Valve Replacement Surgery - Making The Most Of Cardiac Rehab!

Now that I've been to cardiac rehab for a few times, I'm beginning to recognize faces, and I've started meeting interesting new people. Those of us in the cardiac rehabilitation program all have something in common; the conversation usually starts with, "what are you in here for"? Sounds like a bunch of prison inmates doesn't it?

Introductions follow, and then we swap stories about our heart attacks, stints, valve replacement, or valve repair open heart surgeries. I usually ask how long they've been in the cardiac rehab program.

Then, after the preliminary gruesome details are exchanged,the conversation moves on to everyday normal topics. Where are you from? How many kids? Grand children? Married? Occupation? As you might imagine, most of the heart rehab participants are older and most of them are retired.

Today at rehab, I met Susan, a delightful grandmother of nineteen. She told me that her oldest son was strictly a sperm donor and had ten children of which he supported zero. "He is just a bum", she explained. She and her husband were raising three of the children.

Her children complain to her that now that she has had the heart attack, she doesn't want to do anything. Susan regards her heart attack as a green flag to do as little as possible from now on. She values a low stress life now, and pretty much does only what she wants to do. Looking and listening to her now, I can only imagine what she was like in her youth.

She tells her story as a matter-of-fact, spices it with lots of humor, and remains completely void of self-pity throughout. Susan has been coming to rehab for three months and knows the "low-down" on most of the regulars. "See that man over there, he had a heart attack on the golf course, they had to call 911 twice, by the time they finally got him to the hospital ER, he had permanent brain damage."

The point is, that while I could have just sat on my Nu Step machine and passed my twenty minutes of exercise, I didn't, instead I chose to reach out and engage another human being. The twenty minutes passed quickly, I met a new friend, we shared lots of laughter, and our spirits were jointly lifted. Cool Beans!

Some people dread rehab, while most look forward to it. I'm thinking that a positive experience is directly related to your willingness to engage and be engaged by your fellow cardiac rehab participants.