By Beth David, Editor
Nellie Zygiel was having a bad day, so she was going to get ice cream. Her phone rang in the car, and she saw that it was Beth Israel Hospital, but, she just could not handle talking to them at that moment. So, she did was any young 20-something would do: she got her ice cream, and then she called back.
Except, the nurse could not talk, so had to call Nellie back.
It was a Friday, and she was worried they would not call her back that day and she would have to wait until Monday. She called her dad, but he was no help. He just said, don’t worry, they’ll call you back. She went shopping with a friend, and the phone was in her pocket, so, she missed the call back. At that point, she started to wonder if it was about a possible kidney donor.
The West Island woman has been searching for a kidney, hopefully from a live donor, for months. The Neighb News and other outlets have publicized her quest along the way.
Finally, as it was getting close to 5 p.m. on that Friday, Nellie tried calling again, and she got through.
They told her they found a match and the surgery would be on December 30.
“I was very happy and started crying,” she said.
Then she called her dad and they were both crying. She figured out quickly that he already knew. When they could not get in touch with Nellie, they called her dad, who did not spill the beans when she called him the first time.
She was at her apartment at UMass Amherst, where she is in school. She opened the door to the common area where her roommate had friends over. She was fully prepared to “blurt it out.”
“And I, like, froze, and was crying,” said Nellie.
She asked her roommate Aidan Murphy to go to Nellie’s room, where she shared the news.
“And she helped me tell the rest of my roommates,” she said (she has seven in the duplex).
Nellie said the living donor does not want to go public, but she knows them. They signed up for the registry specifically hoping to be a match for her. That’s why they did it.
“And they went through with it,” she said.
She did not know who it was when she got the first call.
“So I was kind of scared it would fall through,” she said.
Nellie has been sick with a variety of illnesses since she was a young child, including vasculitis at the age of 10. That left both her kidneys permanently damaged.
Interestingly, they did not remove the damaged kidneys.
“I still have my two original kidneys. They put a third one in. It’s more risky and complicated to take out the original ones,” she said. “It’s kind of weird to think about, but it’s kind of cool.”
Nellie said the donor is recovering well.
And Nellie is starting to feel like her old self again.
“I didn’t notice ho bad I felt because it was a gradual decrease in my health,” she said. “Now, after the surgery, I feel much more energized.”
She said she felt better immediately, while still in the hospital.
“They said I would, but I didn’t really believe them,” she said. “I felt better while I was in the hospital. It was kind of crazy.”
Now, a couple of weeks later, she said, “I’m feeling really good.”
She’s at home with mom and dad, taking it easy, and going to appointments every week for the next few weeks.
School starts on January 30, and she’s hoping to start out remotely to keep up, but she should be able to go back to school in person before the semester is over. She will have some restrictions, such as driving, for while.
She will be on anti rejection drugs for the rest of her life. She will be on “a bunch of drugs at first,” then the will taper off some.
Meanwhile, she’s reading a lot, coloring, scrapbooking, watching shows, playing games with her parents.
“We like cards and board games,” she said.
Nellie said she wanted to thank everyone who supported her over the last few months, whether at a fundraiser or spreading the word to find donor.
“It’s a scary and complicated process, and seeing everyone’s support really helped.”
You can learn more about Nellie’s journey at https://sites.google.com/view/kidneyfornellie/home. Learn more about living donors at http://www.bidmc.org/kidneydonor
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- Nellie Zygiel is all smiles in her hospital bed with her stuffed animals one day after receiving a kidney from a live donor on 12/30/24. Submitted photo.
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- Nellie Zygiel reads with her dogs, Hope (LEFT) and Maple, during her recovery from receiving a kidney from a live donor on 12/30/24. Submitted photo.
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- Nellie Zygiel takes a selfie in the hospital with her parents, Sheryl and Tom, after Nellie received a kidney from a live donor on 12/30/24. Submitted photo.
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