BY RYAN O’CONNOR

Dunbarton Elementary School Sixth Grade Teacher Candace Harrison thought she was out of the woods when her body accepted her father’s donated kidney.

That was then. This is now.

Harrison was diagnosed with Type I diabetes 30 years ago, at the age of 10. Then 10 years ago, one of her kidneys failed.

“Everything went wonderfully,” said Harrison. “I was back to work after six weeks, very healthy, and never once had a single issue with rejection or any problems at all.”

But after changing insurance companies, Harrison’s new specialist physician informed her that she should have recieved a pancreas transplant to compliment her kidney transplant.

“My prior doctor said everything was fine and wasn’t very aggressive, so I was never treated or given any options or anything like that,” she said. “My new doctor was very aggressive and said ‘How come you’ve never had a pancreas transplant?’ Most people who have kidney transplants when they’re young and healthy have a pancreas transplant within the next couple of years, because it maintains the kidney if you’re no longer a diabetic.”

Though she hadn’t been offered a similar procedure by her previous physician, she invested much of her time and resources into researching a new pancreas and decided to move forward, joining a waiting list, which she was told would take roughly two years.

Last July, she was informed she was number two on the list and told to prepare for another surgery.

There was only one problem. Her transplanted kidney function had decreased to a level unsafe of receiving a new pancreas without risking kidney failure.

“It was tough news, because it’s very tough to deal with being on a list, to not being on a list at all,” she said.

So now Harrison needs a new kidney, again, after being told that her kidney function would last only three months to five years.

Both of her sisters stepped up, but their kidney function tests failed to reach necessary levels for donation without posing significant risk to themselves. Harrison’s 21-year-old daughter then volunteered, as did two aunts, but none of their kidneys were healthy enough either.

“They all matched, they all would have been perfect candidates had their kidney function be good enough,” said Harrison.

Dunbarton resident Debbie Urbanik, after hearing about Harrison’s plight, was next to step up.

“She said I can do it. I want to help. I want to donate my kidney, which was unheard of,” said Harrison.

But Urbanik’s blood type, was not compatible with Harrison’s A-negative blood type.

“Positives and negatives don’t matter because they can give me medication to make it work, but anyone with a B blood type is not compatible,” said Harrison.

Though she continues to hope, one of Harrison’s few remaining options, locally, is a new program called “the buddy system,” in which two willing kidney donors from the same geographic region, who are both not compatible with their desired recipients, agree to donate to each other’s recipients, who are compatible.

“It’s very complicated and it’s a roll of the dice to see if you have two other people out there, in the same situation, who can be timed with my kidney failing with them being available,” she said. “And the travel is also very complicated because we all have to be at the same center, so if they live in Rhode Island, either they have to be willing to travel or we do.

“To go from there is going to be nothing short of a miracle, to make it all come together.”

Should another viable kidney donor not be found, Harrison said she may have to move to South Carolina.

“Some of my doctors and my insurance company have recommended that I move because (South Carolina’s) criteria is a lot different because there is less of a demand,” she said. “There are fewer people in my situation there so there is less red tape to actually have the surgery.”

In fact, without a special exception, a pancreas transplant isn’t even allowed in New England after the age of 45, leaving Harrison with only four years to find a healthy eligible donor and set up the surgery, where in South Carolina, which has a shorter wait time, she can have the surgery up until 50 years old.

“If I was in South Carolina, they just would have done the surgery (when a pancreas became available). They wouldn’t have put me on hold,” she said “But here there are so many people waiting that they have to draw the line somewhere.”

But Delanie Brennan, who has had two students in Harrison’s class, and Urbanik have initiated a campaign to keep Harrison in New Hampshire and in good health.

Brennan had a son two years ago who was born with a major heart defect. After seeing the way the community rallied around her and her family in support, she wanted to share a similar dedication with Harrison.

“We want her to be able to continue her life here without having to move somewhere else to be higher on a list,” said Brennan. “People did it for me and my family, and I’d like to think we can do the same for her. She’s part of the community here at Dunbarton Elementary School.”

Anyone interested in offering assistance to Harrison or her family may call Urbanik at 774-4524 or Brennan at 774-6179.

Those interested in a living kidney donation may contact UMass Memorial Medical Center at (508) 856-8088.