Cardiac rehab no 'Trouble' at all for lead tenor
By Tim Gallagher, Journal staff writer | Posted: Sunday, April 06, 2008
Randy Peters of Sioux City has lost 78 pounds since suffering a major heart attack on July 4. The 44-year-old plays Professor Harold Hill in the musical "Music Man" at Woodbury Central school in Moville, Iowa. (Photo by Tim Gallagher)
MOVILLE, Iowa -- Seventy-six trombones lead the big parade in the Iowa classic "Music Man."
They almost led a big funeral procession July 4 -- for the man now starring as Professor Harold Hill in the musical at Woodbury Central school here.
Meet Randy Peters, 44, tenor extraordinaire and recent heart attack survivor.
The only fireworks Peters saw July 4 were from the sky as a helicopter zipped him from Dickinson County Hospital in Spirit Lake to Mercy Health Center in Sioux City.
Peters, who weighed 282 pounds at the time, quit swimming regularly at Morningside College last winter because it always took him a day-and-a-half to recover. His blood pressure and weight soared, causing the strain on his ticker to come to a head July 4 after swimming and playing with his nieces at West Lake Okoboji.
"I stood in the water for 15 minutes with this horrible back ache," Peters says. "It felt like I threw my back out."
The pain came and went throughout the afternoon. By 6 p.m., he knew something was seriously wrong. He asked family members to drive him to the hospital.
"On the ride to the hospital, I had a severe pain in my jaw and pain throughout my left arm," he recalls. "I was very clammy and sweaty; and felt like I had this huge pressure on my chest."
He stopped the car three times on the way, thinking he'd throw up. Dawned on him the last time he was probably having a heart attack. He was.
Doctors and nurses gathered around Peters at the hospital in Spirit Lake and medicated him while asking if he wanted an ambulance ride to a hospital in Sioux Falls or a helicopter ride to Sioux City.
"I picked Mercy because my house is near the hospital and they're known for their cardiac care," he says.
At 8 a.m. July 5, doctors put a stint in a major descending artery that was 98 percent blocked. They also performed angioplasty on an off-shoot of that artery.
Peters came home July 6. Two days later he began his recovery with the counsel of the cardiac pros at Mercy.
"I started walking 10 minutes per day, then I walked 10 minutes twice each day," says Peters, a voice teacher at Morningside College who also operates an antique shop nearby. "The program builds until you're walking 30 minutes per day."
Nine months later, Peters is doing a 45-minute cardio workout three times per week. He's walking two miles the other four days of the week. He's also altered his diet, enjoying small portions of vegetables and dried fruits, but eating them throughout the day. He never eats after 7 p.m.
His only vice? "Ice tea," he says.
Returns to high school weight
The number of trombones in his current show (76) nearly matches the pounds he's dropped since the Fourth of July. He's lost 78 pounds and is back in size 34 pants, same size he sported as a senior here at Woodbury Central High when he starred in various plays and musicals.
He's also watching the stress level in his life. He arrives at appointments in plenty of time and avoids unnecessary anxiety.
Which led me to ask: "You're reducing stress and still decided to spend a couple of months with a cast comprised mostly of high school and middle school students?"
For example, high school senior Jared Schramm (who plays Marcellus Washburn) sprained his right ankle during a performance Friday. It's the only time I've seen a school's athletic trainer (Tom Chartier) report to a dressing room to tape an actor on the night of a show.
"It is a whole new experience for me," Peters says with a laugh. "Yes, it's been a little stressful."
This is a man who sang professionally with touring productions for years after his graduation from Morningside. He returned to Sioux City six years ago and now serves as the staff tenor at Cathedral of the Epiphany and St. Thomas Episcopal Church.
But Peters had never sung, "Trouble," one of Harold Hill's signature songs in the musical written by Mason City, Iowa, native Meredith Willson.
"When Denise Heiman (the director) asked me if I'd play Harold Hill, I told her I would in part because I love that song," he says. "I just didn't think it would ever happen."
Less than a year after a major heart attack it has.
Judging by what I've seen from Peters in two shows thus far, the demanding role has been no "Trouble" at all.
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They almost led a big funeral procession July 4 -- for the man now starring as Professor Harold Hill in the musical at Woodbury Central school here.
Meet Randy Peters, 44, tenor extraordinaire and recent heart attack survivor.
The only fireworks Peters saw July 4 were from the sky as a helicopter zipped him from Dickinson County Hospital in Spirit Lake to Mercy Health Center in Sioux City.
Peters, who weighed 282 pounds at the time, quit swimming regularly at Morningside College last winter because it always took him a day-and-a-half to recover. His blood pressure and weight soared, causing the strain on his ticker to come to a head July 4 after swimming and playing with his nieces at West Lake Okoboji.
"I stood in the water for 15 minutes with this horrible back ache," Peters says. "It felt like I threw my back out."
The pain came and went throughout the afternoon. By 6 p.m., he knew something was seriously wrong. He asked family members to drive him to the hospital.
"On the ride to the hospital, I had a severe pain in my jaw and pain throughout my left arm," he recalls. "I was very clammy and sweaty; and felt like I had this huge pressure on my chest."
He stopped the car three times on the way, thinking he'd throw up. Dawned on him the last time he was probably having a heart attack. He was.
Doctors and nurses gathered around Peters at the hospital in Spirit Lake and medicated him while asking if he wanted an ambulance ride to a hospital in Sioux Falls or a helicopter ride to Sioux City.
"I picked Mercy because my house is near the hospital and they're known for their cardiac care," he says.
At 8 a.m. July 5, doctors put a stint in a major descending artery that was 98 percent blocked. They also performed angioplasty on an off-shoot of that artery.
Peters came home July 6. Two days later he began his recovery with the counsel of the cardiac pros at Mercy.
"I started walking 10 minutes per day, then I walked 10 minutes twice each day," says Peters, a voice teacher at Morningside College who also operates an antique shop nearby. "The program builds until you're walking 30 minutes per day."
Nine months later, Peters is doing a 45-minute cardio workout three times per week. He's walking two miles the other four days of the week. He's also altered his diet, enjoying small portions of vegetables and dried fruits, but eating them throughout the day. He never eats after 7 p.m.
His only vice? "Ice tea," he says.
Returns to high school weight
The number of trombones in his current show (76) nearly matches the pounds he's dropped since the Fourth of July. He's lost 78 pounds and is back in size 34 pants, same size he sported as a senior here at Woodbury Central High when he starred in various plays and musicals.
He's also watching the stress level in his life. He arrives at appointments in plenty of time and avoids unnecessary anxiety.
Which led me to ask: "You're reducing stress and still decided to spend a couple of months with a cast comprised mostly of high school and middle school students?"
For example, high school senior Jared Schramm (who plays Marcellus Washburn) sprained his right ankle during a performance Friday. It's the only time I've seen a school's athletic trainer (Tom Chartier) report to a dressing room to tape an actor on the night of a show.
"It is a whole new experience for me," Peters says with a laugh. "Yes, it's been a little stressful."
This is a man who sang professionally with touring productions for years after his graduation from Morningside. He returned to Sioux City six years ago and now serves as the staff tenor at Cathedral of the Epiphany and St. Thomas Episcopal Church.
But Peters had never sung, "Trouble," one of Harold Hill's signature songs in the musical written by Mason City, Iowa, native Meredith Willson.
"When Denise Heiman (the director) asked me if I'd play Harold Hill, I told her I would in part because I love that song," he says. "I just didn't think it would ever happen."
Less than a year after a major heart attack it has.
Judging by what I've seen from Peters in two shows thus far, the demanding role has been no "Trouble" at all.
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