Why We Dash: Hrt4Bryan
Team Fundraising Goal: $1,000.00Tell us about yourself, where are you from and what do you like to do?
I am a 26-year-old currently living in Verona, NJ. I work as a graphic designer for a company that manufactures security equipment for the Department of Homeland Security as well as local government agencies. Although I am currently out on disability as I wait for my transplant, I still enjoy using my free time to design as well as read, watch movies and as the weather gets nicer, going for short walks.
Bryan Indergrund, 26, is currently waiting for a heart transplant.
How and why you were listed for a transplant?
I was first diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in January 2004. I was admitted to Luke’s Roosevelt in New York City where my doctors discovered that I had a ventricular tachycardia caused by a myocardial bridge. They performed surgery to release the artery of the bridge as well as a single bypass in the event of scar tissue closing the artery again. I also had and ICD implanted to keep my heart beating at a normal pace.
For the next 6 years I lived a seemingly normal life but started to show significant symptoms, which my doctors said was caused by my heart beginning to go into to failure as a result of the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Insurance reasons led me to the Heart and Vascular Center at the Hospital of the University on Pennsylvania. After my initial checkup, my doctors expected me to be listed as a Status 2 which has a wait time of about 5 years. After my transplant evaluation testing, my new doctors learned that my condition was far worse than they had anticipated and they put me on the IV medication Milrinone which led me to be listed as a Status 1B in August of 2010.
The hardest part of waiting for transplant is the waiting itself. When I was listed as Status 1B, I was told that someone with my blood type (O negative) waits on average six months. Luckily, I was able to return to work for a few months while I waited but soon the fatigue of a full work schedule caught up and my doctors recommended that I take it easy and coninue to wait from home. I try to keep myself busy by reading, watching movies, catching up on past seasons of TV shows and doing various design work for friends and family. Unfortunately while I am on the IV medication, I am unable to drive so I am pretty much confined to the house but I have a great support group of family and friends who are more than willing to drive me places and come visit me.
How often do you travel to and from Verona, NJ to Philadelphia for transplant care?
When I was first listed for transplant, I was traveling back and forth to Philadelphia weekly. But as I became more stabilized on the Milrinione I now travel to Philadelphia every four weeks. Since I live two hours north of Philly, the every 4 weeks is much easier for my Father since he is the one who drives me. I also must go down for a right-heart catheterization about every three months but the doctors have been great with scheduling that on the same day and my office checkups.
The main reason I started my blog was to keep my huge support group informed as to how my appointments went so I wouldn’t have to make a ton of phone calls and repeat myself over and over again. It has kind of involved into a storybook chronicling my entire experience. It has also helped me to put into words how I am feeling when I am having an exceptionally good day or a bad day. It has become very therapeutic for me as well.
Read more about Bryan’s experience on his blog The 26-Year-Old Tin Man. You can also find Hrt4Bryan on Facebook.
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