Summit man receives heart transplant
When Melvin Protzman woke up on April Fools' Day 2011, it wasn't a joke: he had a new heart.
Everything went smoothly, the heart was a good match and it was installed in a record time of three and a half hours at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.
“There's no greater gift that anyone could ever give,” says Protzman.
“I had an enlarged heart. I waited on the transplant list for four years,” said Protzman, now 59, of Summit Township.
His heart was failing and it could not pump enough blood throughout his body. During his wait for a transplant, Protzman's heart was working at 8 to 10 percent of normal.
In 2007, he was told he only had five years left if he didn't have a transplant.
“I realized that I had to take charge of my own life. I asked what I had to do to get prepared,” said Protzman. “I realized my best shot was to be as healthy as possible.”
His doctor recommended swimming as exercise so Protzman joined the YMCA and swam for an hour three to four times a week. Allegheny General Hospital had monthly classes. In four years, he only missed a few classes and stayed healthy enough to continue living at home.
On the morning of March 31, 2011, Protzman was getting ready to go to the doctor's office and the phone rang.
The doctor on the other end asked, “How would you like to come down and get a heart today?”
A person has to be extremely ill to qualify for the transplant list but just nine days after the surgery, Protzman felt well enough to devise a walking program. He figured out how far it was to his mailbox and made trips to the mailbox until he could walk two miles.
“In six weeks, I went to the Heart Walk fundraiser at Allegheny General and walked most of the two-mile walk with Dr. Srinivas Murali of the cardiology team at the hospital.”
Murali, director of the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, West Penn Allegheny Health System, is just one of the many doctors caring for Protzman.
At the time of the transplant, Protzman and his family were told the donor was a healthy 24-year-old who had been in a car accident. For months, that was all they knew about the donor.
“I thought a lot about what I was going to do with my new life,” said Protzman. “What do I need to do with this gift? That's how I ended up with the Center for Organ Recovery and Education (CORE).”
His call to CORE was a little unusual. His wife's cousin, Emily, is a nurse in Pittsburgh and knows the donor's mother, Mary Grace, who is also a nurse. In fact, Emily was at the donor's funeral.
“Emily,” said Mary Grace, “we need to talk. I think your cousin has Brian's heart.”In July 2011, Protzman found a message from Mary Grace on his answering machine. He then called CORE to volunteer so he could be ready to help others. But he told them he had more on his mind.“I think my donor's mother is trying to get a hold of me.”CORE contacted Mary Grace for her agreement and then set up an August appointment for the two to meet. But Protzman just couldn't wait. He still had the phone number from her earlier voice mail and after sitting by the phone for a long time, he got up the courage to call.“She answered, and we both started crying,” said Protzman. “We talked for four hours on the phone.”In August 2011 they had their first face-to-face meeting.“They introduced us, and we hugged and hugged,” said Protzman.Mary Grace brought an album with photographs of her son, Brian, and their vacations. She wanted Protzman to know him and remember him. She had an important question too.“Can I listen to Brian's heart?” she asked.“Her tears were on my chest,” said Protzman. “It was a miracle.”Protzman and Mary Grace have continued to talk on the phone and have seen each other again. Now, he knows more about Brian and the details of his accident.“It is hard to explain how it is to see her and see her hurt,” said Protzman.He learned that Mary Grace is now on a cutting-edge limb transplant team in Baltimore but while working at Allegheny General, she sometimes took young Brian to work with her. The transplant doctors knew him as a young child and, at the time of the transplant, they knew that it was Brian's heart.“I got VIP treatment,” said Protzman.How is his health now, more than a year after the transplant?“It's unbelievable,” said Protzman. “Before the transplant, I couldn't really go up and down the steps. Now, I can run up the steps.”Despite his new heart working at 65 percent at his last checkup, going back to work is still out of reach. He welded cars at Pullman and his most recent job was with Wise Machine in Butler.He stopped working in 2006 when his heart was stopping for four to five seconds. He worked in dusty and dirty environments that now pose a risk for infections.“I try to be physically active. For example, I am allowed to mow the grass,” said Protzman. “If it is dusty, I wear a mask. If I garden, I have to put on gloves. I cannot drink my well water.”Protzman knows it could be better but he knows it could be much worse.Many people on the transplant list and those who have received transplants have financial hardships despite insurance. Fundraising is important, and Protzman is grateful to St. Mark's church for holding two spaghetti dinners to raise money for him.He said, “They raised $17,000. The people in Butler really stepped up to the plate.”Now, Protzman is giving back by helping other people needing transplants.After working with many CORE events, he realized people in the Butler area need more information. Recently, he has offered organ donation information at blood drives and churches and he continues to look for other opportunities. He also has been a leader in starting a volunteer group in the Butler area.“If I cannot go back to work, I can volunteer a lot,” said Protzman.He is impressed with how CORE honors donors' families and emphasizes that without donors there are no recipients. The number of people waiting for transplants continues to grow.Although Protzman will be on anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his life, his body has accepted the new heart well. Yet, he didn't realize what it would be like to feel another person living inside his body.“I cannot think of any gift that anyone can give a person that would top this,” said Protzman. “It's a second chance at life.”
