Woman Says Transplant Cured Her Diabetes
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Updated: 11:18 PM Nov 22, 2009
Woman Says Transplant Cured Her Diabetes
It's a disease without a cure. But a Wisconsin Rapids woman says an organ transplant cured her type one diabetes.
Posted: 7:42 PM Nov 22, 2009
Reporter: Julia Fello
Email Address: jfello@wsaw.com
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It's a disease without a cure. But a Wisconsin Rapids woman says an organ transplant cured her type one diabetes.

Many viewer e-mails were sent when the series living with diabetes aired. One caught Julia Fello's eye, from a woman who has a story unlike any other.

Her story starts when she was 6-years-old, and doctors first diagnosed her with diabetes.

"They first discovered it when I started first grade. A teacher called my Mom, they thought I needed to go to the doctor she thought I had a bladder infection because of the frequency issue which is commonly a first sign," says Brenda Mueller.

Growing up, Brenda had to deal with terrible complications from the disease.

"College was really hard because the lifestyle is so non-ordinary your living on cookies and coke and things like that," says Brenda

"Because I was not a compliant patient and I had extended blood sugars really high at times I ended up with a lot of the early side effects," she says, "I developed kidney disease and about 2 years ago I got to the point where I was put on dialysis."

Because of that, Brenda was on the waiting list to get a new kidney at the University of Minnesota at Fairview. In the Summer 2008 she received a new pancreas and kidney. Suddenly, for the first time in 40 years found herself living without the side effects of diabetes.

"Everything is completely different. I don't have to watch my diet anymore I was on an insulin pump for probably 5 years and I don't need any insulin anymore," she says, "The sluggishness of the constant highs and lows is gone I have more energy it's a whole new life."

For those of you unfamiliar with the disease, type one diabetes is caused when a person's pancreas doesn't produce insulin.

Which is why when Brenda received a new pancreas, she no longer needed to give herself insulin injections.


Latest Comments

Posted by: Thiruvelan Location: Trichy on Dec 10, 2009 at 09:02 PM

Thank you for the real life story of "Wisconsin Rapids woman says an organ transplant cured her type one diabetes", hopeful information for all diabetics particularly type 1 diabetes http://healthy-ojas.com/diabetes/diabetes-details.html
Posted by: Evelyn Guzman Location: Clearwater, FL on Nov 23, 2009 at 12:19 PM

Diabetes is supposed to be incurable but this woman in the news who claims her diabetes was cured after a kidney and pancreas transplantation is a testimony that it is not necessarily incurable. She has had it for 40 years, endured all and even needed dialysis for her failing kidney and now she is as right as rain. I hope and pray the feeling lasts. Evelyn Guzman http://www.free-symptoms-of-diabetes-alert.com (If you want to visit, just click but if it doesn’t work, copy and paste it onto your browser.)
Posted by: David J Location: Nashville on Nov 23, 2009 at 09:53 AM

Brenda Mueller was very lucky to get Pancreas & Kidney transplants. Over half of the 100,000 Americans on the national waiting list will die before they get a transplant. Most of these deaths are needless. Americans bury or cremate 20,000 transplantable organs every year. Anyone who wants to donate their organs to others who have agreed to donate theirs can join LifeSharers. LifeSharers is a non-profit network of organ donors who agree to offer their organs first to other organ donors when they die. Membership is free at www.lifesharers.org or by calling 1-888-ORGAN88. There is no age limit, parents can enroll their minor children, and no one is excluded due to any pre-existing medical condition. LifeSharers has over 13,000 members, including 216 members in Wisconsin.
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