Woman who had 2 tumors removed agrees to donate kidney for co-worker's husband

Kristine Gawlowski has spent dozens of hours under the knife. Surgeons have carved two golf-ball sized tumors from her brain, which left half of her face paralyzed and required a series of reconstructive surgeries.  

But when Gawlowski, 50, of Shirley, learned in February that she was eligible to donate her kidney to her co-worker’s husband, she didn’t have to think twice about undergoing another procedure.

“I always felt that I was lucky to be alive,” she said. “That there had to be a reason that I’m still here, so when I learned I was a match, there was no hesitation.”

On Dec. 4, doctors at Stony Brook University Hospital will remove one of Gawlowski’s kidneys and implant it in Artie Surrey, 44, of Mastic Beach.

Surrey has polycystic kidney disease and when he and his wife, Amy Surrey, learned that he would need a kidney donation a year ago, they started asking friends and family to get tested for compatibility.

Amy Surrey, a teaching assistant at Tangier Smith Elementary School, said they were desperate to find a donor, but she never wanted Gawlowski to get tested.

“Just knowing what she had been through, I didn’t want to see her go through more,” said Amy Surrey, 44.

But when Gawlowski, a monitor at Tangier Smith, learned that she and Artie Surrey were both O-positive, she took the test anyway and matched.

Though she was never nervous about the operation, Gawlowski said her four children were worried about how she’d hold up under the stress.

“They were scared at first, but I think they’re proud now,” she said.

Gawlowski underwent CAT scans, MRIs, chest X-rays and a battery of other tests to determine if she was healthy enough for another surgery. Doctors finally cleared her this fall for the operation.

“We hoped so many times we would get that call,” Amy Surrey said. “It was a huge relief.”

 The Mastic Beach Fire Department will be hosting a spaghetti dinner for Gawlowski, to raise money to help cover some of her expenses as she recovers, according to Artie Surrey, a lieutenant for the department.  The dinner will take place from 4-8 p.m. Dec. 2.

Artie Surrey, whose been on dialysis for the past six months, said Gawlowski’s donation is “like a light at the end of the tunnel” for him.

“There are really no words to describe it. I’m just very, very grateful,” Artie Surrey said. “Kristine is my hero.”