All rooms private in Rochester?

The problem with cardio rehab in my area was the lack of openings at the two places within reasonable distance. Mayo contacted an excellent place and the wait was two months and 6+ weeks at the place my cardiologist contacted 2 weeks after surgery. I did go to the second place for 3 visits; my regular gym is owned by people who used to work there. Except for the heart monitor, I did the same exercises under their supervision starting 2 weeks after surgery. I was active before surgery, so by the time I went to official rehab I was able to walk 3.1 mph on the treadmill for 40 minutes as well as be most of my way back for much of the other routine. I highly recommend cardio rehab!

You mention a general problem. It appears across disciplines- been there and am there myself.
The real challenge with not having an immediate access to any program is that if you stop doing anything for any length of time you will lose muscle and cardiopulmonary fitness. People are going home sooner after surgery. They should have a game plan.

If a program is NOT available, an intermediary level of care should be introduced, whether it is a home exercise program, video guided program, etc. I led classes virtually during covid with seniors. It can work. It just needs to be designed and applied to people post event (whatever it is or could be).

I worked in cardiac rehab and had some great success stories! One lady was diabetic, had quad bypass, stuck with the program for a year (figure out how that was paid) and was non-insulin dependent at the end of that time!

From the day I arrived home I was walking increasing amounts starting with up and down the driveway with my walker, soon I was walking slowly around he block. Anyone can probably find a place to walk where they live, malls are great!

Kudos to you!
You have worked hard and come up with some great solutions.
The malls are a really good place to go, and I wish mall management would consider it an opportunity to serve the community and bring people together (and maybe shop too).
Malls that are closed (environmentally controlled) are particularly effective for recovery.
They provide a reasonable air temperature, not necessarily humidity controlled, and safe surface for walking. Parks with clear walking paths are great- but not temperature regulated.

I would still suggest participating in some structured cardiac rehabilitation program for the following benefits: Research validated training; education on how to monitor your response to exercise; guided resistance training, yoga (stretching) and mindfulness for optimum benefit. Hopefully you can get them to start at your progressed level and forward you to greater success. You will gain information and skills to advance yourself!

My qualifier: I am an exercise physiologist and worked in cardiac rehabilitation in the past. My graduate work was "Women with Heart Disease". Back then they didn't think women got CVD. Now we know different. It is an "Equal Opportunity" disease.
Keep up the great work.
Ann Marie

Your suggestions are excellent! It's great to read information from someone who is knowledgeable in this field and I hope others read it. I am way past "beginner" and had been by the 2 month mark after my surgery two years ago. My recovery from a septal myectomy was "ahead of the game," I had always been quite active. I walk a 10K with my walking club in about 2 hours and 15 minutes. I have been doing weights, balance and flexibility exercises (I lift 160+ pounds with my legs, 50 with my arms), at the gym several times a week for years, it's owned by people who are trained in cardio rehab. I mow my half-acre lawn with a self-propelled mower, garden, clean my house, paddle my kayak, I rode my bike on Saturday for 23 miles with my bike group. I am 78 years old, just want to "maintain" at this point in time and agree that people need to work hard to make the best of their physical potential. Use it or lose it. Wishing all success in their endeavors.

You are a role model for others!
We can live to ... 120 years (if we work towards it).
Imagine if we were to just sit back on our laurels at what is expected to be "retirement age".
I am with you!
BTW, I don't think I could get as good as you at this moment (and I am a few years younger! lol).
Ann Marie

I tell people - keep doing whatever you can to stay as active as you can. Once you stop, it's harder to get going again. I had to "get going" again 3 times during my recovery because I needed a pacemaker, it was 4 months after surgery before I met the criteria/protocol for it. That was WORK! Quality of life is the reward when it includes bike riding with grandchildren! Knowing limitations is important too, be happy and proud for what you can do.

Very grateful for these posts. I have a condition that does not need open heart surgery now, but may in the future. I've had some major surgeries in my past at Mayo, and very very grateful for the care I received there. I'm just afraid as I heard it was gruesome recovery after open heart surgery. I need to pursue some followup but find myself dragging my feet. so unlike me. Mayo's creation of this forum and also the books I received for the cancer surgeries were just invaluable to me. I learned SO much by reading of other persons' experiences. It helped me to make choices about how to proceed after my diagnosis. And I chose a path that was scary but has proved to be the right one for me and my body.

The recovery from open heart surgery is different for everyone. I believe it depends much on your physical ability going into surgery. It takes a while to recover for sure with slow movements at first. Many cardiologists have cardiac surgery patients go to cardio rehab, did not happen here soon enough because there was a 2 month wait to get an appointment. The owners of the gym I go to are certified and came up with a plan for me, by the time I did go to cardio rehab, I went for 1 visit, did not need it.

Hi Luhn, what pushed me to move forward with my surgery was the fact that I wasn't getting any younger and figured the older I get the more difficult it will be to recover. My humble advice is to get yourself in the best shape possible because, as Walking Girl said, the condition you are in going into the surgery has a huge bearing on your recovery. The only surgery I had prior to my heart surgery was carpal tunnel so I completely underestimated my recovery. During the first 4-6 weeks it seemed like every day there was a different pain...dull headache, soreness in chest, leg pain from where they harvested an artery, etc. I didn't know it was my body healing, so everything freaked me out! I think just knowing that its normal and it will pass would have eased my mind. If you do decide to go ahead, I would highly recommend Rochester and Dr Spencer, he and his team are amazing!
Best of luck, sending you healing vibes!