Hello. I'm Bob Lujano. I'm 50 years old,
and I'm in my house here in Hoover, Alabama.
I've been employed at Lakeshore for over 20 years,
and I've been involved in wheelchair sports for over 25 years.
And I've been basically active my entire life.
It was a Thursday August 10th,
and the night before I had did a workout of swimming,
which I hadn't done in a while, of swimming laps.
And as I woke up the following morning,
I had this little tightness in the middle of my chest,
and I even had this resonating pain in my left arm,
and I even had a little bit of an ache in my tooth on the left side,
at the very back at the bottom.
I had all the symptoms of a heart attack,
which I know what the symptoms are,
but I really just didn't believe it.
I just thought that I overdid it the night before.
So, I went on ahead to work,
and as I was working I was feeling not very well.
So around 3 o'clock I decided,
let me go down and test my blood pressure,
and it was at 179 over 110.
When it got to that point, my wife said,
"You know we need to do something.This isn't good. "
I said, "All right, so I'm gonna go ahead and go to a clinic."
Around midnight, when I was diagnosed with a heart attack.
And sure enough they found out that I had two of
my veins leading into the heart that were clogged up.
It was probably the easiest surgery I've ever had.
It was all over in 30 minutes.
Well they asked the real big question, the physician,
" What do you think would cause this Heart Attack Bob?"
So I go, " I don't know. I work out pretty regularly."
"I eat decently, I could probably eat better, healthier,"
But the only thing that came to my mind was it had to be hereditary
because I know my father had a heart attack at 55,
and then his father died of one, I believe at around age 80.
And at the end of the day, the doctor said go back to regular activities
after you do some therapy.
So I had to do about six weeks of therapy.
That was actually and interesting story as well.
Where they really didn't know what to do with me in cardiac rehab.
You know, because they usually get you on a treadmill.
And have you run on a treadmill.
I got on the treadmill, and I was just able to pseudo ambulate,
and raised my heart rate where they can could get a reading on my heart rate.
You know, lifted weights, just different things to elevate my heart rate.
Just to see how I would react.
Then was told, go back to your regular activities.
Back to playing rugby.
Playing basketball.
Playing tennis, just being as active as I can be.
A little bit more cognizant of my diet.
I guess as you get older, and I'm 50 now.
It's something to where, you know, you're not 20 anymore.
You just can't, you know, do high cholesterol high carb, and it not affect you.
Adults with disabilities, 48% of them
don't get opportunities for aerobic activity.
People with disabilities typically have secondary health conditions.
You know, heart disease, and stroke and diabetes and cancer,
And it's because of a lack of inactivity.
Lack of opportunity, of access for exercise and fitness.
So that very much, makes them three times more likely to be susceptible to these secondary health conditions.
And there are resources. There are places to go.
There are things to do to address those issues.
But, first and foremost make sure you have the yearly checkup.
Make sure you know what your blood pressure is at a resting rate.
Make sure you know where you can find resources and places you can go
to address any health issues.
Our bodies are meant to be in motion.
And whether you have, or use a wheelchair, or mobility device.
You know, or are limited and your ability to ambulate,
It's still your responsibility, and there's definitely ways to stay active.
There's definitely different ways
to elevate your heart rate.
As we age, we're definitely going to slow down.
Personally I just don't want to be that person that has to have someone get this for me, and get that for me.
You know I want to do this as long as I can.
To be as independent as I can, be as healthy as I can.
It's really almost like a race against time.