Heather Shorten, of Cleveland, Ohio, was diagnosed with late-onset Pompe disease in 2015. She serves as the executive director of the Pompe Alliance. She shares tech that helps her to monitor symptoms and keep her family aware if complications arise.

So I bought an Apple Watch about four or five years ago. I fall a lot, as a lot of Pompe patients do. And when I saw that the — at that time, which was the newest Apple Watch — had fall detection, I wanted to have one because I was at home by myself a lot during the day when my husband would be at work or the kids would be at school.

So I wanted to have something that I would be able to receive some help if I did fall.

I also do have some cardiac symptoms associated with my Pompe. And then having that as part of the Apple Watch, where it would detect if I had a rapid heart rate or something like that, that also was, that was attractive to me having had those symptoms also. So I wear my watch every day.

Actually this past fall, I was using it as I was in the middle of having heart palpitations and a really elevated heart rate, which sent me to the ER and I was tracking it with my Apple watch. Unfortunately, as I’m trying to show it to the triage nurse, they weren’t really interested in the information, but I was tracking it. I had been tracking it all day.

I’m wearing it right now, so I wear it all the time.