DON'T CALL HIM SCARRED; WARD CALLS HIMSELF `FORTUNATE'.Byline: Lee Barnathan Daily News Staff Writer He's had a heart attack, two bypass operations, an angioplasty and a colon operation. He currently has lupus lupus (l  `pəs), noninfectious chronic disease in which antibodies in an individual's immune system attack the body's own substances. and diabetes. The scars of the numerous surgeries run from his throat to his ankle. Yet Larry Ward Larry Ward may refer to:
He has his life, and he has his softball, specifically the group of William S. Hart under-14 All-Stars he helps coach. The team has advanced to the ASA Asa (ā`sə), in the Bible, king of Judah, son and successor of Abijah. He was a good king, zealous in his extirpation of idols. When Baasha of Israel took Ramah (a few miles N of Jerusalem), Asa bought the help of Benhadad of Damascus and nationals that begin next week in Oakdale, Calif. ``I'm fortunate to be able to be here,'' Ward said. ``It does me a lot of good. It gives me a purpose. It gives me something to do. I love the game and love teaching it.'' Ward hasn't drawn the best hand in life. He was a Type-A personality born into a family with a history of high cholesterol Cholesterol, High Definition Cholesterol is a fatty substance found in animal tissue and is an important component to the human body. It is manufactured in the liver and carried throughout the body in the bloodstream. and obesity. At age 37, that combination led to a heart attack. Ward woke up and dropped 120 pounds. Playing softball was one of the ways Ward exercised. He also ran, and he almost died from it. A year after his heart attack, Ward felt strange and knew something was wrong. His doctors insisted he was fine because he could run on a treadmill without pain better than most. Ward persisted, and finally a doctor gave him an angiogram an·gi·o·gram n. An angiographic x-ray of blood vessels used in diagnosing pathological conditions of the cardiovascular system.//An x-ray of one or more blood vessels produced by angiography and used in diagnosing pathology in the cardiovascular to put his mind at ease. The test revealed Ward's left main artery connected to his heart was 95 percent blocked. ``I was wrong. We could've killed him,'' Ward said the doctor told Ward's wife. He had a triple bypass operation, in which doctors took veins from his legs and grafted three different pathways for the blood to flow. Ward was fine and proceeded on, playing softball and trying to keep his cholesterol under control. But in the next 10 years, his condition slowly worsened. In 1992, he had the angioplasty. It helped for a short time. He started getting chest pains, shortness of breath Shortness of Breath Definition Shortness of breath, or dyspnea, is a feeling of difficult or labored breathing that is out of proportion to the patient's level of physical activity. and pain in his arms, which often are signs of heart trouble. He had a quintuple quin·tu·ple adj. 1. Consisting of five parts or members. 2. Five times as much in size, strength, number, or amount. n. A fivefold amount or number. tr. & intr.v. bypass last year. For the last three years, he hasn't been able to work. Coaching Denny Honaker's All-Star teams have helped. The girls enjoy having him around. If one scrapes her knee, for example, and feels pain, Ward lifts up his shirt and says, ``You're complaining? Look at this.'' ``They laugh,'' he said. ``Some of the girls were grossed out, but they all wanted to see them.'' One girl, second baseman Lauren Tripp, has taken such a liking to Ward, she sneaks up on him and knocks his cap off his head. ``He's really a fun person to be around,'' Tripp said. ``He doesn't have a temper. He has a good sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour . He's really nice.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO Hart All-Star coach Larry Ward played softball to lose weight after suffering a heart attack at age 37. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News |
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