Bouncing back after a cardiac event

When you or a loved one suffer and survive a stroke, heart attack, or sudden cardiac event, it changes life as you know it. Simply getting out of the hospital and discovering what your “new normal” is presents its own set of challenges, not only for the patient, but for family and friends who are assisting them as they rehabilitate. Additionally, each patient will recover differently, based on several factors, which can include their physical activity level before the event and effects from it.

“Many patients are frustrated with not being able to physically do what they could when they were younger and prior to their cardiac-related hospitalization,” says Susan Dearborn, MS, CCEP, Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation. “However, in most cases, they are able to achieve improved functional capacity and fitness level with consistent daily exercise and have good quality of life and perhaps get back to activities they used to do.”

Dearborn begins her rehab patients with low to moderate workloads. She sets expectations to start slowly, and gradually build up their duration to 30 minutes over time. Patients begin with low levels of activity. For Dearborn and the Rehab team, they’re monitoring progress in their patients, increasing the workload on a weekly basis or more frequently, depending on how the patient is performing. The goal, she says, is for patients to achieve an exertion level where patients see a mild to moderate increase in breathing rate and moderate muscle fatigue.

“As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day,” she says. “We remind them that their cardiac rehab program is about 12 weeks so they have time to gradually make progress, and we will help guide them in appropriately increasing exercise duration and intensity over time. It’s amazing how well most people adapt to a consistent exercise program and make significant gains in their functional capacity and fitness level.”

Cardiac rehabilitation is a key component to the recovery process after a cardiac event, educating patients and their families about how they can prevent future events and chronic heart disease through lifestyle changes, including diet and exercise. For Dearborn, seeing her patients succeed is the ultimate reward.

“It is one of the best parts of my job, and our staff would agree!” she says. “We really enjoy seeing the ‘lightbulb moments’ when what we are teaching them ‘clicks’ and they understand how to apply that to their everyday life.”

For tips on how to keep your heart healthy, visit northernlighthealth.org/heart-health.