LENTHEUS CHANEY

Photo by Lentheus Chaney

When I first met Anthony Veneziano, he seemed reserved and quiet. However, as time progressed, Veneziano gradually became more at ease, revealing his sharp wit and talent for engaging conversation.

Positioned side by side on treadmills, facing the large windows of the cardiac rehabilitation room, we became better acquainted. I shared my initial impression that he seemed unenthusiastic to be there. We both laughed, and this was the day we became fast friends.

“I’m just finding that I look forward to going in just to hang out with the staff and the other people who are there,” Veneziano said. “It’s an hour. It goes by quickly, but I always find that my mood changes for the better every single time I’ve left that room.”

That room, a modest-looking facility, houses a collection of cardiovascular machines designed to challenge the recovering hearts of patients. The staff members not only provide physical rehabilitation with blood pressure checks and heart rate monitoring but also offer emotional support.

WATCH: Jamar Kent, an exercise physiologist, and Tonya Curry, a dietitian, discuss their roles as staff members of the cardiac rehabilitation program.

Exercise physiologist Jamar Kent engages with Veneziano and the other patients on a regular basis to keep our spirits up.

“I try to be a personal coach to motivate them with words of encouragement and to also motivate them by bringing a certain energy level,” Kent said. “No one wants to be around an exercise physiologist who is not upbeat, not bringing life, and not smiling.”

Those smiles represent 36 opportunities to bond, three times a week, over the 12-week rehabilitation program. In just a one-hour session, one can learn much about a person.

Side by side again, this time on the stationary bikes, I listened as Veneziano detailed to the staff dietitian, Tonya Curry, how dedicating himself to the health needs of others led to neglecting his own.

“I was a caretaker my whole life. I took care of everybody—my grandfather for nine years, my father for a number of years, then my mother for 15 years,” Veneziano shared. “But when it comes to taking care of myself, I’ll make all these promises, but I don’t keep them.”

It’s conversations like these that enable patients like Veneziano to articulate their thoughts and foster healing that transcends the physical.

LISTEN: The conversation continues as Anthony Veneziano discusses his experience with cardiac rehab and the positive impact it has had on his physical and mental well-being.

According to Curry, patients are more comfortable and open to talk during a rehabilitation session.

“Sometimes it can be intimidating to tell me about what you eat,” Curry said. “It’s building the rapport first, and then I kind of slip in there, you know, what I do and what I offer with the program. I just need that initial open door.”

A study in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes found that only 92,000 of the 366,000 Medicare beneficiaries eligible for cardiac rehabilitation in 2016 took part in the program.

Unfortunately, like those who didn’t participate, Veneziano did not join the program after his first heart attack.

“This time around, I had to tell myself, you know, this is quite serious, and I can’t be arrogant,” Veneziano said. “And I’m glad that I did. It sort of challenged myself because I realized that there are a lot of things that I’m getting out of this program that I didn’t have.”

Veneziano said he will continue to exercise after the rehabilitation sessions end and has already added some extra workouts.

“The plan is to continue on my own and do some walking as well, which I love to do,” Veneziano said. “Hiking I used to love to do and I’d like to get back into doing that. This time it’s a matter of life and death.”