When Shelly Bathe Lenn traveled to the other side of the country three years ago to visit one of her old friends, she didn’t think it was the start of a journey that would end in her donating one of her kidneys.

Lenn, who works in Northampton as a bereavement coordinator at Cooley Dickinson VNA & Hospice, traveled to the state of Washington in 2020 to visit her friend Jill Heryford, who she first met in 1990 when the two lived in Portola Valley, California. The two friends ended up moving to opposite sides of the United States, but they still kept in touch and received Christmas and other holiday cards every year.

But when Lenn arrived at Heryford’s home in Vashon Island, Washington, she discovered that Heryford was on dialysis — a result of her worsening polycystic kidney disease, in which cysts develop on kidneys and cause them to lose function over time. Living on an island, Heryford frequently had to make hourslong trips to Seattle for dialysis appointments.

“My life was on the down side for sure,” Heryford recalled. “There was not a whole lot of hope in my future, and it was extremely depressing.”

Knowing she probably had less than a decade to live in her condition, Heryford, 56, had begun seeking out people that could potentially be a match and donate. But it hadn’t yet occurred to her to ask Lenn, who she had seldom seen in person over the years.

But after visiting her friend, Lenn began to wonder if she could help out. When she received Heryford’s Christmas card in 2021, in which she spoke frankly about her need for a donor, Lenn decided to start the process to see if she would be a match. She filled out medical questionnaires and sent blood and urine samples to the University of Washington Medical Center, part of a rigorous series of tests to ensure her kidney would work well in Heryford’s body.

“I made a commitment. I was going to jump through all the hoops I needed to,” Lenn said. “The final one was the blood test. They wanted to see my blood type and then they mix our bloods. If they play together well, then it’s flying colors.”

After going through all the tests, Lenn found out she was a match. She once again flew to Washington, and the surgery was successfully performed on June 29, 2022.

“The best day ever,” Heryford said.

Post-surgery, Lenn says she wants people to know that you can still live an ordinary life after donating a kidney. After the initial recovery period, Lenn continues to live her life as it previously was with one kidney, recently completing a half-marathon six months after the operation.

“I don’t feel any different, I don’t have to eat any differently,” she said. “I didn’t know anybody who had ever done it [the surgery], so I was going in blind, but it’s really doable.”

As for Heryford, she has been able to go back to doing the job she loves — working as a kindergarten teacher at a local elementary school. She still has to take medication every 12 hours, but nothing compared to the torment of dialysis treatments.

“I cannot put into words the difference in my life,” Heryford said. “Whenever I see friends who knew what I was going through, it always winds up in hugging and tears and how happy we all are. I cannot understate that.”

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.

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