LEWISTON — In trying to save someone’s life by donating a kidney, former Lewiston police officer Alice Laliberte’s life was saved.

Laliberte is thankful to be alive, thankful doctors discovered she had lung cancer and thankful that her tumor was successfully removed. Her future is looking good.

But Laliberte, 43, a federal agent at the Canadian border in Coburn Gore, is disappointed she isn’t able to help Mike Blais, who still needs a kidney.

If it weren’t for her volunteering to be a donor, she wouldn’t have had tests that revealed her stage 2 tumor.

“I had no symptoms. I never smoked a day in my life,” Laliberte said. She not only felt fine, she was running half-marathons.

She was planning to donate her kidney on Oct. 23.

Instead, she was having her tumor removed on Oct. 22.

“It’s a blessing that this happened, definitely,” Laliberte said during a recent interview. “I’m sad I can’t help Mike out. I’m sad that I have to go through all this. I’m glad that they found it. I called him up and said, ‘Thank you for saving my life.’”

Blais still needs a kidney. Laliberte hopes sharing her story will help others to consider donating a kidney to save someone’s life.

Laliberte knows Blais from her days as a police officer and his involvement as a Kora Shriner. “I still do clowning for the Shriners,” he said.

Blais, 60, of Sabattus, has stage 5 kidney disease. “I’m on the verge of having dialysis,” he said.

Last summer he posted on Facebook that he was looking for a kidney “as a joke, and to see what would happen,” Blais said. He got some jokes as responses, including, “I’ve got one in my toolbox,” and, “I just slaughtered a cow.”

Laliberte gave him a genuine yes.

“I thought about it and said, ‘Why not?’ I’m healthy. I have two kidneys. I like helping people,” Laliberte said.

Before anyone donates a kidney, medical screening is done to ensure the donor’s kidneys are functioning well. Hers were. She had the right blood type. “Everything was perfect,” Laliberte said.

Until a scan revealed the lung tumor.

Blais used to own Dick’s Plumbing and Heating. He retired because of health problems. He had a double bypass, followed by a stroke which left him practically blind. He’s recovered well from the stroke, but he needs a kidney.

If he received a transplant, “I’d feel a lot better. I’d be more active,” he said.

Laliberte interjected, “He’s in pain every night he goes to sleep.” His kidneys don’t filter as they should. Fluid and waste that should leave the body “goes to his legs.”

A healthy kidney filters waste in the body and regulates electrolytes and minerals, said nurse Roxanne Taylor, living donation coordinator for Maine Medical Center’s transplant program.

When the kidneys fail, “the body is unable to do that anymore,” Taylor said. “Sometimes a fair amount of urine and water builds up in the body.” Pain in the legs or swelling results “because the body’s not putting out enough fluid anymore.” That can hurt the heart and vascular system, Taylor said.

Laliberte can’t donate a kidney until she’s been cancer free for five years. She urged those in good health to think about it.

“They will not consider you for a donor unless they know you are a good match and perfectly healthy,” she said. “I say to anyone who’s a license organ donor, a live donor is going to last a lot longer than if you’re passed away. It’s extremely rewarding to be able to do it, to see what good you’ve done. There’s no better gift.”

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Kidney transplants are done at Maine Medical Center in Portland, about 50 per year, said Roxanne Taylor, the living donation coordinator for the hospital’s transplant program.

What happened in the case of Alice Laliberte — a cancerous lung tumor was found during tests to confirm she could safely donate — “is not terribly common,” Taylor said. “It’s the second time we’ve ever found lung cancer.”

During the past 20 years, kidney cancer has been uncovered four or five times during the medical screening process, she said.

Before the hospital agrees to accept a donor’s kidney, “we do lots of testing and look at a person’s medical history. We’re trying to assess their risk. If we don’t think that risk is minimal, we don’t do it.”

While the hospital wants kidneys to transplant, “it is always the donor’s health that comes first,” Taylor said. She said people can live healthy lives with one kidney.

Maine Med prefers donors to be in their mid-20s. “We do not have an upper age limit,” Taylor said. “We go by their health.”

For a person to donate one of two kidneys, they have to be in good health and have excellent kidney function. A donor will not be considered if he or she has high blood pressure, even if it’s regulated by medicine, diabetes, a recent diagnosis of cancer or kidney stones in the past 10 years.

Nationally, 106,000 people need kidney transplants; Maine has 100 people on its list. Some wait five or six years for a kidney.

For more information on MMC’s transplant program: www.mmc.org/mmc_transplant.cfm?id=3049.