Cardio Rehab or if the heart attack did not kill you this will

May 27th, 2010 - In case you did not know, I suffered a heart incident at the end of March. I am fine now, feeling good, but, I now have a new piece of wire embedded in one of the arteries that leads to the heart, I can set off any alarm at the airport, I am on a boatload of medicine and I have started "Cardio Rehab". Let me just say this, "if receiving the bill from the hospital for a two day stay ($56,000 without doctors cost)doesn't kill you then the cardio may. Of course then they would never get paid. hmmm

So, cardio rehab is all about becoming arobicly fit. Exercising the heart til you are at your target rate and then sustaining that for about 3o minutes on the two pieces of machinery you will use. First, let me say, I had an advantage, remember I joined the health club earlier this year, so I at least was familiar with what the equipment looked like and how to use it. Well, almost. I never did master how to adjust seats, arm pulls, etc, so it can still be a stretch for me to reach the peddles on the bike. Not to worry, in rehab everyone is hooked to a monitor, so the slightest blip that doesn't sound like the familiar beeps, and you have several folks standing over you with the trusty 'crash cart' at their side. When you begin your workout you are hooked to an EKG machine, blood pressure is taken, and heart rate is measured. This is great but did I tell you that you have to put the monitor on yourself and connect the leads yourself, all with the help of a poster, that when you look at it is backwards to how you should really connect. Once you master, hook your monitor to your belt, sandpaper the places where the leads are placed, ( not sure why we sandpaper ourselves, but I can tell you I have bald spots all over my collar bones and my sides.)place the sticky circular disk to your body, and connect the lead, you are set to go. Then your resting numbers are recorded and you can begin. All through the workout you are monitored, have your blood pressure checked, and asked the rates and incline you are working at. You are also asked to say what level of exursioyn ou feel you are working, meaning 1) easy 2) kinda feel something 3) moderate 4) somewhat hard 5) hard and 6 throu 10 get the 'crash cart'. They tell you there is no competition, it is only what you can do, never mind what the person next to you is doing. Yeah Right. I stood next to Mr. 6 feet 4 man, who started out at a rate of 3.2 and an incline of 3. When I finally made it to 3.0 and incline of 1.5 they almost had to carry me away. Note to self, no matter whren 'tall' man is I do not go anywhere near him. Oh yeah, one other thing they do, which all you gals will appreciate, is in the middle of your workout they get everyone's attention, smile and ask you quite loudly, "have you lost any weight". You might think a simple yes or no would put this question to bed, but you would be wrong. It is followed up by, "how much do you weigh now".... I always remind them I am supposed to avoid stress, can I just write down my weight on a peice of paper and drop it at the desk on my way out.

So three days I week I go for cardio rehab, I sweat, push myself and know that I am going to be a stronger person after I complete my time. What, what is the nurse saying to me, "you don't complete your time". "This is something you will do for the rest of your life, only really instead of just the three days, you should be doing five". "What you feel faint, you are panicing? Let me get the crash cart!"