I really didn’t even know what cardiac rehab was, but I assumed it had something to do with exercise and lifestyle changes. Anytime the word ‘rehab’ is bandied about, it certainly includes lifestyle changes, right?

As it stands, I’ve just completed my first two weeks of cardiac rehab and they most certainly had something to do with exercise. That’s pretty much all I did during week 1 – exercise, exercise and more exercise.

My particular rehab program is set at 3 times per week for a total of 12 weeks. I might just be a beast by the end of it! Might being the operative word

So, how DOES cardiac rehab actually work? I can’t say for certain that all programs work the same, but I’d say they are pretty similar in nature.

Cardiac Rehab – The Prelim Visit

I’ll call this one a preliminary visit. I was there to do what they call a 6 minute walk test. According to Medical News Today, the test is basically to measure exercise tolerance and fitness in an individual. The test can be used for a variety of health issues, including heart disease and lung disease, just to name a few.

I was hooked up to a few monitors and took a 6 minute walk down the hallway. I managed my walk without having to sit down and rest or anything of the sort. Some people certainly don’t. I walked 407m (I was actually walking slowly and not at my normal pace), and a score of 400-700 is what’s considered normal for a healthy adult. 4 weeks post widowmaker heart attack – doesn’t seem too horrible to me!

Day One of Cardiac Rehab

I went back on Monday for my first ‘official’ rehab day! They took my weight, pulse and BP and then hooked me up to a small EKG type machine – only had 3 electrodes. NOT a nurse here – so I’m writing in my very own Lori language.

They walked me over to the big treadmill by the window and asked how I felt about giving 25 minutes a try. Ummmm??? I didn’t do cardio BEFORE my heart attack and now they’re wanting me to walk on that beast for 25 minutes? What?? I was certain my life vest was going to explode, shock me and that would be the end. In my mind, there was simply NO WAY I’d be able to walk that long. I literally just did the 6 minute walk a few days before…shouldn’t this be increasing gradually? What the hell were these people trying to do to me? Rehab my ass! Grrr!!

Needless to say – I was wrong! I walked on the treadmill for 25 minutes with ease and felt absolutely no shortness of breath or tiredness as I went along. My MPH setting was at about 2.5. The highest my BP got was 122/74, which is still pretty darn good if I do say so myself. Again, not a nurse, but…they said it was good, too!

Day Two

The next visit was the following Wednesday and they upped my treadmill time to 30 minutes, with a MPH of 2.7. They’re not messing around, it seems. I again did that with ease and maintained a similar BP as to what I’d done the previous Monday. BP was around 120/71 with a pulse of around 88. Seems like my ole’ ticker is tolerating this well, so far. Yay me

Day Three

By my last visit of week one on Thursday, I was up to 35 minutes, wearing my earbuds and jamming out to my favorite country music on Spotify I maintained the same MPH this time around and my BP and pulse continued to stay in the same range.

Day Four

I returned the following Monday to complete the 4th day of rehab. As I expected, I did a 40 minute rotation on the treadmill and upped my speed to 2.8 MPH. Definitely not running, but walking at a nice little pace. Again, my BP and pulse were trending at a pretty good rate.

This time around, however, we did a little light weight training after the treadmill workout. I started with the 5 pounders and basically did some lunges, curls and rows. Nothing too insane – just a little added to the initial workout.

Day Five

Day five was almost identical to day four in terms of time and numbers. The only difference is that the dietician showed up this time around and talked with me the ENTIRE 40 minutes I was walking on the treadmill.

Considering I was chatting with her and answering questions, I still maintained a good BP and pulse the entire time.

As I had the previous visit, light weight training followed my 40 minutes of treadmill time.

Day Six

Well, I might have been a little too sure of myself! Today was the first day I actually felt it. My cardiac rehab jailers…errr…trainers upped me to 3.0 MPH for the 40-minute duration on the treadmill. I actually felt perfectly decent throughout the workout; it wasn’t until I got off the treadmill and started the weight training that I felt it kicking in.

After our weight training session, my pulse had increased to 118, which is still within range, but the trainers had me sit down for a few seconds to bring my heart rate back down. Truth is it was back at 82 within like 10 seconds. Still okay, I guess!

Dietician

My own experience thus far indicates that the dietician’s role is to discuss your eating habits with you and find out your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to eating healthy. Whether you like it or not, eating healthy IS important at all times, but IS even more important once you’ve had a heart attack or other cardiac event. Today’s Dietician offers an in-depth look at the role of dieticians in cardiac rehab.

My dietician asked some probing questions about my eating habits, talked about the importance of a low sodium diet and how I could increase things like dietary fiber. She printed off some pertinent documentation on things I should be doing at home to make changes to help me succeed in my cardiac rehab journey!

Why is it Cardiac Rehab for the Win Exactly?

For me, it’s pretty simple! I’m taking FULL advantage of literally EVERYTHING I’m offered that could help me live a longer and healthier life.

Interestingly enough, I’ve heard from some of the doctors and medical professionals on my own team that a lot of folks simply don’t take advantage of these cardiac rehab programs when they’re offered.

I mean, 30 quick seconds of research shows how many significant benefits there actually are to attending a cardiac rehab program. The folks over at Good Rx have a full list of the benefits of cardiac rehab. If you happen to be on the fence, take a look and make the right choice. Hint…the answer is to GO to cardiac rehab.

I’m quite curious to see where I’ll be at the end of the 12 week program. I wonder if I’ll be jogging on that treadmill? I wonder if I’ll be lifting weights that are a little heavier than I am right now? Regardless, two weeks in and I’m already feeling 100% better than I did both before and immediately after my heart attack.

Ya know -when I first started this blog it was meant to be about my besties and I, our adventures and fun stuff like food, travel, cocktails, decor, fashion and the like. I’m still going to be blogging about ALL of that, but I can’t NOT include a few references to health since it’s such a big part of my life right now. Because, in my wackadoo world, it’s definitely cardiac rehab for the win!

The post Cardiac Rehab for the Win appeared first on Quite Simply Us.

Hi there everyone! Sorry I’ve been slightly incognito over the last few months – it sort of happened for a variety of reasons, to be honest! Christmas and the holidays had me way behind and overtook me a bit, and then, a few weeks ago, my lovely little heart decided that I needed a bit of a wake up call!

At 51 years old, which is still pretty damn young in my opinion, I am sorry to say I suffered a widow maker heart attack – a 100% blockage in my LAD artery. I am thrilled to say that because of the rapid response of my son and my boyfriend, who took care of me and called 911 after I collapsed, the paramedics who responded, shocked me and performed CPR on my pulseless self and the doctors and nurses waiting for me to arrive at the hospital where they took amazing care of me, I’m sitting here writing this today – exactly 16 days after suffering a major cardiac event!

As I learned AFTER I was aware enough to know what had actually happened, the survival stats for this type of heart attack are not great. Depending on where you get your information, survival rates for widow maker heart attacks that happen outside of a hospital setting are anywhere from 6%-12%. No wonder the nurses and doctors at the hospital all kept telling me how very lucky I was to be alive!

The truth is that I continue to sit here, in awe, that I’m on the survivor side of that statistic. Thrilled, blessed and grateful, mind you, but…shocked, too! But trust me – I won’t take it for granted! The term second chance means a great deal to me!

The What of it All

So, what exactly happened? How did this go down? Was I having symptoms?

In short, yes, I was having ONE symptom, but I didn’t actually realize it WAS a symptom. Prior to the actual heart attack on March 12th, I had experienced a few days of heartburn. I tried taking antacids, but they didn’t make much of a dent. Seeing as how I NEVER get heartburn, I probably should have known something was wrong. The fact is that I chalked it up to age, as I have literally EVERYTHING since I turned 50! I mean, back hurts. I’m 50. Headache. I’m 50! Joint pain! It’s the 50! I think I had gotten it into my head (and I know some of my friends had too) that everything starts to go wrong at 50. So, what did we do? Blame everything on being frickin’ 50! Like the body magically starts to disintegrate once we hit the half century mark. Side note – I had a a heart attack at 51, so…maybe we weren’t so wrong about the dreaded 50?

On Saturday afternoon, the boyfriend and I decided to take a nap! I thought maybe I’d get lucky and wake up with the indigestion magically gone. Ummm…that didn’t happen. I did wake up (don’t remember it), climbed out of bed, collapsed and hit my face on the armoire on the way down. Tony woke up and saw me having what he described as a seizure. I woke with him telling me that a squad had been called. Somehow, I stood up and walked into the kitchen, which is where I was when the EMTs arrived. I vaguely remember talking with them and I slightly remember them shocking me and me saying something very prophetic like ‘OWWW’ – after that…complete darkness.

From what the boys tell me, that’s when I collapsed, lost my pulse and the EMTs did CPR for like 10-15 minutes.

The next thing I remember I was being wheeled into the hospital and surrounded by what seemed to be 20-30 doctors, nurses and EMTs. I don’t know why, other than trying to maintain some modicum of control, but I vividly remember telling everyone around me to hush up and listen.

I then proceeded to tell them all, “I won’t be dying here today.”

The nurse beside me grabbed my arm and said, “Well, alright then.”

After my insistent ‘It’s Not My Damn Time’ declaration, things blurred a bit. I have a vague recollection of being moved into the cath lab, where the docs placed two stents in my LAD artery.

Off to the ICU I went, where I stayed for a day or so, before being moved down to a regular room. There, I developed some wacky arrhythmias and long QT numbers, which caused my heart to go flutter, flutter and get a bit racy and off-kilter, electrically speaking. FYI – totally non-medical terms in the last sentence

The medicines weren’t working to stop the arrhythmia, so they took me back to the cath lab and did another procedure to make sure everything was okay. Multiple attempts with different meds and they finally started to get the rhythms under control.

I stayed in the hospital for 5 days, before heading home.

The Now of it All

The Vest

My arrhythmia issues and long QT numbers put me at risk for what they call sudden cardiac death. Even though they’d been level for a few days, the hospital sent me home with a lovely parting gift – the Zoll Life Vest, which I have to wear for 90-days. If there aren’t any issues – I’ll send the vest back to the company and be good to go. If they’re still seeing crazy rhythms, they’ll likely implant a defibrillator in my chest.

So, the vest (errr…harness from hell) is an external defibrillator that will shock me if I go into a wackadoo rhythm. So far, no issues whatsoever. No shocks. No alarms. Yay me – I plan to stay ahead of the curve.

But, I’m so sorry, the actual design of the vest is an absolute nightmare. Don’t get me wrong – I’m glad to have it in case something happens. But…who in the actual HELL designed this thing????? First, there is one vest regardless of gender, which should tell you something right off the rip!

You’d think maybe it would be something like a sports bra, but nope. It wraps around you and has 3 hook and eyes that close in front like a bra, but that’s where any similarities to women’s undergarments end. There is no built-in bra, cup, covering or anything of the sort – your breasts just sort of hang there, exposed, over the band of the harness. This might be the one time in my life I’m thrilled to be on the small boobie side of things – can’t even imagine if I had some of the boobies my besties do. Holy DD’s, Batman! You can try adding a bra on afterward if you have to, but it just bulks you up even more and it’s already difficult to find clothes you can wear with this thing. Tunics and leggings seem to be working for me, so I’ll stick with those for now. Oh, and the wonderful mumu! I’m roaming around the house in a lot of those right now.

Then, there are the 4 nickel sensors that are within the vest that dig into your back and side area. After about a week, I started itching a LOT and developing a slight rash. A very light coating of baby powder has become my new norm.

The monitor has to be carried with you at all times. It can be clipped to your belt or it can be worn similar to a cross body purse – though it’s a wee bit heavier than your average handbag.

Right now, I LIVE for my daily shower, which is the ONLY time I can remove the harness and get a little bit of sweet relief!

The Ribs

Needless to say, I’m still really sore from the CPR and cracked ribs, but they’re improving every single day. I’m finally to the point where I can get up by myself – for the first week or so, I needed help getting into a standing position. I expect to be doing yoga and be as flexible as I once was in a matter of weeks OK – maybe a month or two! Soon – very soon

The Bruises

I am covered in bruises, primarily because I’m not healing as well at this point due to the blood thinners I’m on. I also have a huge bruise on my face where I fell and hit the armoire when I collapsed. But, bruises heal and I’m alive…soooo…

Cardiac Rehab

In early April, I’ll be starting a 12-week cardiac rehab program that I’ll attend 3-times per week. My understanding is it will focus on things like exercise, diet, education, stress relief and the like.

From what I’ve been told, a lot of people who are eligible for this program choose not to attend. Me – I’ll take advantage of whatever I’m offered so I can do whatever is necessary to NOT end up in this position again.

The American Heart Association’s website has a whole cardiac rehab section in case you want to learn more.

Smoking

After smoking a pack a day for over 30 years – I have completely stopped. The day I had my heart attack was the day I smoked my last cigarette. The fact is that it really hasn’t been as difficult as I always thought it would be.

It’s crossed my mind a small handful of times (primarily in the morning), but I simply think about what I went through and the urge passes pretty quickly!

Diet

Aside from my great affinity for salty potato chips and the like, I don’t think I was ever a horrible eater. I always ate lots of fish, didn’t eat lots of red meat and had a pretty diverse type of diet. I would have considered myself a foodie, for sure.

However, I’m now watching what I eat very closely and keeping the sodium intake on the low side. More fruits, veggies and grains are making their way into the ole’ daily diet.

The docs mentioned the Medeterranian Diet, so I’ve started to incorporate some of those recipes into my weekly meal planning.

I’m not giving up everything I love, but I can change and modify a lot. I don’t need salt on everything. I can buy low sodium products, lean products and low/no fat products to help with these modifications.

The Meds

Of course, I’m now on a regular rotation of meds that I have to keep straight – beta blockers, blood thinners, cholesterol meds, blood pressure meds and aspirin.

Now, part of my weekly chores consists of doling out medications into a lovely pill box so I can remember what to take and when to take it!

Ugh…this 50 shit again! Am I right?

The Ultimate Fact

As I told the doctors and nurses – I will absolutely and unequivicolly do WHATEVER is needed to take advantage of the amazing second chance I’ve been given. That is the ultimate fact. 16 days ago I was nearly dead on my kitchen floor and I survived. I’m open to any and all kind of change necessary to enjoy a long life!

The How of it All

So, like me, you may be wondering how this happened? 51 is really young for a massive cardiac event, no? Apparently, as I recently learned – it’s not as uncommon as you might think.

My doctors tell me that my family history, high cholestorol and smoking probably played a large part in my own story.

There are a number of risk factors listed on the American Heart Association’s web site, including things like high cholesterol, family history, high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, diabetes and many others.

For me, here’s how those risk factors likely played out!

• Family History – Check and Double Check
  • My dad had a heart attack at 58 and had one of the first stents ever put in in the Columbus Area. He’s now 87, has 5 stents and sill gets along just fine. Truth is – I’m modeling my entire recovery after my dad – I wanna be like him
  • My mom also had a heart attack at 60 years old and went into cardiac arrest, however they think hers was caused by the strong chemotherapy she was on for ovarian cancer. She later passed from that cancer at 65.
• High Cholesterol – BIG RISK FACTOR
  • So, I’ve never been a big fan of doctor visits! Sure, I’ll go if I ABSOLUTELY have to, but I’m the first one to say that I NEVER went like I should. I didn’t have routine physicals done, so there should have been no surprise when my cholesterol results came back post heart attack. Yikes – some pretty elevated numbers!
    • Total Cholesterol – 278
    • Triglycerides – 276
    • LDL – 186
    • HDL – 37
• Smoking – BIG RISK FACTOR
  • 30 years @ 1 pack a day

The other risk factors for me were negligible. My blood pressure always ran low, I was lucky enough to never have a weight problem and I don’t have diabetes.

In my case, all it took was to tick off those three boxes on the risk assessment. How about you? What’s your risk?

If you don’t know, please take the time to call your doctor and make an appointment.

The Future of it All

So, what does my future hold?

As I see it, whatever the hell I want it to hold.

Right now, I feel totally and blissfully blessed. I KNOW that someone, or multiple someones, were watching over me and that I was given a rare second chance to LIVE my life. I WILL NOT squander the second chance I’ve been given.

After the heart attack and the realization that I’d very nearly died, I remember thinking that I wasn’t ready. I hadn’t done ALL the things I wanted to do – things I’ve dreamed of since I was a child. I hadn’t traveled. Been to Paris and the great cities of Europe. Published one of my many, in progress novels. Started some sort of foundation to help others. Watched my son grow older, get married and have a family. Watched my beautiful bonus daughter graduate high school. Made more amazing memories with my family. Had years of girls’ days with my besties!

I simply hadn’t left my mark. I wasn’t done!

Now, in my mind, it’s really pretty straightforward. If I want to do something, I’m going to do it. If I want to travel, I’m going to go. If I want to learn something, I’ll learn it. The sky is the limit – I will, quite simply, DO THE THINGS I WANT TO DO.

I VOW to stop putting off things that I want to do, because the fact is that tomorrow IS NOT promised. There will be no more ‘we should’ in my vocabulary; instead I will only utter the phrase ‘we are’.

I’ve got loads of wonderful and amazing things on the horizon that I’m looking forward to – some of which I can’t even talk about right now!

Suffice it to say, my blog will be growing and expanding, as I always planned. You’ll be hearing more about the Quite Simply Us girls and our adventures, recipes, cocktails, travel, bucket lists, decor, heart health and loads more. You might even be able to do a little shopping, should you be so inclined

So, quit reading for now and go hug your loved ones. Tell someone you love them. Plan a family vacation. Tick something off that big procrastination list! Remember – tomorrow isn’t promised so go make your mark today!

Until we talk soon – be well!

EDITED TO ADD

Wanted to give you a brief update, as there have been some pretty significant and amazing changes

I had an echocardiogram to check my heart and especially my EF function around April 25, about 6 weeks after my original heart attack! Lo and behold, the ECG showed that things had drastically improved.

My EF function increased from 30% to nearly 60%, which is in the normal range. The medical professionals were extremely pleased and a tad shocked at the rapid increase in such a short amount of time.

Even better, I was able to take that vest off and send it back to the company. Hopefully I never have to see that thing again

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