密苏里男子将心脏病诊断转化为公共服务信息
By Kellie B. Gormly, American Heart Association News
唐·杨已经经历了咽喉癌的痛苦折磨，他的喉部被切除了, 在他40多岁的时候，多次住院治疗，医生预测他只能活六个月.
Then came heart trouble.
事情是从半夜开始的，当时他从床上起来，昏倒在卧室的地板上. The crashing noise immediately woke his wife, Kay. She discovered her husband unconscious and called 911. 在医院，医生诊断他患有冠状动脉疾病. 他接受了导管插入术，植入了一个支架，扩大了一条充满斑块的心脏动脉.
"It kind of snuck up on me, and one day, bam! It was here," said Don of St. Charles, Missouri. He uses a device called an electrolarynx to speak. "I thought, 'My God, I might die.' I didn't know, am I going to live for another year? Am I going to have a heart attack one day and die of it?
The heart problems began in 2005. He's received four more stents and a new aortic valve. 他还了解到，他的心脏病和喉癌的罪魁祸首是一样的.
"It was the doggone smoking all those years," he said. "I did that to myself."
唐在被诊断出患有心脏病之前就已经戒烟了. 在他的鼎盛时期，他每天大约抽一包烟.
决心警告年轻人吸烟的危害和尼古丁的成瘾性, 唐和凯——也是一个戒烟者——成立了一个名为“年轻的选择”的非营利组织, Inc. 他们在学校、教堂和健康博览会上发表演讲. 在演讲中，一些青少年看到唐的手术照片时会哭.
有些孩子会告诉他，他们不想让他们的父母死.
“你回家告诉你的父母，‘你需要戒烟，’”唐会回答.
唐和凯在COVID-19大流行期间关闭了他们的组织. Still, they know their years of advocacy worked. Periodically, Don encounters young adults in the St. 路易斯地区的人认出了他，并对他十几岁时的演讲表示感谢.
"I've had kids come up to me and say, 'I remember when you came to my school, and I don't smoke because of what you taught me,'" Don said.
Now, to stay healthy, 唐和凯，他们都有以前婚姻所生的成年子女, 现在，她有四个孙子和两个曾孙，她尝试着吃一种有益心脏健康的饮食，少吃盐和脂肪.
唐服用几种药物，每年两次去看他的心脏病专家进行监测. He also stays very active, even competing in the St. Louis Senior Olympics.
这是一段艰难的旅程，但这对夫妇认为是他们的基督教信仰帮助他们度过了难关.
"We've been living on the edge for 30 years," Kay said. “现在我甚至每天早上醒来都会看看他是否还在呼吸."
Stories From the Heart 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.