Heart health conference set for Saturday

ALBANY — A partnership including Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, Albany Recreation and Parks, and Albany State University is set to bring to the public an event that promotes heart health and the idea that making healthy choices can be fun.

A heart health conference is set for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at Albany State University West, Building J, at 2400 Gillionville Road, on Saturday. There, people can get free blood pressure screenings as well as Zumba, line dancing and Yoga classes.

“It is to emphasize the fact that heart healthy lifestyles can be fun,” Darrell Sabbs, community benefits coordinator at Phoebe, said. “When I say just change lifestyles, I can be asking you to do something that is difficult, but it is not.

“We put together this event (that) we think is packed with a lot of fun stuff.”

Sylvia Maxwell from Sol Power Yoga is conducting a session at 10:15 a.m. That session will be followed by line dancing brought by DJ Dollar Bill at 11:15 a.m. and Zumba with Studio V-fit at 12:15 p.m.

“These instructors have agreed to all come together and have a day of fun,” Sabbs said.

Sabbs said a children’s zone will have fun activities for youngsters. The blood pressure checks and education will be conducted by the Phoebe Network of Trust school nurses, who will also be conducting CPR training.

“(The CPR training) is always important to know if there is a heart failure,” he said.

Sabbs said people want venues of good health and the opportunity to put those methods into practice in a fun way. Apart from that, the instructors — who are talented and popular in their own right — are also a big draw.

“I try to get everyone involved,” Vicky Leister, who will conduct the Zumba class on behalf of Studio V-Fit, said. “I don’t like gyms, so this is the only thing I can do. This is a fun way to lose weight and get active.

“(Attendees will) have fun, enjoy their time — and they will sweat for sure.”

Leister said Zumba has worked out well for her, and that she has seen it help others in terms of quality of life. There is potential to lower stress and get off certain medications faster, participants get engaged and anybody can do it.

“I have customers tell me they look forward to it,” she said.

Awareness on the importance of staying active and that people can become healthier is the bottom line.

“I want them (attendees) to leave healthy,” Leister said. “It doesn’t have to be Zumba, as long as I enjoy it. The three of us (instructors) will work together.”

Jonita Daniels-Coleman is a regular attendee of such events. While she was a nursing student at Albany Technical College, a classmate heard something that was not right during a practice exam. Her instructor referred her to a cardiologist, who determined she had mitral valve prolapse with regurgitation.

Known to be a ball of energy, the people around her noticed a change in her as her condition worsened. Even though she could detect no chest pain, she did notice she was experiencing shortness of breath.

“All of that was my body trying to tell me (something was wrong),” Daniels-Coleman said.

She was eventually taken into a surgery in June 2013 for what was expected to be valve repair until the surgeons got inside. She ended up with a mechanical valve.

“The valve was damaged beyond repair,” she said. “I will be on blood thinners for the rest of my life.”

Four years ago this month, the valve Daniels-Coleman had could not be heard ticking. She went into the hospital and deteriorated enough over one night to be put under the knife again.

“I woke up the next morning with a pacemaker,” she said.

Daniels-Coleman said she had to re-evaluate her life and make some changes. She said knowing the signs, increased awareness and following through with regular check-ups is important for a silent killer like heart disease — and many people ignore the signs when they are there.

“You have to be (tuned into) your body and listen to what your body is telling you,” she said. “There doesn’t have to be an age on it; it can attack anybody.”

Daniels-Coleman has since become an advocate for heart health awareness, even advocating for more events like this to come to southwest Georgia.

“Out of this event, I hope a lot of people (learn the) importance of being active and that being active is fun,” Daniels-Coleman said. “It doesn’t mean being in the gym all the time. I am looking forward to this event.”

Data from the Georgia Department of Public Health Office of Health Indicators for Planning said that major cardiovascular disease resulted in the deaths of 265 people in Dougherty County in 2017.

Jennifer Parks