New technology gives hope to diabetics facing amputations

[0:00] Welcome back. For more than 40 million Americans living with type 2 diabetes, the result from years of blood vessel damage can lead to one of their biggest fears, having a limb cut off or worse yet, death. [0:11] But new technology can help prevent amputations, leading to a lifeline in a critical moment against time. [0:17] A warning some viewers may find some images difficult to watch. [0:20] Here's our senior national correspondent, Steve Osinsami. [0:24] This is the day that Cynthia Ryan and her family had prayed for. [0:31] It was a Thursday morning last September in Memphis, Tennessee. [0:39] And this 64-year-old retired nurse and grandmother is about to be treated by a vascular surgeon. [0:47] How are you doing? Is she feeling good? [0:48] Who is hoping to save her right leg. [0:52] And to this day, her family says that meeting this doctor was one of the best things to happen to their mother. [0:59] Amputation is not the only option. And to me, we hit the lottery. [1:04] I just want her to be okay. I just want her to be here as long as she can be. [1:10] I have expectations for this to be successful. I have expectations for the lottery to pay off. [1:17] Their crisis was years in the making. In 2001, their mother learned by accident that she was diabetic during a health screening for a new job. [1:29] And she admits that even though she's a nurse, for a long time she failed to get her high blood sugar under control. [1:37] People tell me all the time, I ain't going to claim diabetes. You ain't got to claim it because they're going to claim you. [1:44] When did you worry that her legs were in jeopardy? [1:48] This year. [1:49] This year? [1:50] Yeah. Because she kept falling all the time. [1:54] A simple blood test keeps you honest. It's called the hemoglobin A1c. And it measures average blood sugar levels over the last three months. 5.6% or below is normal. Between 5.7 and 6.4 is pre-diabetic. Anything 6.5 or more is the full-blown disease. [2:14] Do you remember what your A1c was? [2:18] The A1c was like 12-something. I was very out of control. Just about everything I had was out of control. [2:25] So you had a 12 A1c? [2:27] Yes. [2:27] Okay. And so you know, I always share mine in these stories. So my highest was 6.9. [2:33] Now I was down to 4.7. [2:37] Oh, that's excellent. [2:39] Because I don't take any insulin or pills anymore. I started the Olympic. [2:43] But like millions of Americans who discover this every year, the damage from decades of high blood sugar was already done. [2:53] Two heart attacks later, her kidneys were also failing. And now the weakened arteries in her legs weren't sending enough blood to her feet. The result is hard to look at. [3:08] The nursing you knew. [3:09] I knew my toe was dead. [3:11] And you feared. [3:13] And I feared it just, it's going to go further. [3:15] As we reported in our new special, Severed, that aired in 2024, more than 40 million Americans are living with type 2 diabetes. [3:26] And when high blood sugar from diabetes goes unchecked, it does permanent damage to blood vessels, leading to what's called peripheral artery disease, or PAD, which can cause limbs to die. [3:38] In the time it will take you to watch this report, two more Americans will lose limbs this way. [3:46] For a number of different reasons, Native, Black, and Hispanic Americans have higher rates of diabetes and PAD. [3:52] And they are significantly more likely to end up on operating tables getting a dying limb cut off. [4:00] Unless someone like Dr. Jacqueline Majors can save them. [4:04] Every patient that ends up with a major amputation, especially from infection or gangrene, 25% of them will be dead in one year. [4:13] These patients significantly benefit from an angiogram. [4:18] And that's an intervention where you open up the blood vessels in their legs, which can restore flow, heal wounds, and prevent amputations. [4:27] And so just by saving these limbs, you're saving that patient's life. [4:32] We're going to go look in the foot a little bit more. [4:36] This is what the doctor is doing here. [4:38] Right there, those are significant areas of narrowing. [4:42] It's a procedure that health insurance companies don't always cover, and doctors don't always recommend. [4:48] Especially when they think that a diabetic isn't taking the disease seriously, and could end up needing a major amputation anyway. [4:55] It's so much easier to just cut. [4:57] I feel like she has what she needs to heal, that small digital amputation. [5:02] Her goal here is to buy Ms. Ryan some time by temporarily improving blood flow to her foot, [5:08] so she can get a different surgeon to cut off that toe as soon as possible, hopefully within a few weeks, [5:15] while there's still enough good blood flow for the rest of her foot to heal. [5:19] Dr. Majors has a number of tools in her kit, including two new mechanical stents approved by the FDA [5:25] that push the blood vessels open. [5:28] I typically try not to leave stents behind in the lower extremities. [5:33] All stents have a lifespan. [5:35] Okay. [5:36] And so we do have newer stent technology with a retrievable stent. [5:41] This is brand new. [5:42] The FDA just approved it this year, so you leave nothing behind. [5:45] But when she got deep into the right leg, Dr. Majors says she saw more disease than she had hoped for. [5:52] Now what we're seeing is typical in diabetic patients, that small arterial disease called SAD. [5:58] And wasn't comfortable using any of the new devices, so she used a balloon instead to gently open what she could. [6:06] How you doing? [6:07] How you doing? [6:08] You feeling away? [6:09] I really wanted to be as gentle with your arteries as possible, and so I decided to be very conservative today and stop. [6:18] So I was pleased with improving that blood flow. [6:21] We are okay to proceed forward with removal of that second toe, and we're going to watch that wound. [6:28] I think you have enough blood flow to heal that and get you out of this situation. [6:34] Within an hour after the procedure, signs of success. [6:37] How does the foot feel? [6:39] The foot feels good. [6:41] She was walking on that foot with little pain for the first time in nearly a year. [6:47] Look how she wobbly. [6:49] You're a bastard. [6:50] Oh my goodness, Carol, look. [6:53] Not wobbly. [6:54] But her story takes an unfortunate turn. [7:00] About two weeks later, they learn that the surgery to remove her toe was delayed, and then more of her foot started dying. [7:09] She ended up in so much pain, her daughters took her to the emergency room. [7:13] Why is this time different? [7:16] My mom's not here. [7:19] My mom didn't make it. [7:20] Their mother was rushed into the operating room with new and unfamiliar doctors who didn't just cut the toe, they cut off the base of her foot. [7:31] Two more surgeries, and more than two months later, she never left the hospital. [7:37] They just kept cutting. [7:39] After that, they went above the knee. [7:41] They just kept cutting. [7:42] And they wanted to cut some more, but she chose to die. [7:45] What is your advice for any other family who might be dealing with this? [7:50] Make sure you are able to navigate this and make decisions as you go, and not as an emergency. [7:57] The emergency room is for gunshot wound victims. [8:00] That is not a place to care for open wounds for a diabetic. [8:05] This was horrible. [8:08] It was a horrible deal. [8:10] Cynthia Ryan died surrounded by family who want the world to know that they miss their mother, and in their grief today are sharing her story, believing that it will save lives. [8:24] They say that the time for diabetics to choose the right food, find the right care team, learn what you've already lost, and find ways to save what you can is now. [8:36] Because tomorrow is never promised for anyone. [8:40] We can't keep dying as black and brown people from diabetes. [8:49] We can't keep dying like this. [8:51] Take care of yourself before you end up like this. [8:54] If you don't want to do it for you, if you got some kids, do it for the children. [8:58] I don't want my kids to hurt. [9:02] And that's why you're doing this. [9:03] I want to help people. [9:05] I really do. [9:06] So, I'm so happy to be able to tell somebody my story.