Daniel Edson: I was sitting, having a cup of coffee and had just lit up a cigarette, and it felt like someone had hit me right in the jaw. It was so hard.
Jennifer Matthews: The pain that struck Daniel Edson 12 years ago was his first heart attack. The 67-year-old would eventually have four more.
Daniel Edson: I was really out of it. I didn't even really think I would get to make it. Transplant was it. I needed a transplant.
Jennifer Matthews: Daniel's heart transplant went off without a hitch. But he was not out of the woods. Patients are at risk of two major problems after surgery -- rejection of the donor heart and a condition called Cardiac Vasculopathy.
Dr. Howard Eisen: And what this is, is where the arteries in the transplanted heart start to narrow, and they narrow throughout the whole length of the arteries, and it's the major cause of death after the first year after transplant.
Jennifer Matthews: Daniel was part of a study with an experimental drug called Everolimus. It stops the immune system from attacking the organ and the overgrowth of cells that causes the arteries to narrow.
Daniel Edson: I never want to be taken off the drug. Not now, unless I could live without drugs altogether, which is not going to happen.
Jennifer Matthews: In an early study, the success rate doubled. Still, Doctor Eisen says more tests are needed.
Dr. Howard Eisen: The kidney function was a little bit worse in the people who got the Everolimus compared to the standard therapy.
Jennifer Matthews: But with the help of this new drug, Daniel is living life to the fullest.
Daniel Edson: Life to me is beautiful. I see things in life now that I never knew were there.
Jennifer Matthews: This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.
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