FOX 4: North Texas Mother Hopes 14-Year Journey With Rare Heart Disease Inspires Others

FOX 4 in Dallas, Texas, recently interviewed Tyler Gunn, MD, assistant professor of Cardiac Surgery in the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai, about performing a lifesaving second heart transplant on a patient who traveled to the medical center from Texas at her healthcare team’s recommendation.

Destany Epps-Manuel was diagnosed 14 years ago, at 22, with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy—a disease in which the heart becomes enlarged, weakened and unable to pump blood effectively. The cause is unclear.

Her local physicians had implanted a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) to help her heart pump blood, but less than two years later Epps-Manuel needed another LVAD. A long-awaited heart transplant followed, but anti-rejection medications damaged her kidney so badly she needed a kidney transplant as well.

Ten years after her initial heart transplant, Epps-Manuel learned her new heart was failing. She would need a second heart transplant.

That was when Epps-Manuel’s Texas physicians referred her to the Smidt Heart Institute, Gunn told FOX 4 reporter Shaun Rabb. 

“So, after all this, over 10 years, she was in the clinic with a failing heart after having three heart surgeries,” he said.

Gunn told Rabb the transplant team operated on Epps-Manuel for more than 10 hours, and the surgery was a success.

“Part of the issues that complicated her case was that with each heart surgery, she developed antibodies that potentially reject her new heart,” he said. “So, we had to do some aggressive therapies that are available to get her desensitized to be able to have a low likelihood of rejecting this new heart.”

Epps-Manuel told Rabb her experience serves as a reminder to always continue moving forward.

“Never wallow in your sadness,” she said. “Whatever that reason is, just make sure you find a reason to keep pushing.”

Click here to watch the complete segment from FOX 4.