I've Got a Broken Heart
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I've Got A Broken Heart.
I just posted this on Wednesday May 16, 2017.
Although I received the initial news about 2 years ago and started to make this go fund me then. It's taken me all this time to actually get up the courage to post it. To face the fact that this is real and really happening. My condition has grown worse and now I am in the end stages of Congestive Heart Failure.
My father died of a heart attack at the age of 39. Unfortunately hypertension and high blood pressure run in my family. I've had what is known as, "Essential Hypertension" since I was 12 years old. My older sister recently suffered from a major stroke, also caused by prolonged hypertension... She is in recovery and is making progress. "Essential Hypertension" basically means that there is no other cause for the condition, and the only way to control it is through medication."
People with high blood pressure can feel fine for years before symptoms arise – that's why it's called the silent killer. When is blood pressure considered high? Normal blood pressure is under 120/80. From 120/80 to 139/89 is pre-hypertension. The threshold for high blood pressure is 140/90, while anything over 180/110 is hypertensive crisis – an emergency.
My blood pressure was once as high as 240 / 176
the doctor asked me if I was on cocaine... of course I was not... it was just that high."
From Walking to Marathons
According to, Dr. John Bisognano
Cardiologist and president for the
American Society of Hypertension
"A little more physical activity goes a long way,” Bisognano says. “If [people] just get out and do an extra 30 minutes of something, even if it’s the equivalent of walking the dog, whether they have a dog or not, just something to get them out of the house.”
On the flip side, an intense fitness regimen alone might not be enough to keep blood pressure down to healthy levels for everyone. There’s a genetic component to hypertension – it runs in families. “I have marathon runners who are on five blood pressure drugs,” he says."
Now my heart is so damaged from the High Blood Pressure, I need a heart transplant! My heart is enlarged and very sick, without the transplant, I've been given a short time to live...some doctors have said I have six months to a year before I die from Congestive Heart Failure. I also have Atrial Fibrillation and stage three Kidney Disease as a result of the Congestive Heart Failure.
The good news is that I've lost 100 pounds in the last year, from 325 - 220 and this puts me in the running for a transplant. Before I was too heavy to be considered a candidate. I lost 50 pounds of water weight while in the Hospital.
My medical bills are ruining me financially and I can't work because I'm really crippled from the condition...It's nasty business when it gets to this stage. I get wounds that will not heal or take months to heal.
I used to win weight lifting contests but now I feel as weak as a rag doll. I have been traveling but I also have been in a hospital every where I have gone for weeks at a time. I have been calling it my hospital tour.
I have two sons Miles age 17 and Parker age 14. I don't want to leave this world and not leave anything behind for them...I love them so much...and they are great kids.
So the money I am trying to raise will help me bridge the gap and pay for my medical and living expenses until I can get a new heart. The money will be used to help me during my recovery, or pay for my funeral expenses and leave a little money behind for my sons...
I am receiving $892. a month from Social Security Disability. My rent is $562. utilities are about $200. Car insurance $100. that's $862. for the month and I haven't spent a nickel on food at this point, leaving $30. for the month.
My medical bills and associated debts are running about $50,000. and piling up. I'd need another $50,000 at least to cover the time during my recovery... which would be a year to two years of recovery time. With some money to help Miles with college, he graduates high-school this spring. Parker enters high school this year.
I feel that I have failed my sons and my family, I am supposed to be the bread winner and provider for my family and here I am beging for help... I always said when I saw people begging for change on the street, that I would never do that... I will work for what is mine and make my money stretch...but now I find myself doing just that begging for change... and it makes me feel like dirt...it has humbled me...
I have to find a way to provide my kids and to survive so that I can contribute to our community. If I do not survive at least the kids will have a little support as they venture out into the world of adulthood.
If I do survive and am able to get back to work...my life will be dedicated to educating people about the dangers of this silent killer so that it is not allowed to sneak up on them and rob them of their health... At 42 years of age hopefully I will beat this thing and get some more time on this Earth. I promise you I would spend it very, very wisely.
Thank you,
Bernard
I just posted this on Wednesday May 16, 2017.
Although I received the initial news about 2 years ago and started to make this go fund me then. It's taken me all this time to actually get up the courage to post it. To face the fact that this is real and really happening. My condition has grown worse and now I am in the end stages of Congestive Heart Failure.
My father died of a heart attack at the age of 39. Unfortunately hypertension and high blood pressure run in my family. I've had what is known as, "Essential Hypertension" since I was 12 years old. My older sister recently suffered from a major stroke, also caused by prolonged hypertension... She is in recovery and is making progress. "Essential Hypertension" basically means that there is no other cause for the condition, and the only way to control it is through medication."
People with high blood pressure can feel fine for years before symptoms arise – that's why it's called the silent killer. When is blood pressure considered high? Normal blood pressure is under 120/80. From 120/80 to 139/89 is pre-hypertension. The threshold for high blood pressure is 140/90, while anything over 180/110 is hypertensive crisis – an emergency.
My blood pressure was once as high as 240 / 176
the doctor asked me if I was on cocaine... of course I was not... it was just that high."
From Walking to Marathons
According to, Dr. John Bisognano
Cardiologist and president for the
American Society of Hypertension
"A little more physical activity goes a long way,” Bisognano says. “If [people] just get out and do an extra 30 minutes of something, even if it’s the equivalent of walking the dog, whether they have a dog or not, just something to get them out of the house.”
On the flip side, an intense fitness regimen alone might not be enough to keep blood pressure down to healthy levels for everyone. There’s a genetic component to hypertension – it runs in families. “I have marathon runners who are on five blood pressure drugs,” he says."
Now my heart is so damaged from the High Blood Pressure, I need a heart transplant! My heart is enlarged and very sick, without the transplant, I've been given a short time to live...some doctors have said I have six months to a year before I die from Congestive Heart Failure. I also have Atrial Fibrillation and stage three Kidney Disease as a result of the Congestive Heart Failure.
The good news is that I've lost 100 pounds in the last year, from 325 - 220 and this puts me in the running for a transplant. Before I was too heavy to be considered a candidate. I lost 50 pounds of water weight while in the Hospital.
My medical bills are ruining me financially and I can't work because I'm really crippled from the condition...It's nasty business when it gets to this stage. I get wounds that will not heal or take months to heal.
I used to win weight lifting contests but now I feel as weak as a rag doll. I have been traveling but I also have been in a hospital every where I have gone for weeks at a time. I have been calling it my hospital tour.
I have two sons Miles age 17 and Parker age 14. I don't want to leave this world and not leave anything behind for them...I love them so much...and they are great kids.
So the money I am trying to raise will help me bridge the gap and pay for my medical and living expenses until I can get a new heart. The money will be used to help me during my recovery, or pay for my funeral expenses and leave a little money behind for my sons...
I am receiving $892. a month from Social Security Disability. My rent is $562. utilities are about $200. Car insurance $100. that's $862. for the month and I haven't spent a nickel on food at this point, leaving $30. for the month.
My medical bills and associated debts are running about $50,000. and piling up. I'd need another $50,000 at least to cover the time during my recovery... which would be a year to two years of recovery time. With some money to help Miles with college, he graduates high-school this spring. Parker enters high school this year.
I feel that I have failed my sons and my family, I am supposed to be the bread winner and provider for my family and here I am beging for help... I always said when I saw people begging for change on the street, that I would never do that... I will work for what is mine and make my money stretch...but now I find myself doing just that begging for change... and it makes me feel like dirt...it has humbled me...
I have to find a way to provide my kids and to survive so that I can contribute to our community. If I do not survive at least the kids will have a little support as they venture out into the world of adulthood.
If I do survive and am able to get back to work...my life will be dedicated to educating people about the dangers of this silent killer so that it is not allowed to sneak up on them and rob them of their health... At 42 years of age hopefully I will beat this thing and get some more time on this Earth. I promise you I would spend it very, very wisely.
Thank you,
Bernard
Organizer and beneficiary
Bernard Pearce
Organizer
New Orleans, LA
Tracey Davis
Beneficiary
