Cardiac rehab

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Permalink Reply by Graeme on January 17, 2012 at 15:47

Madeline,

chase it up. It's worth it. I was pretty active too before my train wreck but I did get a lot out of my rehab program and it did help me get over the op and especially the mental side of things plus living with the tick. click. thump! a lot sooner than doing it by myself...

 

cheers

 

Graeme

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Permalink Reply by SImon Norie on January 17, 2012 at 16:26

Hi Madeleine - Welcome to the club.

Just to re-iterate Graeme's point, if it was me... I would go. How beneficial it is, will be down to your individual circumstances in the build up to surgery, your recovery since and how you deal with things, and of course what the re-hab people are like (but my NHS experience has been uniformly brilliant - this (critical care) is what they do best).

I was very active right up to surgery and found that the rehab (through mutual agreement - I have done over 20 years of fairly broad based fitness training, so knew quite a bit about what was possible) was not going to add on-going a lot to what I knew. Although some of the general advice they gave me on training types and intensity was invaluable.

But going to see them and having the chat and taking the, in my case, treadmill, test was a very helpful step in recovery. As Graeme says as much for your state of mind as anything else - it is another milestone ticked off

I was 44 at the time of surgery and I think they saw me at week 4 or 5. I may have chased them (the Cardiac nursing staff told me to never assume anything would just happen and to never feel worried about querying things)

The daily activity sounds a great thing to be doing at week 7.

Ta

Simon

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Permalink Reply by John French on January 17, 2012 at 16:49

Hi Madeleine - I would echo the previous comments. I am just coming to the end of my cardiac rehab sessions after my operation in October - last session tomorrow in fact.The people that attend are a mixture of people that have had heart attacks, angina, heart disease, angioplasty, heart surgery (coronary bypasses, valve replacements, etc) so a mixed bag. I am 46 and was the youngest in the group by far but I still found it useful to increase my physical exercise with the supervision of a cardiac nurse and pysiotherapist. Like you I was active prior to surgery and was out walking fairly long distances shortly after coming out of hospital but it was nice to have the guidance from the experts at cardiac rehab whilst ramping up my exercise regime. It also helps you to get into the routine of doing higher impact regular exercise.

Some of the talks they give are less relevant to MHV patients but you can always skip those if you want.

So from my experience it was a valuable piece of the recovery programme.

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Permalink Reply by Madeleine M on March 23, 2012 at 19:13

My goodness me, I do love the NHS, but getting things done can be frustrating. I saw my GP in February and asked her to send off the forms for rehab, because the hospital ones had gone astray. A few weeks later, someone from my leisure centre called me back saying vital medical information was missing from the forms, so they were faxing my GP. When I had not heard for 3 weeks, I called back. They said they still couldn't process my forms, and were refaxing back to the GP. So I went to see my GP, who said she had spoken in person to someone and asked them to put the referral through. Still I heard nothing, so I called the team and asked exactly what could the problem be. They pulled my forms, and said that all the delays were down to not having the date of my operation. I was so annoyed, I could have easily given that information 5 weeks earlier.

They then said that my GP had put me forwards for a phase 4 course, but as my op had been in the last 6 months, I would need a phase 3 course. The wait for that was upto 2 months, which would take me to 6 months post op, when I would be ready for phase 4 :/

As it happens, I now have an appointment for one months time. However, the mind does boggle at a 2.5 month delay for rehab! I'm sure I will be put through to phase 4 straight away, but the treadmill test will be valuable. I have a pacemaker, and my upper limit is 130 bpm. It will be good to know if this is enough for exercise, or if it needs tweaking.

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Permalink Reply by Graeme on March 25, 2012 at 11:00

Moral of the story.. the NHS is like Topsy - when it is good it is very very good - even superb - and when it is bad it is awful... !!  It was superb with my AD diagnosis, swift action (operation) and intial recovery... but subsequent minor ailments it has been next to useless... caused mainly by gross bureaucratic incompetence... take that away and the people inside it are wonderful...

 

cheers

 

Graeme 

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Permalink Reply by Madeleine M on March 27, 2012 at 15:47

I'm feeling quite pleased with myself. I called the rehab team, and asked them if they had any cancellations could they consider me because I have been waiting such a long time. A few hours later, they called back and offered me an appointment this week. Finally, with a push and a shove I have got somewhere.

I do constantly wonder how people navigate the NHS if they are not persistent. There must be so many people with a variety of conditions that slip through the net.

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Permalink Reply by Kev A on March 27, 2012 at 22:39

Hey Mad

The bloody NHS! We love them, we hate them. I had to wait 6 months for my rehab. Apparently @ the 6 wk check up, the doctor decided the rehab was a waste of time (didn't even ask me). The doctor @ the 6mth check up then signed me up after noting I hadn't had it (didn't get asked again)

I have to say - the rehab (for me) was brilliant. It was everything I needed, to push me (if you like) forward again. Around here (Hull/E.Yorks) there are two courses. One being free and one @ £2.80 per session. The free one was (apparently) a marching band type of class. The paying course, was in a local council run gym - running/weights etc. I was 27 and chose the 'proper' rehab course. Yes, I was the youngest (to date) - but it was well worth it.

Good Luck

 

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