U. Hospital performs its first pancreas transplant

University Hospital's transplant program has again expanded, with surgical teams now performing pancreas transplants.

The expansion is a significant advancement since last year, when the hospital began performing liver transplants.

For the hospital, the new procedure is part of building a comprehensive transplant center, said Dr. Jason Schwartz, surgical director of the new pancreas transplant program.

For Rock Springs resident LeRoy Lange, the U.'s first pancreas transplant patient, the transplant cures the diabetes he has battled since age 13.

Lange said his diabetes has been difficult to manage. He blames diabetic problems for five car crashes and several jobs lost because of health issues.

His daughter, Ali, began helping care for her dad at age 4. "She would give him sugar or insulin, and she would call me if he was starting to talk funny," said Lange's partner and Ali's mother, Christy Doak.

Then diabetes began to take its toll on Lange's kidneys, and doctors started talking about a kidney transplant. It was during the process of testing his kidneys that doctors brought up the idea of a dual transplant, including the pancreas. "We said 'Oh wow. We didn't know that was an option,"' Doak said.

Lange finished pre-transplant testing, and his name was put on a waiting list for donor organs.

A call from the hospital came at 8:38 a.m. July 22, Doak said. "When they called, LeRoy was in the living room. They asked me if he still wanted to do it. He shook his head 'yes."'

The couple scrambled to Salt Lake, and surgery started at 11 p.m. the same day. Doctors finished about 4 a.m. the next morning. Lange spent a week in the hospital and is now recovering at home, more active than he has been for the past year. "Day to day he takes care of our two children and is doing yard work," Doak said.

Schwartz isn't sure how excited he is to have his patient doing yard work this soon after surgery but is pleased the first transplant of the new program is going well.

Schwartz said the university spent months assembling the medical team needed to perform pancreas transplants and training hospital staff in the new procedure. Schwartz was among those additions, coming to the U.'s staff from Mayo Clinic. The pancreas transplant program was certified in December by the United Network of Organ Sharing, the national organization that certifies transplant programs. LDS Hospital is the one other Utah hospital that performs pancreas transplants.