The perfect donor
When Middlesex County Corrections Local 152 President Ted Grabowski
needed a kidney transplant, his match was made in family
n BY AMBER RAMUNDO
Ted Grabowski is a creature of habit. In 1997, he started
his career in law enforcement as a corrections officer with
Middlesex County Corrections and has remained there ever
since. For 21 years, Grabowski has also put in his own time
at the corrections facility and is now serving his fifth term as
Middlesex County Corrections Local 152 president.
He’s the kind of guy who refuses to stop working until the
job is done. So, when a doctor warned Grabowski that his
kidney disease was worsening and that he’d need to go on
dialysis sooner or later, Grabowski sided with later.
“I’ll wait until after I retire,” Grabowski thought. “That’s
what it was in my mind: I’ll deal with this problem after I get
my 25 years.”
Four years is a long time to delay a serious condition that’s
been kept at bay for 23 years with medication. Grabowski
had kept his kidney function in check with medication that
regulates the creatinine level in his blood. And in Grabows-
ki’s mind, he could stretch the meds a little longer.
Until Grabowski realized that medication could only go so
far. He was given the dreaded ultimatum:
“You might want to consider retirement,” suggested Dr.
Geronimo Banayat, Grabowski’s kidney specialist, while ex-
plaining the commitment to the frequency of dialysis need-
ed to filter the toxins out of his system.
“Absolutely not,” Grabowski stated. Grabowski had a job
to finish. He refused to succumb to early retirement due to
health issues that he had worked with for so long.
But in April 2017, the kidney disease started to hit
Grabowski harder. He had trouble eating, and his fatigue in-
creased beyond the usual exhaustion from working 16 hours
of overtime a week in the jail. He was in pain, and it showed
in the worsening complexion of his face and unintentional
weight loss.
“Your body is full of poison. You’re getting really bad,” Dr.
Banayat told Grabowski after analyzing his blood test re-
sults.
Hearing that his creatinine level had skyrocketed to the
alarming number of 18 was a wakeup call for Grabowski. He
desperately wanted to maintain his commitment to Local
152, but something needed to be done. He was rushed to the
hospital and immediately started his first dialysis treatment.
“I called my job and basically said, ‘I’m going into the hos-
pital and I don’t know how long I’ll be out,’” Grabowski re-
called.
Determined to continue his drive to 25, Grabowski tried
to make a new schedule work, one that balanced his desire
to work with his need for treatment.
“I was going to dialysis three times a week, four hours a
Ted Grabowski and his niece, Lauren Mortenson, in the hospital after the
kidney transplant surgery that she made possible.
day, plus working 60 hours a week in the jail,” Grabowski
shared. “You can see how determined I am to finish out my
career. But, even though I was being productive and doing
my job, four years on dialysis is a long time.”
While Grabowski returned to the familiarity of working his
post in the dormitory-style unit with 130 inmates alongside
his partner, Juan Candeleria, he battled to keep up his usu-
al pace. His condition had worsened, and following several
consults with doctors and experts, Grabowski learned he
needed a kidney transplant.
His name sat patiently on a waiting list for a kidney donor
at Saint Barnabas Hospital. Meanwhile, his doctor, family
CONTINUED ON PAGE 60
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■ JANUARY 2018 59