One Year After Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery

One year ago today I was waking up from CABG surgery. It has been an amazing and challenging journey back to health. I am still not where I would like to be but compared to where I was just one year ago well, it is almost unbelievable.

For those of you about to undergo bypass surgery and for those of you at various places in your recovery, take heart and forgive my terrible pun. You will get through this and come out the other side better.

The things I did right:

• My family got involved in my recovery. I wouldn't have tried so hard without their support.
• I took advantage of every educational and physical rehabilitation program that was offered to me.

The things I should have done:

• I should have kept in touch with the fellows who were in the hospital ward with me having the same procedure.
• I should have kept in touch with the people I went through Cardiac Rehabilitation with. It is easy to become isolated while working your way back. I think being able to meet up with folks going through the same thing would be really positive and encouraging.

Well, that's it. I just wanted to mark the anniversary of my heart surgery and wish to all health and growth in the New Year.

More Puppy Pandemonium and Starting a Running Program

Pandemonium, that is the right word for what is going on in my house right now. We have brought another pup into our home.
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This fellow is a Springer Spaniel named Schalke, after my daughter's favourite footie team.




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The little pup Shorty, our Maltese is fun to walk although in truth it is really more of a carry with frequent stops to chat with other pedestrians who are captivated by his cuteness. No kidding, it almost like a super power with this dog. The power of cuteness.

Walking Schalke on the other hand is already an athletic event. Thankfully he doesn't have much stamina yet.
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I was speaking with a friend of mine recently who is a marathon runner. He gave me some information on adding running to my daily walks to enhance my cardio-fitness.
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The idea is to walk for five minutes and then run for a minute, walk for another five minutes, run for a minute and so on. Gradually you will build your stamina and muscles by increasing the minutes of running until you can do the distance running you have set as your goal.
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Walking the Springer Spaniel puppy is like that anyway although I suspect his stamina will increase at a much faster rate than mine but I am going to give it a try.
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The cautions for those of us recovering from heart surgery are of course to be careful not to over-do it. If you can't talk and do what you are doing, you are over doing it! I find that simple rule is much easier to apply out on the street than monitoring my pulse.
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I remember a discussion during my cardiac rehabilitation that mentioned that those people with dogs appeared to do better at maintaining their fitness goals over the long term. I can see why.
Puppies lift your spirits. They need to be played with and walked. It is hard to be too much of a couch potato in a house with two puppies.
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Steps today: 10,164