YOU HAVE A CHOICE -- WHAT WILL YOU CHOOSE?

I have coronary artery disease, CAD for short. That’s appropriate since many of my friends, students and fellow teachers during my teaching career thought I was a cad, and that is the nicer version of what they thought of me. Regardless, I have a genetic predisposition to develop narrowing of some of my coronary arteries with plaque, probably from cholesterol, although my blood work shows my cholesterol numbers to be good.


This condition apparently does not affect my other arteries. I have good pulses in my legs and ankles. An ultrasound of the arteries in my legs and carotid arteries in my neck show they are all open. One recent ultrasound tech said that my carotid arteries looked like what he would expect to see in a 40-year-old man. (I don’t think he was just trying to be nice, but who knows.)

When I ask, “Why me?” my cardiologist explains it with one word: genetics. I am not the poster boy for healthy living but I have been exercising, after a fashion, since President Kennedy started the Presidents Council on Physical Fitness back in the 1960s that encouraged fitness through exercise. I wish more presidents made physical fitness a national priority rather than just complain about the obesity problem. My wife and I also try to eat healthy. I know I eat less red meat and more fruits and vegetables than many of my friends. Just the same, before I went on cholesterol-lowering medication my cholesterol was in the lower 200s. It is now in the lower 100s.

Be that as it may, I was released from the hospital day before yesterday after receiving my 13th coronary stent. While walking with my wife this morning -- walking slowly, yes, but trying to get in my 10,000 steps -- when our 80-year old neighbor out for a walk passed us. I usually walk faster than I was this morning; I was taking it easy on purpose, so I wasn’t surprised when other walkers passed us. I was surprised when our neighbor went breezing by.

We got her to slow down long enough to exchange some pleasantries, during which we learned that she had been diagnosed as having osteoporoses and needed to get more exercise to keep her bones strong. After the pleasantries, she “sped” off ahead of us. My wife then explained that this was the same woman we saw last year walking slowly with a cane. She has rheumatoid arthritis and a year ago could barely get around. She must have kept working on it over the summer because she was now walking at a brisk rate that would shame some younger senior citizens.

We can all learn from her.

Those of us who can walk should walk and should walk daily. We should work to increase the number of steps to 10,000 every day. We can use bad knees, bunions, stability problems, snow on the ground, cold in the air, or lack of sidewalks to avoid walking. Alternatively, we can stop making excuses and start looking for safe ways to get in those doctor-recommended 10,000 steps.

Walk with a friend. Walk with a dog. Walk up and down the aisles at the grocery store. Push a shopping cart if necessary. Park your car at the back of the parking lot and walk to the store entrance. Walk up stairs instead of taking the elevator, unless your office is on the 17th floor. In that case, take the elevator to the 15th floor and walk up from there. Rainy? Get an umbrella. Slippery? Go to the local mall. Look for reasons to walk instead of excuses not to.

Concentrate on those 10,000 steps -- every day. The distance you travel and your speed will develop over time. Use a pedometer. It counts every step taken whether in the house or out. They all count towards your total.

No other exercise or medication can benefit your health or increase your life span like walking. Moreover, it costs nothing except the price of a pair of shoes and the willingness to give up your cherished excuses for not doing it.

C’mon, let’s go for a walk.