Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Cardiac Rehab

I had my first cardiac rehab session yesterday. It left me exhausted. While it may sound easy to those in shape, trust me, I am anything but. For over two years I was so filled with fluid and breathless I couldn't even go shopping. My muscles went on vacation. Yesterday they had me on a treadmill (flat and slow) for five minutes and I was starting to breathe heavily when it was time to stop. I then went on another machine called a Nustep for five minutes then a hand bicycle type of thing for five minutes. I also did warm up and cool down excercises. They had a cardiologist come check me out although I was monitored constantly by a portable monitor and a nurse was with me. The doctor said that I had to take it really slow as my surgery was only two months ago and it was a huge surgery. My heart is beating fast and they aren't sure if that's because it is so deconditioned. If so, this will help that. If not, I will probably need a medication. I came home absolutely exhausted and I am going to be doing this three times a week for several months. Hope I can make it.
They warned me to expect fatigue for 4 to 6 weeks. Glad that should be ending before Thanksgiving. Then hopefully, I will begin to feel stronger.

I have read several blogs today but was not able to comment. (Terre and Missie) When I signed in with my google account, it refused to recognize it saying I was not authorized to access the page. Then I tried my other google account just to be sure and it did the same thing, same message. Not sure why.

2 comments:

TARYTERRE said...

It sounds like you have your work cut out for you in rehab. Slow and easy will get the job done. Your cardiologist is right, it's going to take time to heal. Hang in there. When you're home get some extra rest to build your endurance and strength. PS)I don't know why my blog isn't letting you leave comments. Are you coming to it directly from your dashboard, if not, try that. It worked for me a few months back when I had a similar problem. Take care.

Judith HeartSong said...

I am sending love and a supportive hug.... you hang in there!