Dropdownlist within a panel inside ItemTemplate

I have a dropdown list inside a panel.  The panel is within an ItemTemplate of a gridview.  How do I bind the dropdownlist when the user clicks on the Edit linkbutton of a row?  ddlLECountry isn't accessible in the gvLE_Edit method.
Thanks for the help!
<asp:TemplateField HeaderText="Edit" ShowHeader="false"> <ItemTemplate> <asp:LinkButton ID="lbtnEdit" runat="server" CausesValidation="false" CssClass="GridViewLinkButtonStyle" Width="80px" CommandName="Edit" Text="Edit" OnCommand="gvLE_Edit" CommandArgument='<%# DataBinder.Eval(Container,"RowIndex") %>' /> <asp:ModalPopupExtender ID="ModalPopupExtender2" runat="server& ...