North Augusta, SC (WJBF)- According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 37 million American suffer from diabetes. That’s 1 out of every 10 people. 1 out of every 3 people are prediabetic.

A new cell transplant could make life easier for diabetics and, in some cases, cure them of the disease. The procedure is called an islet cell transplant, which works a lot like a bone marrow transplant, done as an infusion.

Whitney Rimmer was a Type 1 diabetic and said the way her body responded to the treatment could only be called miraculous.

“I was 5 years old when I was diagnosed,” she said.

Rimmer struggled with diabetes her whole life. She said when she was diagnosed she was too young to know what was happening to her.

“And I didn’t know what he was saying, obviously, I was 5. But my mom did and I just remember her- she just started crying. And my mom, she had barely heard of diabetes,” Rimmer remembered. “So, I just remember getting down at her knees and holding her hands and telling her it was going to be ok.”

The disease didn’t just limit Rimmer’s diet. She couldn’t be very active and too much stress would cause her blood sugar to bottom out. Diabetes didn’t just take a toll on her physically, but both mentally and emotionally.

“I got to the point where this is no quality of life. I can’t go and do with my kids. I don’t have the energy. I don’t have the stamina. And to miss so many things like I was missing, it was just- it was eating away at me,” explained Rimmer.

Then one morning she was watching ‘Good Morning America’ and learned about the islet cell treatment.

Islet cells come from the pancreas, which produces insulin and a transplant helps restore normal glucose levels in a diabetic.

Rimmer reached out to Dr. Pioter Witkowski at the University of Chicago and learned she would be a perfect candidate for the study.

She got emotional remembering how she felt when he told her she wasn’t alone.

“Tears of relief and hope and just to know that you are not the only one,”

In February, Rimmer went to Chicago to undergo her islet cell transplant which she said began working immediately.

A few weeks ago she got the best news possible.

“He said your A1C is better than mine. He said it’s that of a normal person. And I said ‘So I don’t have diabetes anymore?’ He said ‘No. You’re not classified as diabetic,'” Rimmer laughed.

Rimmer said her life has completely changed and the sky is the limit. She is looking forward to being able to do things with her family and her children that she couldn’t before.

“I can’t explain the joy, the hope, you know, just the things I’m looking forward to now.”

Rimmer, who works at the Georgia Cancer Center, said she couldn’t have done it all without the support of her family and her co-workers.

Right now, the treatment is still considered a study in the U.S. and is classified as a drug.

A bill will go before Congress soon, asking to reclassify it as a transplant and make it a treatment for all types of diabetes.