DaVita San Luis Obispo Dialysis around three years ago, he was already dealing with 35% kidney failure, which has continued to slowly deteriorate despite the Hiebners’ best efforts.
Each night, Mike must undergo around 10 hours of peritoneal dialysis — a process through which a catheter in the stomach is used to clean the fluids surrounding the organs — with Deshia acting as a caregiver during the treatment, stressing both of their downtime.
Mike said without a transplant, he’s unsure how long he can continue on this pace, because if his condition worsens, he’ll likely have to step back from brewing and go on in-home dialysis.
Friends, local businesses step up amid transplant delay
All of Mike’s care has come at significant cost to the Hiebners, who have experienced several delays in getting approved for a transplant.
Deshia said she and Mike had a shot at a transplant at Keck Hospital of USC in March 2022, but put it on hold while they worked through the necessary education and appointments to get on the transplant list.
Mike said he’s encountered bureaucratic setbacks while getting his primary care doctor to send the correct codes to his insurers.
A series of delays in the transplant approval process — including significant delay getting pre-authorization for the surgery by Mike’s case worker at DaVita — forced Deshia to become far more hands-on with Mike’s treatment.
Deshia said these setbacks showed that she needed to be more involved in his care, as she felt she could not trust the medical system to care for him in a timely manner.
“I kind of just trusted the process, so I wasn’t following through because I just assumed that this is going to take a long time, because this is a big deal,” Deshia said. “Little did I know, the pre-authorizations should take three days at most.”
Family friends launch GoFundMe for Grover Beach business owner
Mike said it took the Hiebners some time to realize they did not need to fight the battle against his condition alone, keeping his condition under wraps until only recently.
“How do you find a kidney donor if you not telling anybody?” Mike asked. “You don’t want to sound selfish.”
Larry and Ginger Silverman, who are friends of the Hiebners and frequent ManRock customers, said when they learned of Mike’s condition, they jumped at the chance to help.
The Silvermans launched a GoFundMe campaign Feb. 28 on behalf of the Hiebners, asking community members and other breweries for help with his treatment and travel costs.
Larry also asked local businesses — particularly breweries such as the Apogee Brewing Company — to display fliers leading to the Hiebners’ GoFundMe in their businesses to spread the word.
Mike said he intends to keep brewing as long as he can, and hopes he still has time to get a transplant.
“I love what I do, and I can’t let people down,” Mike said.
This story was originally published March 18, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
