A Kidney Recipient and a Kidney Donor: Mother and Daughter Share Their Stories

By Paula Green

March is National Kidney Month. As someone who received a kidney transplant, Naval veteran Gitthaline “Candie” Gagne knows it is important to take care of your kidneys.

Candie followed her father’s footsteps and joined the Navy in 1978 when she was 17. He served in the Marine Corps, the Army, and the Naval Reserve. Candie worked as a hospital corpsman, helping doctors, nurses, and patients communicate. She also did lab work and assisted in the operating room.

Candie went to the Naval School of Health Sciences in Portsmouth, Virginia, to become a certified surgical technologist. There, she met her husband, Thom. As a military couple, they lived in many places in the U.S. and overseas. Their daughter, Paige, was born in 1986 at a naval hospital in Beaufort, South Carolina.

In 1996, they moved to Pittsburgh, where Candie retired through the Troops to Teachers program. She then spent three years teaching surgical skills in Pittsburgh Public Schools.

Candie broke her ankle after a fall in late 2016. After six weeks of rest, it didn’t heal as expected. In February 2017, Thom found Candie unresponsive, and she was taken to the emergency room. Doctors discovered she had severe kidney damage and needed emergency dialysis.

By April, Candie’s kidneys had failed, and she began regular clinical dialysis treatments. In June 2017, she was placed on a transplant list. Paige wanted to donate a kidney to her mom, but she wasn’t a match.

Things got worse when Thom’s health declined. He had heart failure and was diagnosed with kidney failure. Thom needed dialysis, but his heart condition meant he couldn’t receive a transplant. Later, they learned that Candie's and Thom’s health problems were linked to their time at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where the water supply was contaminated.

In June 2018, Candie got good news: a living donor was a match for her. On June 22, 2018, she received a donor kidney at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital.

“Dialysis is difficult, emotionally and physically draining; to know that a person I had never met would unselfishly donate a part of herself to me is indescribable,” said Candie.

Three years later, Paige discovered her kidney was a match for a child who needed a transplant. She agreed to become a living donor. The surgery was on March 16, 2021, and by coincidence, Paige had the same surgeon as her mother.

“I can’t imagine how my recipient and her family felt when they got the call stating they had a donor, and I said yes. I know how our family felt for my mom. It was rewarding to be a living donor. I’ve grown up with a sense of service to others, as my family has a long history of military service and volunteerism. I was healthy enough to help someone live the life they were meant to live,” Paige said.

Candie not only battled her own health problems but also wanted to help others facing similar challenges, as she and Thom did. Sadly, Thom passed away on December 24, 2021.

“I became involved shortly after being diagnosed with kidney disease. I started volunteering with the National Kidney Foundation, the American Kidney Fund, and the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP),” Candie said.

“I currently sit on the board of directors of the American Association of Kidney Patients. I can participate in research projects with many ties to the veteran community. Veterans are more likely to have kidney disease than the general population, and the AAKP has a task force, the Veterans Health Initiative, to address these issues. Last year, I was elected to the Organ Procurement and Transplant Network board of directors, a division of the federal Department of Health and Human Services. We are tasked with the complete modernization of the nation’s transplant system,” Candie added.

In October, Candie received a national honor: the AAKP’s Patient Engagement and Advocacy Award. On March 7, she will receive the Small Hands, Big Heart Award, which recognizes patient advocates who go above and beyond to raise awareness of kidney disease.

“I’m proud of my mother. She took something that could have been devastating and turned it into a positive. She’s been through the shocking diagnosis, dialysis, and transplant. She uses her years of knowledge as a hospital corpsman/surgical technologist to educate. She advocates for legislation (at both the state and national levels) on how to help with the transplant process when making laws to assist living donors,” Paige said.

Northern Connection Magazine honors Candie Gagne for her years of military service and her dedicated work for kidney patients. We also thank her daughter, Paige Cangilla, for choosing to become a living donor.