For 37 years, Victor Delgado fought diabetes fiercely but now his life depends on a double organ transplant and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Challenging," sighs the Puerto Rico native as he describes living with Type 1 diabetes.
"As a teenager, I was able to do what other teenagers were able to do but, as I get older, I've started to show complications," said Mr. Delgado, who made Chattanooga his home in 1980.
The dark circles beneath his eyes, the pale color of his skin and his dried lips are the outward signs of his battle against diabetes.
His high spirits and positive attitude masquerade what can't be seen: His kidneys are only functioning at about 16 percent and his pancreas doesn't produce insulin. He has developed cataracts, glaucoma and gout, among other conditions related to his disease.
Mr. Delgado's doctors recommended the 51-year-old get a kidney-pancreas transplant.
This type of double transplant is fairly uncommon, said Dr. Christopher Poole of Nephrology Associates of Chattanooga. During the seven years he has practiced in Chattanooga, the kidney specialist has referred fewer than 10 patients for this combination of transplants.
In Type 1 diabetes, the pancreas shuts down and stops producing insulin, in addition to the common problem of kidney failure among diabetes patients, Dr. Poole said.
"Those people can be helped or their diabetes can be cured if they get a new pancreas that produces the insulin," he said.
The downside, he noted, is that patients in need of a kidney-pancreas transplant may have to wait longer to get both organs at the same time. Some patients have to go on dialysis, but Mr. Delgado and his doctor hope he can avoid that.
HOW TO HELP* To make a donation or to get involved contact the Red Bank Hispanic Baptist Church, Pastor Jaime Betancourt at 423-877-4514.* Donate through the National Foundation for Transplants.* Read Victor Delgado's blog at www.victor4life.blogspot.com.
"In Victor's case, he is a pretty motivated guy who has done everything he can do to take care of himself," Dr. Poole said.
"He's a very good patient, he just has a couple of bad diseases that have put him in this situation," the doctor said. "It just stinks that he has two bad problems that aren't easily fixable."
And fixing them is very expensive. According to a 2008 report by Milliman, a consulting company for the health care industry, a kidney-pancreas transplant will average about $439,000 when all costs such as hospital fees, surgery, doctors and drugs are added up.
Mr. Delgado has worked for the same employer for 25 years. His health insurance covers about 80 percent of the costs involved with the transplant and post-transplant treatment, but he still needs to raise about $100,000.
He needs to pay Emory Hospital in Atlanta about $40,000 of the cost of the surgery before the procedure, which his church, Red Bank Hispanic Church, his family and his co-workers hope to help raise.
"For us he is a very important member of the church, of the community," said Jaime Betancourt, pastor of the Hispanic church. "He is one of the founders and we are trying to help him in any way possible."
Mr. Delgado, for whom music has been a passion since childhood, is music director at the church.
The church will raffle a computer in May as one of the first fundraising activities.
Mr. Delgado's younger sister, Sonia Cripps, said she will donate one of her kidneys but Mr. Delgado still has to wait for a deceased pancreas donor.
"I'm nervous about (the donation), of course," said Mrs. Cripps, an Arkansas resident and mother of four children. "Any surgery includes pros and cons and all that ... but I will get a lot more if I do it. I will get a healthy brother back."
Mr. Delgado said he is nervous about what the coming months hold for him, but he also is at peace.
"I have peace in my heart," he said. "I know God is the one taking care of me and I'm trusting my life to him and He will see me through."
ABOUT ORGAN DONATION
* More than 106,000 patients are waiting for an organ transplant today.
* On average, 18 people die every day in the United States while awaiting an organ transplant.
* Another name is added to the waiting list every 10 minutes -- 50,331 in 2009.
* In the Tennessee Donor Services area -- Tennessee and Virginia -- about 5,000 people are on the waiting list. Only about 450 people donate one or more organs upon death each year.
* In 2009, 6,485 Americans -- one person every 82 minutes-- died while waiting for a transplant.
Source: Tennessee Donor Services
FAST FACTS
* People with diabetes can develop kidney problems and eye problems. About one-fourth of diabetic develop kidney problems.
* The greater risk for death for diabetics is cardiovascular disease.
* For people with Type 1 diabetes, getting a new pancreas can essentially cure them of diabetes.
Source: Dr. Christopher Poole, local nephrologist