Cardiac Rehab

[Lauratx22]

Hi-

Our cardiac rehab lasts from 7-2pm and I am a stay at home mom to a 19 month old so it's not possible for me to attend cardiac rehab. What am I missing from not going to cardiac rehab? My surgeon said that I didn't need it because I'm 31 years old and I had a right thoracotomy, meanwhile, my cardiologist said that I will benefit from it.

 

[Mentu]

Hi, Laura, the program you describe must be different from the one I attended. My sessions were three days a week and lasted for about an hour or so. One thing you might check is to see if there are any other programs available. I think that when your surgeon spoke, it is likely that he meant that you might not need the exercise program. That is certainly the central part of Cardiac Rehab but it is not the most important thing that most of us take away from it. The weeks of monitored exercise in an organized environment can help to guide you to a full recovery and help restore your confidence in your body. For me, that was much more important than the exercise itself.

Larry

 

[SB42]

I agree with Larry...I start mine in 3 weeks...told about an hour or so per session (haven't defined number of sessions per week yet)...maybe they meant between the hours of 7 - 2 so you could adjust your schedule? I had bicuspid AVR surgery, which is different from your surgery which I know nothing about, so maybe 7 - 2 is the requirement. I would simply confirm what they meant by 7 - 2. Like Larry, I plan on using cardiac cardio as a confidence boost while getting back into shape. From my understanding, they monitor your key vitals during your cardio rehab, which will be refreshing to me, because I obviously will have shortness of breath as I work on getting back into shape, which could possibly cause anxiety for me since that is the one of the symptoms that spurred me to go under the knife. Good luck, Lauratx22 and give your 19 mo. old a big hug and kiss :thumbup: I have a 17 mo. old son and two daughters 6 & 4 :biggrin2:

 

[Sarah_Louise]

I had cardiac rehab, it lasted 7 weeks and i attended twice a week, on a tuesday for 2 hours; here we'd have a talk about lifestyle, healthy eating, heart meds etc etc lasting an hour, then for the final hour we'd do exercise for an hour at our own pace, and agan on a Thursday for an hour of just the exercise,
I personally found it very benefitial and useful I had to have a physio one to one with me all the time because i have other problems, but those who had no other problems where just monitored three people to every physio (had to wear HR monitors to check we weren't going too fast...i raised some eye brows, with resting HR of 120 and exercising HR of 150-170 lol)
Love Sarah xxx

 

[Greg a]

My rehab was three hours for three days then one hour three days a week......the longer sessions were intake,nutrition and lifestlye then the workouts began under watchful eyes and always monitored ......man I miss it

 

[epstns]

Laura,

I agree with Larry. The 7-2 time window is probably the range of times they hold sessions. I can't imagine going to rehab for 7 hours at a time, even though I loved my rehab classes. Most of these are 1 or 2 hour sessions 2 or 3 days a week. Their first session probably starts at 7 AM and the last at 2 PM.

I understand your situation with the Little One, but why don't you ask whether they have day care? If your insurance would cover rehab, maybe they would also cover the daycare. At least here in Chicago, many of the hospitals have daycare facilities for their employees, so maybe they could help out for you.

I also agree with Larry that the rehab was or great value. Not only do they gently educate us about healthy living and how to manage diet and meds, but they are a really good support network for us as we do the work of recovery. I was sort of a gym rat before surgery, so I really enjoyed the supervised exercise sessions. These helped me to realize just how much I could do and how soon I could do it, without letting me over-do it. It was sort of a re-boot to the active elements of life.

You may be one of the younger patients in the rehab class, but don't worry about that. My class had patients from their 30's to their 80's and we bonded and becamy a group of comfortable friends in our efforts to recover all that life could offer each of us.

 

[D.C.]

My rehab was 1 hour 3 times a week. Started with the nutrition and a little exercise the first session. From then on more exercise all monitored.

If at all possible do it. I think it will get you up to speed faster while being monitored for any problems that might arise. Being a type A person they had to tell me to ease up a couple of times at the start.

I would be surprised if anyone could go 7-2 at the start. Talk to them again as they should make arrangements to work with your schedule. They had lots of options when I did it.

 

[OldManEmu]

My rehab was twice a week for 5 weeks. Each session was made up of an hour of exercise and an hour of information. The information sessions covered various subjects from health eating run by a dietician, to a session of common heart medications run by a pharmacist.
I agree with Larry

The weeks of monitored exercise in an organized environment can help to guide you to a full recovery and help restore your confidence in your body. For me, that was much more important than the exercise itself.

By the last couple of weeks of rehab I was driving again so I went back to my normal gym and replicated the exercises I was given in the rehab classes so I could exercise more than twice a week.

 

[hook]

Most run about an hour, somethimes longer hwen they bring the salt police in to talk with you. I am 45, and have exercised all my life; despite this I found it a great place to get back in the grove safely. It is also a great forum to meet other people and share experiences.

 

[enkaynj]

Laura,
I started my rehab 3 months post op. My cardiologist said I did not need it; and surely I did not. But I went anyway. More than anything else, it gives you the confidence that you are well enough to resume normal activities as they monitor you for an hour each time while you are exercising. Go if you can, but don't sweat it if you can't.

 

[bradvo]

I chose not to go but I had no problems getting my self motivated and walking 2 miles daily , I have been back to work for over a month now which keeps me more mobile than I care to be sometimes.
Eating heart healthy is not rocket science, making sure to exercise takes discipline. I think you need to evaluate yourself and decide what is best for you.
Brad

 

[yotphix]

Hi Laura,

Definitely investigate that further. As most are suggesting, it's likely not a 7 hour per day program, and if it is, there must be something more conventional available in a big city like Austin. My rehab was three hours once per week, plus a few separate nutrition or pharmacology, or biology or physiology lectures. The three hours were each a sort of lesson, followed by observed exercise. At the end of each of those there was an 'exercise prescription' given for the following week, based on the heart rate and perceived respiration with a given duration and intensity.
My program was nominally an 8 month program, which I left after 4 months so I could go back to work, far from the rehab center. (I work on a boat actually, so far from home, too.) At that point, they actually had a correspondence program where I filed my exercise diaries via email, and they gave me my new 'prescription' based on what I reported.
I couldn't praise the program enough for the discipline and motivation it instilled in me. Even now, I go back annually for a cardiac assessment - a treadmill workout with ECG and VO2 max respiration rig - and that alone motivates me when I don't feel like working out. I want to see good results when I get there!
If there is any way for you to attend a rehab of some sort, I really, really recommend making that commitment to your full recovery. If you are a fitness buff already it will also help to keep you from over doing it too early, which is a real tendency if you are inclined that way, and is pretty brutal.

 

[Tom Berning]

Hi Laura,

I'm going to echo what most everyone has said about cardiac rehab. It's a confidence builder, especially if you're not sure about what and how to exercise. I was going to do my own rehab, I'm a runner and thought I knew enough to go about it myself and didn't need official rehab. My cardio talked me into going and I'm glad he did. I go twice a week for 1-2 hours, I started at about 6 weeks post op. Even though it seems pretty easy I don't think I realized how much I had fitness I had lost. I noticed in information given to me at the hospital after surgery that there are a number of health clubs in my area that offer cardiac rehab so you might not need to go to a hospital program. Don't worry about being the youngest in your class, somebody has to do it

Tom

 

[yotphix]

Don't worry about being the youngest in your class, somebody has to do it

You will have to get used to people saying 'but your'e so young!', since many people in cardiac rehab are there for bypass/angioplasty etc, and most assume that you need to be old to need work on the pump. You'll be used to it though, from being the youngest in any intake class you might have, or in the surgical waiting room, in the CICU, on the recovery ward and later in an ACT clinic if you need one. People universally assumed that I was there supporting my mother, and not the other way around.

 

[GordoAVR]

For an relatively younger person, IMO the biggest reason to use Cardio Rehab is to insure that when you to return to an active lifestyle, like fast walking or jogging, that you do NOT develop an irregular heart beat. The data loggers used while you are exercising allow the PT to observe your heart rhythm and it is programmed to identify and alert them for any adverse patterns.

Half way through my 10 week Rehab, they had me jogging 2 min; then walking 2 min. And I was very happy to learn that I could get my heart rate going faster and faster w/o arrhythmia's. When I began HR was limited to 120; when I finished the course, they were OK w/ HR 140+ in a short burst.