AGING WELL
Heart transplant keeps retiree in the running
Posted on Tue, Jul. 29, 2008
BY DESONTA HOLDER
Alan Ranofsky competed in the National Kidney Foundation's Transplant Games.
Alan Ranofsky, 76
retired longshoreman
Coconut Creek
Born again: I had four heart attacks, two quadruple bypass surgeries, a stroke and a heart transplant. Since 1975, I spent a lot of time in hospitals until I got the transplant on Aug. 14, 1997. That's the day I was reborn. I got a 31-year-old Hispanic heart. Now I do the salsa and merengue.
Grateful: The donor was an athlete running on I-95. He got struck by a car. I corresponded with the family every year, thanking them and the donor for my life.
More than a handful: After the transplant, I was taking 1,560 pills a month. Now I take 800-900, but I'm still here. A friend who also had a transplant said, ''Wow! That's a lot.'' Then he realized he was taking 1,565 pills.
Dash away: Two weeks ago I got a bronze medal in the 100-meter dash at the National Kidney Foundation 2008 U.S. Transplant Games in Pittsburgh. My time was 25 seconds, a little better than the last time. I'm getting older, but a little bit better.
Life, living: It's a wonderful thing to see people who have been sick for so many years. It shows what transplants can do. I have lived to see one son graduate Harvard and another graduate Williams College in Massachusetts, and I will have been married 55 years in January '09.
Man in motion: I swim every day and I ride my bicycle and do weights. I taught race-walking up until a month ago. I have a bad piriformis muscle in my back and butt. It doesn't bother me much when I'm running 100 meters.
Called it quits: I haven't had any bad habits since 1976. I was smoking 3 ½ packs a day, but I quit.
Healthy choices: With the transplant, diabetes came along, so my diet changed somewhat. I eat salad, chicken breast, rice, carrots and green beans. For breakfast, I have Egg Beaters and toast. I gained a belly after the transplant, and I can't seem to get rid of it.
Back in 2010: I would like to do the 100 meters when I'm 85. I got a few more years to go. The next games are in 2010 and I plan to be there. (More info: www.transplantgames.org)
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