TERRE HAUTE —
Doctors and ministers alike might agree that Matt and Nyki Treash were a match made in heaven.
Resting in their home Sunday afternoon, the couple was still recuperating from a double-surgery that defies the odds. While helping his wife in her quest for a much-needed kidney transplant, Matt learned that he was, as doctors put it, a perfect match. The decision to give her one of his own kidneys was made quickly, and the double-surgery was performed Jan. 11.
“A lot of people said it was very rare and very amazing that we were both a match,” the Clay City resident said, explaining that to be compatible, both blood and tissue must be aligned. “They said I was a perfect match.”
Nyki and Matt, both 28, graduated from Clay City High School together in 2002. Their mothers, Paula Clark and Connie Powell, likewise graduated together from Clay City, giving birth to their children just 25 days apart.
The two married in May of 2009, and never imagined the necessity of such an endeavor.
“We were looking for houses. I was finishing up my degree and we were talking about having kids,” Nyki said. “And then all this happened.”
Nyki was diagnosed with Lupus, an autoimmune disease, at the age of 18. Long accustomed to the condition and checkups, she remarked that in November of 2010 her lab work all came back fine. But by April, doctors discovered she was in complete renal failure. The rest of 2011 would be spent largely on dialysis in hospitals and at home. From Union Hospital to the Indiana University Medical Center, as well as clinics in Spencer, Nyki endured 4-hour sessions of dialysis three days a week, before taking a course which allowed her to do it at home. Still, those sessions lasted 21⁄2 hours a day, five days a week, she said.
Realizing this couldn’t go on forever, Nyki began the process of seeking an organ donor last October. Finding an organ match can take up to five years, even if it comes from a deceased donor, she said. With no siblings, and no cousins of the appropriate age, Nyki thought her best hope would come from a cadaver, perhaps years down the road.
As part of the search process, she handed out cards with the phone number of a national kidney registry, urging people to submit their information.
Matt decided to give the organization a call, and it was quickly determined that the couple had more in common than a last name.
Physicians at the IU Medical Center told Matt he’d have to lose about 20 pounds before the surgery. Between November and Christmas he did just that, getting down to about 230 pounds, then losing an additional 10 pounds before the surgery scheduled Jan. 11, the same day as Nyki’s grandmother’s birthday.
“We were about six rooms down from each other,” Nyki said of the operation, which removed Matt’s organ in one operating room before transporting it over to her. All in all the procedure went well, she said, noting the only hitch was the significant difference in size between she and her husband. Matt’s kidneys are roughly twice the size of her own, and using one of his required a larger incision and some mesh, she said.
But all in all, the couple said they’re healing well, and Matt expects to be back to work at Great Dane Trailers in Brazil in February.
“I can do everything I used to do except lift more than 10 pounds right now,” he said, explaining he should be completely recovered soon. His employer and both sides of the family have been extremely supportive, he said, crediting both their mothers and grandmothers, Carolyn Wolf and Hazel Jordan.
Nyki earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Indiana State University, but just recently decided to return to school to get her teaching license. She had been doing her student teaching at Linton-Stockton High School when her renal failure occurred, and she hopes to be back on track by summer.
“I’m hoping in August I can find a position,” she said. “I should be all healed up.”
Matt said life with just one kidney is very doable, and in fact it should be better now that daily dialysis treatments aren’t required for his wife.
“This will really give us both our freedoms back,” Nyki said.
Both emphasized the significance an organ donation can have in a recipient’s life, and said becoming a donor is easy.
“It’s the easiest thing to do when you renew your drivers’ license,” Nyki said, adding more information is online at www.kidney.org.
Sometimes the perfect match is closer than one might think, perhaps even in the same house.
“We’re not just connected by a piece of paper now,” Matt chuckled.
Brian Boyce can be reached at 812-231-4253 or brian.boyce@tribstar.com
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