Cardiac rehab was highly recommended and promoted by the medical teams at the hospital before my discharge. It felt like if I didn’t go bad things would happen. Have you ever had that feeling when someone is telling you if you don’t do something that effects your health you will probably die? I was honestly scared about this appointment. However, the more I researched about the benefits of cardiac rehab I began to understand that this was just one of the many things I can do to improve my health and confidence for living a better life. I think the confidence part became my biggest motivator.
Before my cardiac rehab assessment appointment, I looked at myself in the mirror and was really shocked at how I presented myself. I did not have good posture. I did have a belly that I was not now comfortable with and any muscles I thought I had seemed to be missing. I looked older than I thought I should look. I did not see me in the mirror, I saw someone else. I think this event made me realize just how much I did not take care of myself. Change was needed, and maybe this event could become a starting point for a rebuild of my health and my body. This visual review of myself also became a motivator and helped calm me down for my appointment. I knew now that I had a lot of work to do and this was the first step for my physical wellbeing.
The cardiac rehab facility was located in the hospital which helped me feel more comfortable. Should anything happen I was in a location that could immediately provide medical assistance. This was a biggie for me. As I was checking in for my appointment I looked at who were doing exercises and the staff assisting them. Most of the cardiac rehab patients were a variety of ages of both male and female. The patients who were younger surprised me. I did not realize just how many younger cardiac survivors there were. I guess I had always considered that people who had heart attacks were older and not healthy. I realized I had a lot to learn. Cardiac events can impact anyone at any age. I began to understand that it is our responsibility to learn about our individual health needs and live accordingly.
My assessment team met with me to discuss what I should expect over the next several months and determined that I should anticipate 36 cardiac rehab sessions which would start in January and conclude at the end of March. One of the sessions would be with a registered dietician to discuss healthy eating. After our Q&A meeting, the team showed me how to attach the heart monitor leads to my chest and torso for accurate readings. They also went over the check-in procedures. They then asked me to select the piece of equipment to start my exercises on. I chose the stationary bike because I like riding my mountain bike and thought this would be a great way to kickoff my cardiac rehab. While on the bike doing my physical assessment, the team showed me how to read the monitor screen to see how I am doing with my heart rate. This was really cool and these screens were positioned throughout the facility so you could see your status anywhere in the room.
After the assessment appointment I checked out and started my journey home feeling much more confident about my recovery and how to monitor my stats at home. This ended up being a good day. I am now happy to begin my recovery journey.
“If you have experienced cardiac rehab, how did you feel before and after your assessment. Was it similar to mine? Please share in the comments box or by email.”