Happy Hour Success but then Things Crashed

My Dad happy with to see all the support shown at
the Hrt4Bryan Happy Hour. Photo credit: Jeff Stiefbold

Let me start by thanking everyone who came out and support me last night at the Hrt4Bryan Happy Hour last night. From my High School teachers and fellow VHS Alumni to my neighbors, family, friends and even people that I didn't even know. All of the support and well wishes mean so much to me and words can not begin to describe how grateful I am to live in a community where so many people are willing to rally behind someone in need. I also want to thank Chuck Molinaro, Paul McDevitt, Len Waterman and George Zehnder for helping with organizing the benefit. Without them, there is no way it would have been such a huge success. I also want to than O'Neil's for opening their doors to allow this to happen. All in all, over $12,000 was raised to help pay for my medical and travel expenses. I never, in a million years, expected the event to be so successful. Thinking about it brings me to tears and leaves me speechless. More pictures of the event can be found here.

Last night is when things started to go downhill. I went for my usual walk around the unit like I always do. Down the hall, turn right at the nurses station, down to the service elevator bank and look out the window to see the skyline of the city I've spent the last mont in but have been unable to explore. As I was walking back to my room I could feel my heart race. My chest was getting tight and I was getting short of breath. As I entered my room I heard the alarms sound and looked at the monitor and saw my heart rate was up to 146. Seconds later, the nurses were in my room getting an EKG and taking my vitals. I was sweating and my left arm was weak and I had pain in my chest. They called the resident on call. My heart rate wasn't slowing lowering like it normally does. After about ten minutes (but it felt much longer) my heart rate was still in the 130's. The doctor ordered some meds to help bring my heart rate down and my symptoms slowly began to subside. I rested in bed the rest of the night and then went to bed.

The shattered iPad.

This morning I felt much better and figured today would be a good day. I showered (which has finally become a daily occurrence once again). After I got dressed and was getting ready to eat my lunch, I knocked my iPad off my table. Although the cover was closed when it began to fall, it had opened by time it landed face down on the wheel of my IV pole. I could tell by the shards of broken glass on the floor that the outcome was not going to be good. You can tell by the picture that my intuition was correct. I called Apple and they told me that "accidents" were not covered under my warranty and it would cost over $300 to replace the screen. I explained my situation of being in the Hospital and being unable to get to a retail store and asked what my other options were. She said her manager was out and had me email pictures of the iPad to her and she would speak with him about how to handle my situation. Hopefully they figure something out considering this isn't the type of situation they see everyday. We will see.

Then, as I ate my lunch and housekeeping was cleaning up the broken glass from my iPad, my heart rate dropped into the 30's. I didn't even know anything had happened until I saw the alarm go off and a nurse (followed closely by more nurses) came running in my room to check on me. It only lasted a few seconds and by time I had even looked up at the monitor my heart rate was back into the 50's, which is where it normally is. So after last night's rise and today's fall in my heart rate I have been put on bed rest until the electrophysiologist can come and interrogate my ICD and determine why it let my heart rate drop so suddenly.

So needless to say , the last 24 hours have been quite the emotional roller coaster for me. I will keep you updated as to what the doctors say and if any else changes. My two weeks of 1A-E time expires on Tuesday but but I have a feeling these last two incidents (my heart, not the iPad lol) will allow for me to get an extension. Thank you again to everyone who came out yesterday and hopefully things start to look up from here.

-Bryan


UPDATE: I just got a call back from Apple and they will repair my iPad free of charge given my "unusual circumstance"! I just have drop the broken iPad off at any UPS Store and they will package it, send it to Apple and Apple will repair or replace my iPad at no cost to me!


I Also spoke with my doctors and the electrophysiologist and they said my everything seems to be "normal." Meaning, my elevated heart rate is the reason and I'm here and my pacemaker didn't go off when my heart rate dropped because it has a special feature, or fail-safe, that makes it wait a certain amount of time before shocking my heart back into it's normal rhythm. I have also been taken off bed rest and am now free to roam around again! Things have begun to get better quicker than I had anticipated!