Bonner General's cardiac rehab is a lifesaver

When Joe Kelly was told by his doctor that he would need heart surgery because of blocked arteries, he felt his life was over. Joe’s dad had died of a heart attack at 50. Joe thought he would suffer the same fate, but he was lucky. After his surgery, he enrolled in a cardiac rehabilitation program.

Now, one year later, Joe walks every day and has lost weight and lowered his blood pressure as a result of the rehab program.

Joe is like more than 100,000 Americans each year who are helped to recover from heart attacks, heart surgery, stents or angina through cardiac rehabilitation.

Feb. 14-21 is National Cardiac Rehabilitation Week. The theme of this week is “Cardiac Rehabilitation: A Smart Start to a Healthy Heart” to highlight the role of prevention in the treatment of heart disease.

We all know somebody like Joe. Heart disease is still Amer-ica’s number one killer. Most of us also know the things that can cause heart disease such as high blood pressure, smoking, high cholesterol, diabetes, being overweight, being a couch potato and stress. But you may not know how effective cardiac rehabilitation can be in helping you recover from a heart event or keeping an already present heart condition from getting worse.

 A recent study published in “Circulation,” an American Heart Association journal, also found that those attending a complete cardiac rehab program had a 47-percent reduction in the risk of death.

Like many people after a heart event, Joe was afraid to do much of anything. During cardiac rehab, he felt more secure with cardiac nurses supervising his exercise and watching his heart rhythm, blood pressure and oxygen. He got his questions answered and learned how to better manage his risk factors. He was motivated by talking to other participants and seeing how well some of them were doing. 

Bonner General Hospital offers a comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program that includes an initial evaluation of your current health, a supervised exercise program of aerobic and resistance training exercises, education to reduce your risk factors for heart disease, stress management techniques, and nutrition counseling. Your doctor and nurses work together to monitor your progress and come up with the best program for you.

There are many proven benefits to participating in a cardiac rehab program. In addition to  decreasing his risk of another heart attack, Joe gained confidence in his ability to exercise, lost some weight, lowered his blood pressure and cholesterol levels, learned how to better manage his stress, and felt better after completing cardiac rehab than he had for many years.

Cardiac rehabilitation helped Joe rebuild his life, both physically and emotionally. It gave him the tools, knowledge and motivation to fight the progression of his heart disease and enjoy his life to the fullest.

This week’s article was provided by Jody Thoreson, R.N., director of the cardiac rehabilitation program at Bonner General Hospital. For more information, visit the hospital’s website at www.bonnergeneral.org.