Monmouth Medical Center (MMC) in Long Branch, New Jersey, recently hosted a reunion for cardiac patient Larry Steward as part of American Heart Month. The event, held on February 9th in the Cardiopulmonary Rehab Unit, was part of RWJBarnabas Health’s annual patient reunion celebrations recognizing the work of its Heart and Vascular care teams.
Larry Steward, 85, underwent open heart surgery at Robert Wood University Hospital in New Brunswick. He is an active participant in MMC’s Healthy Lives Program, which monitors patients with heart failure and COPD to help prevent hospital readmissions. He also takes part in the Cardiac Rehabilitation program.
At the reunion luncheon, Larry was joined by his cardiologist David Anwar, DO, along with members of both the Healthy Lives and Cardiopulmonary Rehab teams. Denise Yaman, coordinator for the Healthy Lives Program, described Larry’s initial challenges after multiple hospital admissions for chronic heart failure and falls.
“He and his wife were quite overwhelmed with the medications and care he required at home, as he was very debilitated and needed assistance with his activities of daily living,” Yaman said. “Healthy Lives eventually stabilized him enough to undergo testing that revealed his need for the open-heart surgery, which he underwent in August 2024.”
Yaman added that after returning to the program post-surgery, Larry was referred to cardiac rehab. “It was definitely a slow-go at first because of his generalized weakness after a very difficult year,” she said. “He would require a wheelchair to get from the front door and registration to Healthy Lives. He now can walk to us from Registration without any issues. He has come a long way for sure.”
Patti Ostrander-Coffey, nurse manager for Cardiac Rehabilitation at MMC, spoke about Larry’s progress: “Larry arrived for his first evaluation for Cardiopulmonary Rehab in a wheelchair and using two liters of oxygen. He was quite deconditioned upon arrival, but as he progressed through the program, he was using less oxygen. For walking, he transitioned from a using a walker to using a cane. Larry and his wife Carol made his health a priority. They started to make improvements in his diet and embracing the core components of our program that address depression, quality of life, nutrition, and educate patients to be better advocates for their health. At the completion of the program, he was walking on his own without the use of a device, and he has since joined our Maintenance phase program and remains active with his exercise routine. He no longer uses his oxygen, and his depression screening, nutrition assessment and overall quality-of-life scores all significantly improved. Larry still comes three days a week, and he has bonded with other patients who come at the same times. They sing and laugh together; they made exercising more enjoyable. It has been such a great transformation to witness by the staff members in the department. Larry has gotten his life back thanks to Healthy Lives and Cardiac Rehab at MMC. He is an absolute pleasure to have in our program.”
On the day of this reunion event—which coincided with their 40th wedding anniversary—Larry Steward and his wife Carol celebrated alongside members of both programs’ teams as well as Dr. Issac Tawfik (Chief of Cardiology) and Dr. Anwar by cutting an anniversary cake.
More information about RWJBarnabas Health Heart and Vascular Services can be found at rwjbh.org/heart.
