Now what?

Welcome back to your work week!

Since we've touched on the signs of different cardiac events, we come to the part that nobody ever really tells you about. Now that you or your loved one has suffered an event, what happens? What now? How do you move on from this experience?

I'm thinking this will be a two-day special, but we will see!

Firstly, after you're stable and sent home from the hospital, you're going to get a whopping ton of paperwork, most of which makes no sense and tells you that you basically can't eat anything except lettuce and you certainly can't lift more than the remote for at least several days or weeks. It's a really scary time, but hang in there- things will clear up. 

The first thing you can do is get on a heart health website like the American Heart Association or WomenHeart (a site geared toward women, but still a great resource for everyone) and read their information about your condition. These sites tend to put things into terms you can understand. The key to moving on from the episode is to learn what you should do to recover, and how you can change your lifestyle to get heart healthy. If there is something you don't understand, ASK- that's why your doctor is a doctor- his/her job is to answer your questions. Don't ever feel bad about being vastly confused, you are not alone!

Something I definitely wanted to touch on here is cardiac rehabilitation. You've heard of sports rehab (or drug rehab) I'm sure, and cardiac rehab is kind of similar- it's a professionally supervised program to help you recover from cardiac events and surgeries. The program will help you integrate exercise into your lifestyle to reduce cardiac symptoms and reduce your risk of a repeat episode. Rehab will start with an evaluation of your current condition and your limitations, and they will come up with an activity regimen tailored to your needs. It'll start slow and pick up as you make progress. They will help you understand your condition and how to successfully manage it.

Once you're done with rehab, your task is to integrate what you learned into your daily life. Follow your diet and exercise plan, reduce and learn to cope with stress in your life, and make sure you are able to recognize the symptoms of a cardiac episode should one happen again.

Keep checking back for more information on living with a heart condition!

And don't forget to enter our jewelry raffle- just e-mail me at slachapelle@richland.org and tell me how YOU are committing to fight heart disease in your life and you'll be entered to win!

From my heart to yours,

Red in Richland County