Everything seemed fine to Julia Palma when her boyfriend Bob Schmit stepped off the elliptical at the Planet Fitness in Loudonville as he told her he would be right back, assuming he was going to the bathroom.
He suddenly drops to his knees and appears to be having a seizure, but he was going into cardiac arrest, something most 27 year olds can’t say they’ve experienced.
Palma, 23, who is a registered nurse, said she knew to let the seizure happen, as his legs were flailing around. She then began to notice that something was wrong and that Schmit’s color soon wasn’t looking good.
I was checking for a pulse, and there was no pulse and he started to turn a shade of gray, she said. `His eyes were really dilated.`
Understanding that this was not, in fact, a seizure, she quickly began CPR and the gym manager took out an Automated External Defibrillator (AED), while an off duty fireman helped do compressions as Palma was giving breaths. Finally, the AED sent a shock that zapped Schmit backed to consciousness and somewhat returning his color. Four minutes after the shock was administered, Colonie EMS busted through the door to take over the situation.
Schmit acknowledges the importance of getting the blood flowing before the EMT’s arrived and realized that if Palma hadn’t sprung into action then his probability of survival would have been significantly reduced.
`She’s my savior,` he said, `without a doubt.`
When he was taken to the hospital where he was placed in a cooling blanket for 24 hours and then heated him for another 12 hours. He was put on a vent and a paralytic while this occurred, placing him in a medically induced coma.
Schmit said they would not have gone through such a process unless there was a good enough chance of it working. After they had finished, doctors tried reducing the amount of medication he was receiving to wake him out of the coma. Unfortunately, Schmit didn’t seem like he was going to wake up.
`They say most people who are going to come out of it come out of it right away,` said Palma.
While the cardiologists and the pulmonologist were giving out positive thoughts, the neurologist began suggesting the family consider hospice or palliative care.
`Meanwhile, my mother fired two neurologists because what they said wasn’t wait she wanted to hear,` he said. `She wanted to hear the truth but at the same time she wanted someone to work with her and give her enough time and wasn’t willing to give up on me after six days.`
His mother finally found one neurologist, Lisa Billars from Capital Neurology, who Schmit said they still visit. He added that while she never promised any sort of result, she gave his mother the space she needed and the time to make decisions.
With all of the difficulties with the doctors, Schmit’s family began praying everyday, which he admits that his family is very devout. When asked as to whether or not he is a religious person, Schmit said that after this incident that it has strengthened his faith.
At one point a trachea in so Schmit would be able to breathe along with a feeding tube.
On Oct. 5, 17 days after being in a coma, Schmit awoke to his mother and Palma at his side. His mother immediately greeted him, saying hello and then asking him whether he knew who is girlfriend was or not.
`I said, ‘Yeah, that’s Julia,’` he said, adding that he could only mouth it because of the trachea that was put in. `The next thing that I said was, ‘What the hell?’`
Soon Schmit became frustrated, realizing he might be making things difficult for the nursing staff at St. Peter’s, but he was angered over not being able to control some of his motions and losing control of his bowels. He said two or three days later, though, that he was able to snap back to his original self.
A lot of the credit was given to the St. Peter’s nursing staff, as both Schmit and Palma agreed they were a large help to both Schmit’s recovery and in helping with the emotional distress Schmit’s family was experiencing. Nurses gave the family their own waiting room, where Schmit said there would be 40 or 50 people waiting to see him.
One of the more notable nurses who was with him every day was Maria Edwards, who said that while she was not originally a religious person, after seeing how much strength it provided Schmit’s family she started to think twice.
`It’s always usually bad outcomes,` she said. `Patients don’t usually make it. He’s probably been one of our younger patients and you don’t see them quite often.`
She admitted that doctors were telling the family that it was time to pull the plug at some points and would tell them that there was no hope. But out of the blue, 17 days later, he work up.
`I can tell you, some of the day honestly looked pretty grim,` she said. `They [the family] never gave up.`
Edwards is still in shock that Schmit was able to walk out of the hospital room alive. She said the first walk they took him around the hallway, a large number of staff members, such as nurses, doctors, physical therapists and technicians, all lines the hall and cheered for him as he went around.
After the miracle that was Schmit’s recovery, Edwards said this will forever change her outlook on life and how she will approach her job as she promises to be more optimistic and to never give up.
`You can’t always listen to doctors,` she said. `You have to listen to your gut.`
Just before he left, the family had a party for the entire staff at the St. Peter’s Hospital with a cake to thank the staff for all of their support.
Schmit said he also owed a lot of credit to his cardiologist Dr. Guillermo Sosa-Suarez, who put in his defibrillator as an `insurance policy` in case an incident such as this happens again, as they worked closely with the pulmonologist with a of the long term care Schmit would need to recover.
Now it is a lot of checkups and doctor visits. Schmit said he passed his neurological tests with flying colors but is itching to get back to his normal life. The cause of his cardiac arrest, he said, is hard to pin down. He admits that the energy drinks and supplements he consumed could have contributed to the incident, something his doctors told him he should steer clear of.
Edwards agreed that while it is hard to identify exactly what contributed to his cardiac arrest, but said with being an otherwise healthy kid that the supplements was a probably cause.
`He would be a good educator,` she said. `There’s such a market for that crap.`
Schmit has been cleared by his doctors to head back to the gym to do light cardio and lift small weights. He said he returned to the gym where he dropped to his knees, which him and Palma both agreed that they will have to switch gyms.
He is also itching to get back to work where he works for the State Division of Military Affairs. Now he has been filling his free time with reading, watching movies and taking a lot of naps.
If you were to ask Schmit what was the last thing he remembered before he collapsed, he would tell you that he can’t even remember what happened the week before. The trip to purchase to new glasses and the day of apple picking the day before the incident have been completely erased from his memory.
He even has trouble recalling what exactly the last thing he could remember was, only being able to point out that he was the umpire for a baseball game.
Moving forward, Schmit just wants to resume a normal life, and certainly isn’t taking things for granted anymore.
`Obviously, I’m a little more thankful for each day,` he said. `I’m thankful for the people around me and thankful for people who had a part in my miracle.`
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