John's Journal

Susan Lynn  Welcome, John! You've certainly been through a lot. Hope your recovery is going well.
Cardiac rehab usually starts very slowly. If you're doing any form of exercise at home, you may not initially find it challenging. You'll be wearing a wireless heart monitor and having your blood pressure checked before, during, and after exercises. Once the staff is able to determine what you can currently endure, they'll gradually increase your routine. The biggest benefit of cardiac rehab is meeting other heart warriors. I loved seeing my cardiac rehab friends so much, I stayed in the extended class for two years.
I hope you find it as valuable as I did! Please let us know about your experience.

Pamela Gregory  Cardiac Rehab was the best thing for me! They helped me gain confidence that my heart was going to work ok while monitoring how it was working as they gently push you to do more. My place was also wonderful mentally for me as I had a few melt downs. They helped me in so many ways and I will always be grateful

Dorothy Madsen  You'll do fine and feel great.  You'll likely get hooked up to telemetry (ECG wires) to monitor your progress.  In a few weeks, you'll look back and see how far you've come! ❤️

Marie Myers  I started cardiac rehab at 3 weeks post op. I began with about  5 minutes each on the treadmill, the bike , and the step machine. After a week, I increased  to 20 minutes on each machine. My EKG and blood pressure were  monitored every time, and it was a very reassuring way to get my strength back. Let us know how your experience goes!

J Alexander Lassally  I, personally, was totally underwhelmed by my program. (I know, I am the dissenting voice here) but I did it at a second rate hospital in a second rate town (not Cleveland Clinic.) In the end, it is about self motivation and finding your comfort zone. Walking independently is king, and you don't need a program for this.  Finding your starting target heart rate with beta blockers (which you will likely be on) is the key.  Happy to share more.... Good luck ! 

Robert Miller  My cardiologist told me not to do cardio rehab. He said all they do is slowing me down, then make me increase the exercise and then tell me how much I improved because of them. Having said that, I did 1h of strenuous cardio and other sports every day before my surgery. I think the most important part is knowing your body. Don't overdo it. Start slow. See where your heartrate is while you do things. What your heart rat is when you rest. How quickly you recover from being active to resting. Monitor your blood pressure. Talk about all of this with your surgeon and cardiologist after surgery. You want to make sure you know how to handle all of this yourself instead of relying on your cardio rehab people. I am not saying that you shouldn't do to cardio rehab. Just make sure you know how to monitor yourself.