February 29, 2012
Today I had my first day at rehab. Easy day. Seriously. And I'm glad for that.
We (Lisa came with me, she is my chauffeur) met Megan and Jim at the Parkview Cardio Rehab Unit. It's on the ground floor of the Heart Institute. Megan then took us to a consultation room to go over what rehab consists of, asked lots of questions, answered our questions, and some other general stuff. All the administration type stuff you have to go through before you can begin to rehabilitate. LOL
So after we got through all of that, Megan took me to the locker room where I got to put on a heart monitor. Oh boy, I've had once of these on before. For days on end! Fortunately the ones at rehab are a lot lighter than the ones I had to wear before. Thinking back on the day I now realize they also had a lot less wires which probably explains the lighter weight.
After I got the monitor on, we came back out to the exercise area and Jim activated the monitor I was wearing. Megan then took my other vitals. After that it was off to the races. Well okay, it wasn't exactly racing speed but Lisa and I walked around the track at a decent pace. They had me walk six minutes and gave me a counter I clicked for every lap I made. We (Lisa and I) walked seven laps in 6 minutes. Not bad, I guess. We both felt like we were walking faster than we had last week at the mall so that feels like a good thing.
Megan then walked me through the cool-down exercises and we finished up my first day of rehab. My next day is March 6th, one month since my surgery.
After that we went and got some lunch at the cafeteria. Some more walking. Haha. And that was quite a walk from the Heart Institute to the cafeteria. And then back again after eating. They still have good food there. I had the stuffed peppers with corn. Lisa had a turkey wrap with potato salad. I was going to get a wrap to go before we left but they close between 2:00 and 5:00 so no wrap for lunch tomorrow. We'll keep that in mind next time we are there.
After we got back home I noticed my back was bothering me a little bit. I told Lisa I was going to take a little rest in the family room. It turned into a two hour nap. My body knows how to talk to me. It just shuts down and says "Nap time"!
Wow, I just realized today marks 30 days since my heart attack. Wow, it all seems so...surreal, in a way. Just over a month ago I thought I was "normal" in my health. Little did I know there was something going on inside that I didn't expect. Thank the Lord he got me through it. With lots of love and prayers from family and friends. Bless all of you out there.
So, if you don't go back to rehab until the 6th, did they give you an assignment to do at home or somewhere else on the "off" days?
ReplyDeleteI have my breathing exercises I do a couple times a day. And I walk when I can, even if it's just around the house for a few minutes. That was really it. Nothing to specific yet. When I get to doing some upper body exercises in a few weeks I will also probably have to do something similar here at home on the off days.
ReplyDeleteOne thing they stressed was to not over do it. They want to to get better but not hurt yourself trying to get back to where you were.
Yes, that is good..not to over do it while you are continuing to heal. And I think wearing the heart monitor while you are at rehab gives reassurance.
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