{"id":44005,"date":"2014-10-14T10:43:54","date_gmt":"2014-10-14T15:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/?p=44005"},"modified":"2014-10-14T14:06:37","modified_gmt":"2014-10-14T19:06:37","slug":"diabetic-no-more-ummc-patient-gets-states-first-isolated-pancreas-transplant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/diabetic-no-more-ummc-patient-gets-states-first-isolated-pancreas-transplant\/","title":{"rendered":"Diabetic No More: UMMC Patient Gets State’s First Isolated Pancreas Transplant"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Nancy<\/a>

Nancy Smith with daughter Braeden and son Carruth<\/p><\/div>\n

JACKSON, Miss. \u2013 Ask brittle diabetic Nancy Smith why she opted for a pancreas transplant, a rare procedure not without risk or potentially devastating complications, and she\u2019ll tell you about her heart.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s her son Carruth, an 18-year-old high school senior. There\u2019s daughter Braeden, 23, a college graduate and preschool teacher.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re amazing,\u201d the Jackson resident says of her children. Carruth copes with the challenges of Asperger\u2019s syndrome, a form of autism, and a rare neuropsychiatric disorder associated with strep infections.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made the decision easy. I want to watch them continue to grow, and to be around for all the major life events to come,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHe needs me, and so does she. Nobody is like a mama.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sept. 30, Smith became the first person in the state to receive an isolated pancreas transplant at the University of Mississippi Medical Center<\/a> \u2013 not the more medically common combination of a pancreas and kidney, but a pancreas alone.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s an incredibly rare procedure,\u201d said Dr. Mark Earl, an assistant professor of surgery at UMMC, who performed the transplant and whose expertise includes all aspects of liver and pancreas surgery and transplant.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s especially rare for someone who has no kidney failure, but has other life-threatening complications from type 1 diabetes,\u201d Earl said. And, he said, the surgery marks the 10th transplant of a pancreas at UMMC this year, putting its transplant program on par with other acclaimed programs in the Southeast.<\/p>\n

Diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, 52-year-old Smith said she and her doctors knew it would be a matter of time before she\u2019d need a transplant. She lost sight in one eye. Her neuropathy was worsening. Quality of life was waning.<\/p>\n

Because Smith\u2019s pancreas wasn\u2019t producing the hormone insulin and couldn\u2019t regulate her blood sugar levels, her blood sugar was unpredictable and would drop without warning, causing her to pass out.\u00a0 \u201cLow blood sugar can be immediately life threatening. You pass out, and if it doesn\u2019t come back up, you can die,\u201d Earl said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause Nancy is a Type 1 diabetic, the insulin-producing cells in her pancreas had been killed by her own immune system,\u201d Earl said.<\/p>\n

During a three-hour operation, Earl left her native pancreas alone; it worked well except for that one potentially fatal flaw. The donated pancreas he positioned into her abdomen produces crucial insulin, which stimulates cells to absorb sugar from the blood.<\/p>\n

Before the surgery, Smith had tried to do all the right things:\u00a0 Frequently exercise. Watch her diet and weight. Pray. Try not to fret about the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I could stay calm and not worry about things as much, that would help,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be here today if I didn\u2019t exercise like I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as her health continued to deteriorate, Smith in July 2013 secured a place on the transplant waiting list at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans. It was right before UMMC\u2019s transplant program began performing pancreas-kidney procedures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had to take me off the waiting list at Ochsner because I couldn\u2019t find anyone who could go to New Orleans and stay there three months with me,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

The timing could not have been better.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was ironic,\u201d said Smith\u2019s sister-in-law, Terri Gillespie of Jackson, who happens to be UMMC\u2019s chief nursing executive officer. \u201cShe came over to the house and said she wished UMMC would get approval for a pancreas transplant. I said, \u2018Oh, my gosh. That happened yesterday! \u2018 \u201d<\/p>\n

In January, Smith met with Dr. Kenneth Kokko, an associate professor of nephrology and member of UMMC\u2019s transplant team. \u201cDr. Earl came in, and he said, \u2018You\u2019re going to be the first person to receive a pancreas transplant, and if there was any person who needed a pancreas transplant, you\u2019re it,\u201d Smith remembered.<\/p>\n

On Sept. 24, Earl called her:\u00a0 A donor pancreas had been located. She grabbed the bag that had been packed for months and headed to UMMC, only to find out that the pancreas wasn\u2019t viable for transplant. \u201cWe got back into the car, and Nancy said, \u2018I feel like I had Braxton-Hicks contractions and I went to the hospital to have a baby, and I got sent back home,\u2019 \u201d said her sister, Janie Robbins of Ridgeland.<\/p>\n

\u201cCarruth was so sad when I came back home,\u201d Smith said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t say a word. He just put his head on my shoulder. Braeden was bummed, but positive that all things happen for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just days later, Earl summoned Smith again with news of a potential pancreas. She hurried back to UMMC, donned a hospital gown, and counted down the hours before surgery in a patient room, Gillespie and Robbins at her side.<\/p>\n

Earl stood at her bedside and detailed the risks:\u00a0 There would be a 30 percent chance she\u2019d have to go back into surgery the first week. There was a 10 percent chance the blood supply to the new pancreas could become blocked during the first six weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s about a 20 percent chance of rejection, but in the overwhelming majority of folks, the transplanted pancreas lasts a long time and they are done taking insulin injections,\u201d Earl told her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the overwhelming majority!\u201d Smith told him.<\/p>\n

As Smith, Gillespie and Robbins waited for word from Earl on the pancreas\u2019 viability, they shared a laugh over memories of Smith owning a cupcake store in the face of diabetes. And, they somberly contemplated the fact that because someone died, Smith could have a better and longer life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m overwhelmed,\u201d Robbins said. \u201cYou know someone\u2019s going to be giving us the greatest gift.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can just have five more years \u2026.\u201d Smith said, willing back her tears. \u201cI just need a little more time.\u201d<\/p>\n

When they thought a transplant was imminent a week earlier, Gillespie said, \u201cI felt elation, and then did a lot of praying.<\/p>\n

\u201cOften times with a transplant, if it\u2019s an unexpected death, it gives a donor family a feeling of closure \u2013 that it wasn\u2019t all for nothing,\u201d said Gillespie, who spent many years as an emergency room and recovery nurse.<\/p>\n

Earl sent Smith home just five days after she got her new pancreas.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything\u2019s a miracle,\u201d said Smith, who wants to help people understand the importance of organ donation. \u201cWhen I woke up from surgery, I didn\u2019t have diabetes. Now I can see shapes and some other things out of my right eye. I\u2019ve never had this many normal blood sugars this many days in a row.<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot imagine having anyone else in charge,\u201d she said of Earl. \u201cHe has given me quality of life back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Earl: \u201cShe\u2019s not just recovering from surgery. She\u2019s recovering from years of diabetes. But with her energy level and the rate she is recovering, we\u2019re going to have to slow her down, rather than tell her she needs to get moving and start living life.\u201d<\/p>\n

He and his staff are watching Smith carefully, taking frequent bloodwork and making sure she regularly checks her blood sugar. \u201cThat is one of our best markers for pancreatic function,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As Smith\u2019s recovery continues, Earl said, so does her prospect of a long and healthy life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want her to get 20 more years completely free of diabetes. That\u2019s the whole point. If this wasn\u2019t the point, it wouldn\u2019t be worth the risk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy hope is that she goes on to die of something else as a very old lady.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JACKSON, Miss. \u2013 Ask brittle diabetic Nancy Smith why she opted for a pancreas transplant, a rare procedure not without risk or potentially devastating complications, and she\u2019ll tell you about her heart. There\u2019s her son Carruth, an 18-year-old high school senior. There\u2019s daughter Braeden, 23, a college graduate and preschool teacher. \u201cThey\u2019re amazing,\u201d the JacksonRead the story …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":44006,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,221,199,473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nDiabetic No More: UMMC Patient Gets State's First Isolated Pancreas Transplant - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/diabetic-no-more-ummc-patient-gets-states-first-isolated-pancreas-transplant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Diabetic No More: UMMC Patient Gets State's First Isolated Pancreas Transplant - Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"JACKSON, Miss. \u2013 Ask brittle diabetic Nancy Smith why she opted for a pancreas transplant, a rare procedure not without risk or potentially devastating complications, and she\u2019ll tell you about her heart. There\u2019s her son Carruth, an 18-year-old high school senior. There\u2019s daughter Braeden, 23, a college graduate and preschool teacher. \u201cThey\u2019re amazing,\u201d the JacksonRead the story …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/diabetic-no-more-ummc-patient-gets-states-first-isolated-pancreas-transplant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ole Miss News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-10-14T15:43:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-10-14T19:06:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Nancy-Smith-Family_2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1150\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OleMissRebels\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"Ole Miss News\",\"description\":\"The official source for University of Mississippi news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/diabetic-no-more-ummc-patient-gets-states-first-isolated-pancreas-transplant\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Nancy-Smith-Family_2.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1150,\"caption\":\"Nancy Smith and famiily\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/diabetic-no-more-ummc-patient-gets-states-first-isolated-pancreas-transplant\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/diabetic-no-more-ummc-patient-gets-states-first-isolated-pancreas-transplant\/\",\"name\":\"Diabetic No More: UMMC Patient Gets State's First Isolated Pancreas Transplant - Ole Miss News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/diabetic-no-more-ummc-patient-gets-states-first-isolated-pancreas-transplant\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-10-14T15:43:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-10-14T19:06:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/c2ecbc81751a637a438366fac729509f\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/diabetic-no-more-ummc-patient-gets-states-first-isolated-pancreas-transplant\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/c2ecbc81751a637a438366fac729509f\",\"name\":\"rwhittington\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bc6ee1e81fe690560a917b5c994b20ff?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"rwhittington\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44005"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44005"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44036,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44005\/revisions\/44036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}