Let's give Jessi Barton a life
Donation protected
Welcome friends! This beautiful little girl has been very sick for many years now. Below is her story:
I am having a Total Pancreatectomy with Islet Auto Transplant on May 15. This procedure completely removes my pancreas, my spleen, and a part of my small intestines. Then, my insulin cells (Islet Cells) are removed from my pancreas and cleaned and injected into my liver. This is why it is called a transplant. My own islet cells are injected into my liver to help prevent diabetes and since they are my own, there is no chance of rejection. Hopefully, this will relieve years of pain, prevent my guaranteed chance of pancreatic cancer, and give me back my life. For those of you that may not know me, here is my story!
My story starts back in 2001 when I was 12 years old, and playing Frisbee in a park. A typical outdoor activity for kids right? I went to catch it when an excited puppy tried to catch it too. He took me out at the knees and I landed on my back on a bed of rocks. I was immediately knocked unconscious and rushed to the emergency room. I was diagnosed with a bruised spine and would be back to normal in no time.
Three months later, I dropped to the ground with excruciating right side pain. This pain was sharp, very intense, and constant. I was never pain free. I would curl up in the fetal position and just scream and cry. I went to doctor after doctor and had diagnosis after diagnosis. No one knew what was wrong with me and no one could make the pain better. I had test after test and everything always came back normal. I had MRI's, blood tests, nuclear medical tests, endoscopies, colonoscopies, my gall bladder removed and the worst of all for me, ERCPs. An ERCP is like an endoscopy, in that a camera is inserted down into your stomach, but they can also take samples among other things. Every time I would have an ERCP, I would get pancreatitis. Pancreatitis is essentially an inflammation inside the pancreas caused by inactive digestive enzymes becoming active and digesting the pancreas. They say that the only pain that compares to pancreatitis is child birth. It sucks big time! Anyways, they did these ERCPs and I would get pancreatitis. Finally, after 8 years of all these tests, the doctors figured it out! I have a damaged nerve root at T9, that was caused by that fall in the park. Little did we know, that all of these tests would result in a far worse problem.
I had my first pancreatitis attack without procedural provocation on July 30, 2006. Doctors measure how bad a pancreatitis attack is by amylase and lipase levels in your blood. Normal amylase levels are 23-140 U/L and lipase levels are 0-160 U/L. My amylase levels were 33,000 and lipase levels were 2,300 upon admission that day. Sadly, that was no where near the worse attack I would have in the following years. In 2007, I was hospitalized 13 times with each stay being at least 7 days long. It gradually got better in the following years until 2011. I went to the University of Colorado Hospital, where I was told about the TP-IAT procedure. My doctor told me that the hospital was going to bring the procedure to Colorado and that I should wait for it so my recovery could be at home. I waited until December 2014 and I made the decision to go to the University of Minnesota Medical Center. I made this decision for a few reasons. One, because my pancreatitis and pain in between the attacks has gotten bad enough that I average 1 pancreatitis attack a month. Two, because they pioneered the procedure back in 1977, so they've had the most "practice", per se. Three, because my chances of pancreatic cancer are exponentially high and this procedure can't be done once you get it. Lastly, because I am so sick of being in pain.
My pancreatitis has gotten so bad, that I don't go to the hospital anymore when I get an attack. My primary doctor helps me treat it at home. I am so sick and tired of being in pain all of the time. I have a 1/3 chance of being a full blown diabetic, a 1/3 chance of just needing long acting insulin 2-3 times a day, and 1/3 chance of being completely non- insulin dependent. The surgeon in Minnesota told me that of the 1/3 that gets full blown diabetes, 92% of them would do this procedure all over again. I have an 8 year old cousin with juvenile diabetes, who was diagnosed at 4. If he can do it, so can I! I had a full boat scholarship to the University of Hawaii to be a marine biologist, and I had to turn it down because I was too sick to go. I can't travel anywhere without knowing where the nearest hospital is and I always carry pain meds, just in case I get an attack. I am ready to take my life back and really LIVE!!!
I will never be able to thank each of you enough for your love, thoughts, prayers, and help. I am so very blessed and so very thankful. From my heart to you, thank you. May God bless you.
Jessi Barton
I am having a Total Pancreatectomy with Islet Auto Transplant on May 15. This procedure completely removes my pancreas, my spleen, and a part of my small intestines. Then, my insulin cells (Islet Cells) are removed from my pancreas and cleaned and injected into my liver. This is why it is called a transplant. My own islet cells are injected into my liver to help prevent diabetes and since they are my own, there is no chance of rejection. Hopefully, this will relieve years of pain, prevent my guaranteed chance of pancreatic cancer, and give me back my life. For those of you that may not know me, here is my story!
My story starts back in 2001 when I was 12 years old, and playing Frisbee in a park. A typical outdoor activity for kids right? I went to catch it when an excited puppy tried to catch it too. He took me out at the knees and I landed on my back on a bed of rocks. I was immediately knocked unconscious and rushed to the emergency room. I was diagnosed with a bruised spine and would be back to normal in no time.
Three months later, I dropped to the ground with excruciating right side pain. This pain was sharp, very intense, and constant. I was never pain free. I would curl up in the fetal position and just scream and cry. I went to doctor after doctor and had diagnosis after diagnosis. No one knew what was wrong with me and no one could make the pain better. I had test after test and everything always came back normal. I had MRI's, blood tests, nuclear medical tests, endoscopies, colonoscopies, my gall bladder removed and the worst of all for me, ERCPs. An ERCP is like an endoscopy, in that a camera is inserted down into your stomach, but they can also take samples among other things. Every time I would have an ERCP, I would get pancreatitis. Pancreatitis is essentially an inflammation inside the pancreas caused by inactive digestive enzymes becoming active and digesting the pancreas. They say that the only pain that compares to pancreatitis is child birth. It sucks big time! Anyways, they did these ERCPs and I would get pancreatitis. Finally, after 8 years of all these tests, the doctors figured it out! I have a damaged nerve root at T9, that was caused by that fall in the park. Little did we know, that all of these tests would result in a far worse problem.
I had my first pancreatitis attack without procedural provocation on July 30, 2006. Doctors measure how bad a pancreatitis attack is by amylase and lipase levels in your blood. Normal amylase levels are 23-140 U/L and lipase levels are 0-160 U/L. My amylase levels were 33,000 and lipase levels were 2,300 upon admission that day. Sadly, that was no where near the worse attack I would have in the following years. In 2007, I was hospitalized 13 times with each stay being at least 7 days long. It gradually got better in the following years until 2011. I went to the University of Colorado Hospital, where I was told about the TP-IAT procedure. My doctor told me that the hospital was going to bring the procedure to Colorado and that I should wait for it so my recovery could be at home. I waited until December 2014 and I made the decision to go to the University of Minnesota Medical Center. I made this decision for a few reasons. One, because my pancreatitis and pain in between the attacks has gotten bad enough that I average 1 pancreatitis attack a month. Two, because they pioneered the procedure back in 1977, so they've had the most "practice", per se. Three, because my chances of pancreatic cancer are exponentially high and this procedure can't be done once you get it. Lastly, because I am so sick of being in pain.
My pancreatitis has gotten so bad, that I don't go to the hospital anymore when I get an attack. My primary doctor helps me treat it at home. I am so sick and tired of being in pain all of the time. I have a 1/3 chance of being a full blown diabetic, a 1/3 chance of just needing long acting insulin 2-3 times a day, and 1/3 chance of being completely non- insulin dependent. The surgeon in Minnesota told me that of the 1/3 that gets full blown diabetes, 92% of them would do this procedure all over again. I have an 8 year old cousin with juvenile diabetes, who was diagnosed at 4. If he can do it, so can I! I had a full boat scholarship to the University of Hawaii to be a marine biologist, and I had to turn it down because I was too sick to go. I can't travel anywhere without knowing where the nearest hospital is and I always carry pain meds, just in case I get an attack. I am ready to take my life back and really LIVE!!!
I will never be able to thank each of you enough for your love, thoughts, prayers, and help. I am so very blessed and so very thankful. From my heart to you, thank you. May God bless you.
Jessi Barton
Organizer
Trish Hurley-Barton
Organizer
Gypsum, CO
