Vet gets another chance
PENN TWP — Denis Daman's lifelong struggle with heart problems came to a near fatal conclusion several weeks ago when doctors informed him that he needed a new heart.
“We jokingly call him superman,” said Aubrey Kornrumpf, who works with Daman at his veterinarian practice, Suburban Animal Clinic on Thorncrest Drive. “Everything he's been through, he does with flying colors. What he's experienced, I don't know if I'd be able to come through that.”
At age 69, the Butler man is recovering from a heart transplant surgery he underwent earlier this month at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.
Daman's severe health problems started two years ago, when he developed a disorder that attacks the heart. Called cardiac amyloidosis, or stiff heart syndrome, the condition is caused by an abnormal protein buildup called amyloid. The protein deposits overwhelm the muscles in the affected area, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
In Daman's case, it was his heart muscle that was hit, she said. The disorder can lead to abnormal heartbeats, or arrhythmias, and faulty heart signals, also known as heart block.
For several months at a time in 2016, Daman would shuttle between Western Pennsylvania and Boston, receiving treatment from specialists in both locations.In Boston, he was receiving stem cell treatment. With Daman unable to work full time at the animal clinic, which Kornrumpf said he bought in the 1980s, two temporary veterinarians were needed to complete the work that Daman typically did himself.“He's been thinking about retirement but this is not only his vocation, it's his passion,” Kornrumpf said. “He loves to help animals and retirement wasn't something he liked to think about before his health declined.”After the stem cell treatments in Boston, Daman underwent chemotherapy, a treatment known mostly for its application in cancer patients. And like cancer patients, the process left his immune system compromised and required him to be shielded from common germs that Daman might encounter in his daily life.But since Daman wasn't actually a cancer patient, he didn't qualify for most places offering sterile living spaces. And being a small-business owner, bills began to stack up faster than they could be paid.“When you're in these moments of watching a family member so sick like that, it's easy to feel hopeless, ” said Daman's daughter, Jessica Kallner, 32, of Butler Township. But her hope rekindled when the family held charity events, replenishing their funds.“The community really stepped up and we were able to get him in a (quarantined) home,” she said. “It really puts your faith back into humanity.”And, Kornrumpf said, “The outpouring from the community has been incredible. We received a ton of mail and Facebook posts with all these people supporting him. We run a small clinic so it has a hometown feel.”
After months of treatment, Daman mostly recovered from the disorder. But, according to Kornrumpf, it left his heart even weaker.“The treatment itself is hard on the heart,” she said. “It did do damage to the heart.”Four weeks ago, “doctors said his old heart was at the end of its life,” Kornrumpf said. On Oct. 13, an eligible heart was available for Daman, who is himself an organ donor, according to Kornrumpf.She said that the transplant operation took about six hours.Daman will continue to be under medical supervision for the near future but all early indications suggest that he will recover, Kallner and Kornrumpf said. He will be eventually transferred to cardiac rehabilitation at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh.“He continues to rewrite the textbook for doctors,” Kornrumpf said. “They're always amazed at how well he recovers.”
