PLEASE HELP SAVE CHRYSTAL SILVERS’ LIFE

I would like to tell you about my wife, Chrystal Silvers. She is 35 years old and a mother of two beautiful girls and a loving stepmother to my son. For about six years she has been battling chronic pancreatitis and it has worsened steadily over the past two years. Her way of life has changed dramatically. There are days where the pain is intolerable to the point where she cannot care for herself let alone her family. She has sought several opinions about treatment options and care which includes the removal of her gall bladder. After several hospitalizations and local specialists, her doctor sent her to the University of Arizona Medical Center to see a GI specialist where it was decided that she should meet with their transplant team to discuss having an islet cell transplant and total pancreatectomy.

The pancreas is responsible for breaking down your food during digestion and producing insulin. While medical technology has developed medication that breaks down food intake, without insulin production, Chrystal will become a brittle diabetic. This is different than the normal Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The long-term outlook for patients with brittle diabetes is uncertain and grim. It is known that brittle diabetics have a higher risk of death and poor quality of life caused by unpredictable rises and dips in blood glucose levels. An islet cell transplant can save Chrystal’s life.