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Nellie's blood type is A+, she is compatible with A+, A-, O+, O- blood types!
You no longer need to be a match to donate anymore! Any healthy person 18+ can donate a kidney to Nellie!
Nellie's Story
Nellie's Story
By the age of ten Nellie Zygiel was diagnosed with vasculitis her third rare and chronic illness. This left her kidneys permanently damaged. Until recently her kidney function was pretty stable, but in January 2023 she was hospitalized leading to a kidney biopsy that showed a decline in function. This decline in function meant she would need to have a kidney transplant, and because of her age, she will need multiple kidney transplants in her lifetime. At the age of 19, this was not an easy thing to hear. As of January 2024, she was officially placed on the National Donor List due to her qualifying Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) of under 20.
Due to her age, this process was very complicated. Since she was over the age of 18, Nellie needed to transfer from Boston Children's Hospital, where she has been going for as long as she can remember, to a different team of doctors at Beth Israel. She really likes her new care team and keeps in touch with her previous providers at Children's who have been a big inspiration in her life.
Nellie's Words:
Please read!!
This is something that I haven’t really shared with anyone in the past year but, a year ago, I was told I would need a kidney transplant & because of my age most likely need multiple in my lifetime. Having doctors tell me “your body betrayed you” and “to take time to grieve” was not an easy thing to hear at 19, naturally this completely devastated me. It left me with so much anxiety and fear, I was too scared to do simple things because I was worried something would happen to me. I would be doing everyday tasks and would be overwhelmed with anxiety and fear.
I was diagnosed with my third chronic illness at the age of ten which led to my kidneys being damaged, but they were stable up until last year. As of January 11th, I was officially placed on the national donor list, meaning I am eligible for a transplant. The downside to this is that being on the list comes with a 5-7 year wait, so most people end up going on dialysis while waiting. Dialysis takes a complete toll on someone's life. It makes people weaker, tired, and depressed. As a 20-year-old college student, that’s something I am desperately trying to avoid.
My doctors have talked about all the benefits of getting a kidney from a living donor. It would hopefully help me avoid dialysis, be a better match, and kidneys from living donors normally last longer.
A little about me: I am a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst studying education and psychology. I am also a member of the Commonwealth Honors College. A year ago I was petrified to even come back to school for my second semester of freshman year, but my friends, parents, and the university staff have made it a lot less daunting. I love school and am finally enjoying it again. I am working hard to get ahead on my course load. I want to keep my goal of my current May 2026 graduation date intact and graduate with dual degrees.
I know it is a lot to ask but if anyone is interested in being a living donor please reach out to me with any questions via the inquiry form. Living donors get a careful and thorough evaluation by a separate team at my hospital (Beth Israel). My insurance will also cover the cost of your evaluation, surgery, and recovery.
If your blood type doesn't match mine, we could be entered into a kidney swap (for more information, see https://unos.org/donation/kidney-paired-donation/) You can also visit the Transplant Institute at BIDMC's webpage to learn more about living donation http://www.bidmc.org/kidneydonor. If interested in signing up to be a donor please fill out this form first: Inquiry Form
Please don't be shy to share this webpage and my story!
I also hope this post inspires people to register to be an organ donor, so they can help the hundreds of thousands of people on lists, and hopefully make the waiting period shorter.
Thank you! :) 💚💙
As stated above the list isn't ideal, due to the long waits and the large number of people on the list. Dialysis deeply impacts the quality of one's life. If possible Nellie and her medical team at Beth Israel want to try to avoid this. While this is a really big life-altering event, Nellie hopes to be able to continue to live the life she loves as seamlessly as possible. The problem is, with kidney disease, there is no timeline for deterioration, meaning things progress at different rates and we can't make accurate estimations.
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