Cardiac Rehab

Posted by Elizabeth MacKenzie @elizabethmackenzie, Aug 14, 2017

I am starting cardiac rehab tomorrow following two minor heart attacks last spring due to Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD). I am wondering what kind of experience others had from rehab. What did you find helpful?

Thanks!

Elizabeth

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Heart & Blood Health Support Group.

@corjianne

My ejection fraction is 18, and I'm exhausted all the time. My cardiologist encouraged me to begin cardiac rehab, which I did a month ago. I can't do much, but when I finish, I have to sleep for about 2 hours. This doesn't seem normal. Have any of you with low ejection fractions experienced this? Thanks.

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Hi @corjianne,

You may notice that I moved your discussion and combined it with this existing discussion on cardiac rehab. I did this because I thought it would be beneficial for you to be introduced to others who have also discussed their experiences with cardiac rehab.
If you are replying by email, I suggest clicking on VIEW & REPLY so that you can read through some of the earlier messages and meet some of our other members talking about their or their or their loved ones' experiences.

REPLY

@elizabethmackenzie - Hoping your Cardiac Rehab is or was a good time for you! Many of the people I met there continued on there working out because they had made good friends and it became a place of socializing for them. They also liked the idea since the exercise room was on the same floor in the hospital for Cardiology that gave them the added confidence if something were to happen. For me, since I was already exercising at a over 50 fitness center, the equipement was very familiar and the added security of being monitored with a device gave me that extra confidence that I was in good hands. The people who worked there were wonderful & encouraging and there was a dietrician there who we all meet with several times to discuss changes that we might want to make in food choices, etc. A wonderful book was mentioned that we ended up purchasing on Amazon called Good Food Great Medicine by Dr. Miles Hassell & sister Mea that I would highly recommend to anyone especially someone that has had Cardiac issues. In my case, I had a serious "widow maker" heart attack along with a single stent, but am truely thankful for making it through that. Evidently God was not done with me on this earth! Hope all is well with you and your cardiac rehab experience has fueled in you a regular exercise program. God bless. @thankful

REPLY

Wonderful experience. Everything from nutrition to exercise. The first part of my rehab was class time which could be anything from smoking cessation, depression, nutrition, meds, etc. The second part was exercising on various machines. It was a wonderful program.

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@lknightb

Wonderful experience. Everything from nutrition to exercise. The first part of my rehab was class time which could be anything from smoking cessation, depression, nutrition, meds, etc. The second part was exercising on various machines. It was a wonderful program.

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@lknightb- So glad to hear your experience at C. Rehab went well! I too had a wonderful experience and met several folks that I'm sure will be long time friends.

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Good to hear. I also go back to their support group.

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