While I was in the hospital, I had a visit from a therapist from the Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit. He went what the program had to offer me and I was very interested and signed up. I was scheduled to start the program a few weeks after a few weeks of more recovery time.
The cardiac rehab would not only allow me to improve my health through exercising, but it also had a lot more benefits, which included the following: increased my overall knowledge of my heart (how it works, blood vessels, the parts of the heart, etc), improved my blood pressure, weight loss, and provided a great support group and kept me motivated to make important lifestyle changes. All of these things would allow me to decrease the risk of future cardiovascular problems.
The program consisted of an hour class 3 days a week. There wasn’t a specific timeframe of when the program is completed, it’s all based on your recovery speed. The hour long class was split up into three different sections: walk on treadmill for 30 minutes, use the NuStep for 15 minutes, and then weights for 15 minutes. Like all exercising, it’s important to warm up and cool down, so that was also incorporated into the routine as well. Also, there was an actual educational class on Wednesdays. The class was only 30 minutes long, but we talked about all issues about the heart. I had the privilege to sit down and talk with a nutritionist and also a pharmacist. I was astonished of all the information that I learned through the program. It was incredible!
Before every workout session, I had to get hooked up to a cardiac monitor. This was known as an ECG (electrocardiography). This monitor traces the heart’s electrical activity at rest and during exercise. The abnormalities during the exercise may indicate something is going on with the heart. I went through countless sessions, and I still do not know how to read it the results on the monitor. Blood pressure and heart rate was also taken before and after the exercise.
There were several TVs on the walls, so while working out, I was able to watch TV. Also, there was a screen that showed my heart monitor, so the nurses and therapists were tracking it closely.
I can remember the first day of rehab, afterwards I was so tired. I didn’t realize how weak I’d become since the heart attack. I was on the treadmill and walking a very slow speed, no incline, and I was so tired. I experienced some chest pain, so I had to slow down my pace even more. I was so angry at myself for not being able to do what I wanted to do, but I had to remind myself, it’s one step at a time.
The cardiac program was a struggle for me, there were several session that I was experiencing severe chest pain. After talking with my cardiologist, he had ordered me to stop the program and have a stress test done. I was pretty freaked out again. I was scared to find out what was going on, but I had a lot of trust in my doctors and knew they would do what’s best for me. I had my stress test done and it showed that the area surrounding the damaged part of my heart was still pretty irritated. The doctor put me on some more medication and said to give it some more time to heal. Praise the lord that’s all it was!
About 2 months later, I was allowed to return to the program. To my surprise, I found the program to be a whole lot easier than what it had been before. I just needed some more time to heal. I had increased my speed and incline and was feeling great. Again, I’m stubborn, and the therapists and nurses wouldn’t allow me to go as fast as I wanted. I had to keep my heart rate under a certain level, and this made me mad, but I got over and pretty quick because I knew that I had to listen to them. They weren’t going to budge. They would be just as stubborn as I was.
During one of my last classes, I had a pretty good scare. I was working out and feeling great. I usually attended the 4-5 classes on MWF, but I had Friday off and I went to the 11:00 class. There was another lady in the class, who was also pretty young. Through talking, I found out that she was a roller derby girl. Well, during weights she wanted to try out some different exercises, and I thought well heck if she can do it, then I certainly can. WRONG! After we got done doing some pretty extensive exercises and were stretching I suddenly felt very ill and sick to my stomach. I told the nurse that I didn’t feel good and before I knew it, I hit the ground and passed out. I found out that my heart rate had dropped significantly within a few seconds and caused me to black out. The nurse had told me I was doing too much and my heart just wasn’t ready for it. After resting for awhile, I felt good enough and was allowed to go home. (They won’t allow you to leave if you are having issues). That day I learned an important lesson, my body wasn’t ready for such an extensive workout, and I needed to take a step at a time.
One of the greatest accomplishments came at the end of the program, I was RUNNING! I couldn’t believe it, just 4 months ago I had trouble just walking at a slow speed, but now I was running! The cardio staff said they’d never seen a patient run in the program before. I had to remind them that I was only 25 years old and most of all the other patients were well in their 50s or older. They acknowledged that, but said it was a huge accomplishment. I felt wonderful!
I finally graduated from the program in March. I was beyond proud of myself. I was able to prove to myself that I can accomplish something, as a long as I put my mind to it. It was such a bittersweet day on “graduation day”. I was thrilled to have successfully completed the program, but I was sad to leave the wonderful staff, especially Mary. I leaned on Mary a lot throughout the program, she was the cardio nurse and was ALWAYS there for me when I had questions and would allow me to vent my frustrations to her. I think she’s a lot like me, stubborn, so when she didn’t have answers to my questions she would always find out the answer no matter what it took. I enjoyed going to rehab because I knew the staff would be there to support me, but also push me to becoming a stronger and healthier person. I will always be grateful for IU Methodist Cardiology Rehab Staff!
Lesson to be learned: Take advantages of rehab programs, they can truly help you out. Not only are they educators, nurses, and therapists, but they will become your friends and one of your biggest fan groups. They made me realize that I had “the strength it takes” and I hope everyone else fighting through a health condition can realize that as well.