Nomeland gains renewed energy following May kidney transplant

After living with her kidneys functioning at only 12 percent and undergoing dialysis three days a week for the past six years, Rebekah Nomeland is now feeling like a completely different person.
Nomeland, the daughter of Tom and Elana Nomeland of Minneota, had a kidney transplant on May 2, 2023 at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
"I really do feel like a whole new person," she said with a laugh. "I have so much more energy now."
Rebekah, or "Reba" to her friends, does not know the person's name that donated the kidney, but she does know that the person resides in Massachusetts.
"I tell people that my kidney donor must have been a Boston Marathon runner because now I have all this energy," she said.
Rebekah was born in Pusan, South Korea and was adopted by the Nomelands when she was three months old in May of 1988. Rebekah eventually graduated from Minneota High School in 2006 and now lives in Duluth, where she is employed as a server in a restaurant. In February 2017, she had to undergo a routine physical after acquiring health insurance. Rebekah had no idea what she was about to find out from her doctor, though.
"I was serving at two restaurants then, working 50 hours a week and on my feet a lot, so I was tired by the end of the day," she said. "But I didn't feel anything other than that."
Two hours after her physical, the doctor phoned her and began asking if she was fatigued, light-headed or dizzy.
"I told her I felt fine, other than being a little tired after work," Rebekah said. "She told me my kidneys were only functioning at 12 percent and that I needed to come back in that afternoon to see if it was an acute problem or something else."
A biopsy taken later revealed that the kidneys had several pockets of cysts. The doctor told Rebekah that it was not a reversible thing and that it was recommended that she get in touch with a transplant center.
In May 2017, just three months after finding out that her kidneys were not functioning normal, Rebekah started feeling nauseous and exhausted.
As time went on, she felt more and more ill and, in July 2017, went back to her doctor in Duluth. Tests this time showed the kidney function was down to 8 percent and that she would need to go on dialysis.
She began dialysis in mid-August 2017 for three days a week for four hours each sitting.
"When I first started dialysis, I remember feeling so much better at first," Rebekah recalls. "But after that, my body was getting used to the dialysis and I wasn't feeling as good as I had been. It was taxing on my body to go through all that so often."
Rebekah was also limited to only 32 ounces of fluid a day and was on a low sodium diet.
"Eventually, I was getting more and more tired and getting nauseous and vomiting," she revealed.
In 2019, Rebekah got established with Hennepin County Medical Center and discussed her options for a kidney transplant.
"I had two options," she said. "I could get on a deceased donor waiting list or a living donor list. I wanted to go on the living donor list and I started looking for a match with family, friends and church members in Duluth. None of them were a match, though."
Because a match could not be found from a living donor, Rebekah discussed the situation with her parents and boyfriend, Valentin Salas, and decided to get put on the deceased donor waiting list as 2022 was nearing an end.
"I got a few calls about a deceased donor available, but they needed me to be at the hospital in two or three hours and I just wasn't ready to go in and be there for two months," Rebekah said. "So, I decided to get things organized in case I got another call like that."
At the end of March 2023, HCMC medical personnel informed Rebekah that they had a unique situation in which they had an anonymous living donor and thought Rebekah would be a great candidate, along with a few others.
"I called my parents right away," she said. "I was scared because I had never had major surgery before, but I just needed to do this and start feeling better."
Rebekah agreed to be one of the candidates and, after a team of specialists from HCMC went over all the candidates, she was selected to receive the donated kidney.
The kidney was transported from Massachusetts to HCMC and the transplant was performed in less than three hours this past May 2. Rebekah spent five days in the hospital and then needed to remain close to the hospital for two additional months for continual monitoring, so the family stayed at a nearby Airbnb.
Rebekah finally was able to go back to her home in Duluth on June 30. She is required to be checked once a month for the first three months, then once every six months. She is currently taking several medications and eventually will only be required to take an anti-rejection medication for the rest of her life.
Rebekah went back to work on Monday.
"I feel better than I have in many years," she said. "I'm more alert, my mind is clear and I'm not tired all the time. I'm close to 100 percent. Even my transplant team is amazed at how well I am doing this soon."
Rebekah admittedly doesn't use social media much, but felt she needed to get the word out about her recovery since so many people were inquiring. Once she posted her news, the outpouring of support was overwhelming to her, especially from those in the Minneota area.
"It touched my heart, she said. "There were nice messages from people I had never met from Minneota, but they either knew my parents or were just showing support for me. It was just overwhelming how many people from Minneota would tell me they had been praying for me. It means so much to me."
Following a required six-month waiting period, Rebekah will have the opportunity to write a letter to the donor and send it to HCMC. If the anonymous donor agrees to reveal their name, she will be able to contact them.
"I would love to meet that person sometime and say thanks," she said. "I owe them my life."

A GoFundMe account has been set up for Rebekah Nomeland to defray medical costs. Visit www.gofundme.com/f/rebas-post-kidney-transplant-costs