Recovery is a Family Affair

Waking up after open heart surgery is a stunning experience. There are all of the physical sensations but there is also a moment, somewhat delayed by the overwhelming immediacy of the physical stuff, when the impact of the event strikes home. "I'm alive. I've made it. Now what?"

It is the "Now What?" that has been my preoccupation for the last eight months and will likely be on my mind for the foreseeable future.

Part of the recovery is the physical rehabilitation. An even larger part is the educational process. In my case, I had to complete a number of classes about living with heart problems, heart healthy life styles and general knowledge about the pharmaceuticals used in treating heart diseases before even being admitted to the physical rehabilitation centre.

The Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Health in Motion Program involved two sessions a week doing exercises under the supervision of a nurse, a physio-therapist and a dietitian as well as one class room session a week.

The classes were spread out over the first eight weeks of the program and covered topics like:

• Risk Factors for Heart Disease and Stages of Change
• Exercise and Goal Setting
• Dietary Risk Factors
• Basics of Heart Healthy Eating
• Super Heart Healthy Foods and Foods to Avoid
• Label Reading
• Eating out and Meal Planning
• Coping with Heart Disease

The smartest thing I did was to take my daughter Nancy with me to the first round of classes. I encourage you to do the same. Take a family member with you to as many classes as they can attend.

There are two reasons for this. First, I was still quite dopey for the first couple so a lot of the information didn't stick. The second reason is that a lot of the life style changes, the mood swings and depression that are the after-effects of open heart surgery require not just co-operation from your family but their active support and understanding.

Even though you are the one feeling the physical pain, your whole family feels the repercussions of your operation.

Steps today: 10,287

Some Practical Advice For Those About to Undergo Open Heart Surgery

So here is some practical advice for those of you getting ready to enter the hospital for heart surgery. In the week before going into the hospital take a few minutes to have a hair cut. I know, not very high on your priorities but once you go into the hospital you can pretty well count on being laid up for a few weeks at least. The simple things like showering and ordinary grooming will be tough until your incisions heal and you won't be able to drive for six weeks or so. Anyway, I didn't get a haircut and wished I had. I was pretty shaggy by the time I was able to drive myself to the barber shop.

What to take to the hospital?

For clothing I took a week's worth of boxer shorts,two pairs of cotton pajamas, a house coat and a pair slippers. The pajamas should be a little larger than you might normally wear so that they don't bind and rub against your incisions.

I wish I had thought to get those slippers with no backs that you just step into instead of the shoe style ones. The first time I tried to get out of bed for a walk, putting on the slippers was an ordeal. Trust me on this, get the ones with open backs that you can slip on without bending down.

In my wash bag I took a hair brush, a razor, shaving cream, floss, tooth paste and a toothbrush.

Having spent some time in salmon fishing camps with other middle aged men, I also brought some ear plugs. I'm not sure if there is any such thing as a private room when in Cardiac ICU or a Cardiac Recovery Ward. I was in a room with five other people, all of us within a few days of a heart attack or some other major event leading to open heart surgery. It was noisy and active 24 hours a day.

Things I wished I had brought: a Walkman type music player with headphones and a radio. I think a couple of "talking books" would have helped to pass the time more pleasantly. I found it uncomfortable to hold a book and the drugs made it hard to focus anyway. Some hard candies to keep my mouth moist would have been nice too.

There are many other more important things you have to think about as you are about to undergo this life changing event but I hope this helps a little.

Why 10,000 Steps?

Here is a funny thing, everyone seems to agree that a walking plan of 10,000 steps a day has health benefits including weight loss and improvements in general fitness. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a lot of science to support the idea.

Now, that is not so bad. It is not like anyone is trying to pull a fast one here. It is more like someone suggested that number as a good, achievable target and everyone agreed.

The first person to suggest it here in North America seems to have been Dr. Catrine Tudor-Locke who described a Japanese health and weight loss system in a book about step counting.

It does make sense. Most normally active people can achieve the 10,000 step goal by supplementing their regular daily activities with a nice long walk in the evening. Of course, people who do that are also normally healthy as a rule so as I said, it does make sense.

How far is 10,000 steps? 10,000 steps is between 8 and 10 kilometers or between 5 and 6 miles roughly. Again, that is the amount of activity recommended by most health professionals for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle.

For those of us recovering from open heart surgery walking is the best sort of activity for aiding us in getting back to normal or better.

When I graduated from Cardiac Rehabilitation the physio there set my steps-a-day target at 10,000. So even though the science is still being done to prove the benefits everyone seems to agree 10,000 steps is the right target.

The first thing I did when I was well enough to start seriously trying for 10,000 steps a day was to first borrow and then buy a pedometer. These little gizmos generally clip onto the waist band of your pants and count your steps. Some are pretty fancy and have built in radios, clocks, distance measurement and so on but the most useful one I've found is a simple clip-on model from Wal Mart that cost around $12 bucks and does nothing but count your steps.

Make sure you attach a string or a lanyard to your pedometer that then loops around your belt loop or belt. Pedometers are easy to lose when getting into or out of your car, going to the bathroom, or even just fishing in your pocket for change. The clip they come with will keep it level on your waist so that it records accurately but without the lanyard, it is easy to lose.

I put mine on first thing in the morning and wear it until I go to bed at night. The pedometer is like a little motivational coach encouraging me to go another few steps and bring that total up.

It is the best $12 bucks I've ever spent

Steps today: 9,875

Major Leaguer Returns from Heart Surgery

I read today about a Major League ball player, Aaron Boone, who had open heart surgery in March and is returning to play his first game in the Majors this Wednesday.

My hat is off to him.What sheer guts and determination. He was not just getting well enough to function in normal life. He was getting well enough to function as an elite athlete.

Awesome eh? I guess there is hope for we mere mortals as well. What an inspiring story.

On a sadder note, my old cat, Marius has been pretty sick. We took him to the Vet today and his heart and kidneys are failing. The Vet said we should just take him home and make his final days as comfortable as we can. We will know when it is time to bring him back to the clinic.

Although it is his heart that is causing problems, cats almost never have heart attacks. It is more often something else that will bring about the end.

Poor old Marius. What a great cat he has been. I'm sad but philosophical. He is somewhere between 14 and 16 years old, having come to us as a full grown cat. That was more than twelve years ago.

Steps today: 8,987

Follow Your Exercise Program

The struggle for recovery from open heart surgery begins the day you get home from the hospital.

The currency of improvement is pain. Not in the " no pain, no gain" sense. It is just that everything you do hurts. It hurts to breathe. It hurts to move. God help you if you have to sneeze or cough. Everything you do hurts.

That is just the way it is. As time goes by things get easier, especially if you follow the exercise program laid out for you by your physiotherapist or doctor.

Within a month after surgery I was walking everyday and starting to take an interest in things outside of my own little sphere of misery.

Looking back from a few months down the road to recovery I realize that there are a few key areas that need to be balanced in order to find your feet and stride confidently forward into your new life.

The first is mental. Your attitude will dictate your reality. For example there is a huge difference in seeing yourself as "suffering from heart disease" versus "recovering from surgery to repair your blocked arteries".

See what I mean? one is a positive statement. I'm better, the problem has been fixed and I'm now moving forward. The other is negative. I am a victim of disease.I am suffering. I am stuck here.

I know this sounds like mumbo jumbo but depression or the blues is a big problem for us as we come to terms with what has just happened. Open heart surgery is a life-changing event. More importantly maybe is that it is a lifestyle-changing event.

The physical challenge is easier to deal with in some ways. Yes it will hurt as you start to move around but as a man I found the problems easier to understand. I do two small walks a day and soon I will be able to take bigger walks. Simple, linear, it makes sense and doesn't take any deep thinking.

I confess, those first efforts were pretty pathetic but it is eight months since my surgery and my target now is 10,000 steps a day - every day. Some days I only manage 7,000 or so but others I can get up to 12,000 steps, give or take.

The hardest struggle has been to beat the blues. I'm still working on that one but I think time is my Allie. The better I feel physically the easier it is to feel better mentally.

Steps today: 10,576.