Girl With Diabetes and Insulin Allergy to Receive Pancreas Transplant

[Northerner]

A 12-year old South Carolina girl with Type 1 diabetes and what her parents describe as an intense allergy to insulin therapy is set to undergo a rarely performed whole pancreas transplant at the University of Minnesota.

Jack and Tiffanie Reeves, parents of Emmy, say they will take her on a cross country trip to diabetes camp in California, including a stop at Universal Studios in Orlando to “build memories,” and then move her temporarily to Minnesota with her mother as they wait for a pancreas to become available.

The surgeon who will perform the transplant, Dr. Raja Kandaswamy, Director of the Pancreas and Intestinal Transplant Program at the University of Minnesota , says Emmy’s transplant will be the first one done at his center in the past 15 to perhaps 20 years. And while Kandaswamy points to Emmy’s situation as unique, he also says he feels that pancreas transplantation is an option too few pediatric endocrinologists consider for patients. “There is not as much enthusiasm as there should be,” Kandaswamy said. “The diabetes community is told [with a transplant] they are just trading off one set of risks for another.”

https://asweetlife.org/girl-with-diabetes-and-insulin-allergy-to-receive-pancreas-transplant/

 

[mikeyB]

If this guy has not done one of these ops for 15-20 years, I'd run a mile. This is highly specialised surgery. And with regard to the parents, I don't think they have tried their best to overcome her allergy with desensitisation.

If the pancreas only has an 8 year life expectancy, she'll be back on insulin in around 6, and not all transplanted pancreases totally eliminate the need for insulin. Thankfully, when she needs a replacement she can make her own decision.

 

[Northerner]

It does sound like a very extreme solution 😱 I was wondering what the issues were preventing islet transplantation in children? It's not like she's an infant, at 12. I'd love to know what her low carb diet actually consists of. Reading the article you get the impression that this is being presented as a quick fix, in much the same way as stomach-stapling often is for obese people, almost dismissing the possible problems surgery might present.

 

[Pumper_Sue]

I wonder if they have even thought of importing animal insulin to see if it works, I see a pump hasn't been mentioned either as this might help with a slow trickle going in.

 

[mikeyB]

With regard to the pump, that was my thought too. And the animal insulin. They just don't seem to have tried all the possible options before leaping in to this dangerous surgery, its most odd. And the poor girl will probably end up unable to have children.

Thank goodness this wouldn't happen in the UK.

 

[trophywench]

Grief - I'm bloody glad more paediatric D Consultants are NOT considering transplant surgery, meself. Bloke's a nutter trying to make a name for himself.