Benefits of Cardiac Rehab

A letter from Jack Williams - MPMC Healthy Heart and Lung Center patient...

I'd had stents placed after a heart attack.  I was an active seventy six year old, living in Colorado at the time and had a fitness routine that I had followed many years previous.  The stent procedure was only mildly debilitating so when cardiac rehab was suggested I didn't feel it was necessary and I recovered with my own routines. I continued my active lifestyle and got back into skiing, hiking and biking.Benefits of Cardiac Rehab

Two years later, after a skiing accident a routine scan for concussion found two aortic aneurysms, one of which was getting serious.  We decided to have the one repaired and in the process they also placed a new aortic valve.  I came out of these procedures flat on my back and knocked for a loop, struggling to get back to living again.  They told me recovery would take six months to a year.  I stubbornly thought that since I was in pretty good shape before, I could get back in quicker time than that.  They were right but I didn't know it.  I had a lot to learn.

The first indication that a rehab program might be helpful cam from a home care physical therapist who came to our house three times a week.  I could sit and feel sorry for myself for four days but for three of the, when "Mary" showed up I was back to my old adage of "move it or loose it".  You see Mary, the PT had lost a leg as a young woman and wore a prosthesis to walk.  We'd go out for a walk, I'd start whining and then I'd look down at her limping along beside me, a gutsy, cheerful little woman smiling up at me, and I just couldn't whine any more.  Mary showed me it was time to regain my life so I applied for cardiac rehab at a nearby hospital.

David, the cardiac rehab manager at the hospital laid out the rules for me.  Firstly, I was to only workout every other day.  Now I knew from my own routine that muscle recovery time was important and grew longer with age, but this seemed strange to me as the major muscle groups of my body were doing only minimal exercise as I began.  It took me some time to realize that it wasn't the muscles of my legs, arms or back that needed rest, it was the most important muscle of all - my heart.  My body kept saying "you can do anything" and my heart kept saying "not so fast".  It took a long time for this to sink in.

David was particularly helpful in catching the little things going on in my body as I worked out with monitors connected to me.  One day I'm trooping along when David told me my heart rate was way up.  He took my blood pressure and it was way low.  What the heck was going on?  "You're dehydrated, go drink some water."  I'm thinking, how does he know that?  Now, we've all been lectured on hydration over and over throughout the years but nobody had every explained what happens to the body when you're dehydrated; blood volume, blood pressure and heart rate.  As David explained all this I'm thinking -- jeez, I'm 78 years old and I'm now learning this?

The low blood pressure had another effect upon me.  I was on blood pressure meds but was having difficulty getting the proper dosage right.  When my blood pressure was too low I would get dizzy.  I'd stand up and the room would spin.  So coupled with dehydration which lowered the BP were the meds also throwing me off.  David was so helpful in explaining all this and getting me aware of what was happening   He was also instrumental in having me see that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.  That light was my active life style.

Returning to Minnesota for the summer months I enrolled in another cardiac rehab program to complete the regimen.  Here, a couple of PT's, Nancy and Laura, took over and continued my education.  As we sat discussing the program Nancy took my BP which was right where it belonged.  Then she had me stand up and she took it again as the room spun around me.  By standing up my BP systolic was dropping 20 points!  Now what?  With the help of the two PT's I was getting to understand the "what".

David's head back in Colorado must have been spinning the day I didn't take my day of rest and over did it, putting me on my back for three days.  I'm sure he wondered how a college educated engineer could be so dense.  As I got stronger my body wanted to do more but i was still getting heart messaged that said, "not so fast" and i wasn't listening.  Nancy and Laura got me back on track, again and again as each time I overdid it and crashed.  I was also getting depressed.  Their cheerful attention and humor would break my depression and get me back on my feet.

But I was still getting dizzy when i stood up.  At least now I now had a number of reasons why this was occurring.  One day my wife happened to be with us as we discussed the vertigo and Nancy asked her how much salt I was getting.  Ginger had been such a trooper throughout the heart attack, the aortic surgery and the recovery process, the management of meds, encouragement and cheerfulness as I dealt with depression.  On the wall over her head as she sat there was a cardiac rehab sign that said, "NO SALT, NO SALT" and Ginger was my head chef.  "Why he doesn't get any," she said.  Imagine the look on her face when Nancy said, "maybe he needs a little".  So now as the room would spin I could wet my finger and dip it in a little salt while Ginger frowned.

So I went through the 36 recommended sessions and after nine months I'm well on my way to recovery.  While I appreciate the MD's that have helped me through all this my heart is with the nurses and PT's that have been in the trenches with me during the process.  They're closer to you; they spend more time with you; they're the ones with more answers to your immediate questions; and they're the ones that are indispensable to the healing process.  God bless em!

Jack Williams