To Do Cardic Rehab or Not?

[AshPitt21710]

I am almost 4 weeks post-op and will be seeing my surgeon in two weeks. I was not a very active person before surgery and I am 23. I am leaning towards going but I don't think my insurance would cover any of it and I'm not sure if I could pay for it. I do feel back to how I felt before surgery, minus the soreness still at my shoulders, so I don't know if I should do it or not. Any advice on if I should do it or not?

 

[epstns]

Most insurance plans will cover some amount of rehab for heart surgery patients. I would recommend that you explore your coverage, then take advantage of any rehab they will cover. If they do not cover any, check your local park district. Some of them have recreation centers with cardio exercise rooms, and they may have a trainer experienced in rehab - and that may be less expensive than paying for traditional rehab yourself. In any case, I do feel that it is worth the effort to undertake some form of organized and supervised rehab, at least until you have your confidence back and know how hard you can push yourself.

 

[tgmorris]

If your insurance covered your surgery I'd be willing to bet they will cover a decent amount of cardiac rehab. It's easy enough to check out by calling them and asking for clarification on what your plan covers. My plan covers all that I might need (i.e no preset limit on number of visits) but once I'm cleared by the rehab folks and my cardiologist then it's cut off. I just finished my 20th session and am on target to be released at the end of 24 sessions. I plan to keep working out on my own afterward and picked up a treadmill, elliptical, etc. in order to do so. The rehab nurses have been great but mentioned that the real problem is keeping up with some sort of program after rehab has been completed. I currently do the 3 rehab sessions per week as well as 3 sessions at home and take Sunday off.

I agree with Steve in that some form of supervised program would be the best way to start out although I did start using a stationary bike prior to rehab just to get some strength back into my legs. Walking also works but it was starting to get cold in Indiana and there wasn't any place convenient to walk as I'm in a very rural setting, hence the treadmill.

The important part of the rehab is the monitoring and keeping up with what your limits might be based on which medications you are on. In my case I'm on a beta blocker (Toprol XL) but have no problems getting my heart rate up to the lower 150's w/o any rhythm problems. Early on they kept me down in the low 130's when I had some BP issues but as everything is now stabilized I'm comfortable working out on my own. I picked up a pulse oximeter to keep track of my rate as well as an automated BP cuff to keep track of that aspect as well.

 

[tom in MO]

If you don't exercise, cardio rehab is a great way to get into the habit. I am 54, but a slug, and I got some great habits and execise routines from my rehab courses, that I'd never be doing on my own.

At 23, if you regularly exercise, the first few weeks of cardio rehab is a great way to make sure your on the right track.

If it's not covered by your plan, then I wouldn't worry if you cannot afford it. On my plan, surgery took care of the deductable so cardio rehab was free.

 

[SumoRunner]

I never did. I was 43 at the time. Rehab programs 21 years ago were not for people who were already fit. Maybe they're better now. Back then they were pretty lame if you had been in good shape prior to AVR. Walk slowly on a treadmill, lift a 10 lb dumbbell, etc. So I went out and did my own thing. I knew from a couple decades experience how to get in condition. It was damned hard work, but I'm a persistent type.

 

[anutherbuddy]

My DH just "graduated" from cardio rehab - twice a week for 12 weeks. He started 2 weeks after OHS - which seems a lot sooner than most others I've seen on this site, but it was really motivating to him. He was in pretty good shape before OHS but you'd think he was training for an Iron Man competition now. His last few times in rehab he's been walking 30 minutes at 10% incline on the treadmill at a rapid clip, climbing 80 stair steps, 10 minutes of arm cycling with resistance and various other upper body strength exercises. He's also kept up a similar regime at home on the days he wasn't there. He made some good friends, too. He's looking forward to continuing the routine of working out at least an hour a day at home. We will be happy not to have to drive 45 minutes each way to get to the rehab center - but's it's been well worth the effort in every respect!

 

[Freddie]

I didn't attend rehab, nor was it mentioned to me that there was such a thing.

Look into getting a gentle massage for those shoulders.

 

[AshPitt21710]

Thanks for all the input! Sorry it has been a while since I have been on. I ended up going through a move with my fiance and that took a lot of my time, as well as sleeping because moving took so much out of me.

My insurance didn't cover ANY of my surgery because they said my surgery was with a preexisting condition. They won't even cover any of my follow up appointments. :/ But neither my surgeon or cardiologist highly recommended rehab. They both did however highly recommend working out more. So I am not going to a gym about 3 or 4 times a week, depending on how I feel, to work out with a trainer. I usually can only do 30 min before I become tired but I am also back to work and I work in fast food right now so that is pretty demanding as well. But things are going very well. Thank you all again for your input!

 

[ramjet]

Go and talk to the cardiac rehab peolpe about costs, and insurance and the like...because, to be honest, I thinks its absoluetly essential to get along to cardaic rehab if its anything like my cardiac rehab, and I have made freinds for life from my weekly sessons, seriously, but even if you don't make new acquaintances, the information is priceless. I was fit, healthy, and strong and knew about quite a bit...but I learn't something new each time. We had physioltherapists, exercise physiologists, cardiac nurses and nutritionists involved. It would start with a short lecture/info sesion on a particular topic, (medications, nutrician, exercise, food labeling, first aid, what to eat, what not to eat,and more), then we would have vital signs checks (weight, pulse, BP), and then have a tailored exercise session (warm up, stretch, exercise), and all the time giving you advice about what you could do, what you should avoid at what stage post surgery, and all the time sharing experiences with other people, some with similar conditions, others who had suffered a heartattack or who had a pacemaker or whatever, it was enlightening to say the least, and most of all there were experienced staff on hand to answer tricky little questions you might have. It was non threatening, supportive and encouraging with everyone else in the same boat, and for me it was priceless. If you can get into a group class, and if for some very unfortunate reason yoru insurance doesn't cover the cost, I recon the cost may not be much more than going to gym and its worth much more than that in my opinion. As I said, I'm not sure what your classes may involve, but go along and find out what is involved, what the costs are and when the classes are held. I drove for over an hour one way to get to the class, and it was worth the effort for me. Let us know how you go, but the target in Australai is to get 100% of post cardiac surgery patients into cardiac rehab sessions. opps, sorry, just saw your post about insurance...bugger, darnm drat. But a trainer at the gym will be very helpful, but you may find that a weekly session at cardiac rehab might not cost more than a session at the gym, but might be quite helpful, so I would still explore the cost and explain your particualr situation. Take care

 

[RunnerAl]

DO IT! Find a way, find a funding source, but do it.
I'm 68, long-time runner, had AVR in October and am back to 3-4 miles several times/week, thanks to something I thought would be a waste of time... NOT! My wife "made me do it" with the very basic argument: It's covered (medicare-plus-supplemental, in my case; thanks everyone!) and they can monitor you (the point that made most sense to me)! The thing that really helped me was "having" to go there 3X/week... I could see and feel the difference each day/week that went by!
In fact, I'm such a fan, I spoke with my cardiologist about why more people don't and how I can help get more folks to go... all the suggestions made here for finding funding are great... go for it!
Bicuspid, tissue AVR+ (1 bi-pass), 10/9/12

 

[clay_from_nj]

Six weeks after surgery, I had my follow-up appointment with my surgeon and about the same time, finally got the referral for rehab. The surgeon told me that I could go ahead and do rehab if I want, making appointments weeks in advance and paying co-pays for every visit, or just skipping it, since I had essentially "graduated" anyway and should do whatever kind of exercising that I want. I am certainly no athlete, but six months after surgery am doing regular walking, jogging, and strength-training, without any limitations. I don't even bother with monitoring my heart rate, as the Coreg makes that a meaningless measure. I just know that I'm getting leaner and stronger every day, and it feels DAMN GOOD! Walking, jogging, and running take no special equipment and cost nothing to participate in. Want a more advanced, tailored workout? Try one of the free websites, like bodbot.com, which tell you what exercises to do and how to do them.

Do the rehab, if you can, but exercise either way. You've been given a second chance - make the best of it.:thumbup:

 

[ramjet]

I never did. I was 43 at the time. Rehab programs 21 years ago were not for people who were already fit. Maybe they're better now. Back then they were pretty lame if you had been in good shape prior to AVR. Walk slowly on a treadmill, lift a 10 lb dumbbell, etc. So I went out and did my own thing. I knew from a couple decades experience how to get in condition. It was damned hard work, but I'm a persistent type.

Contemporary Cardiac Rehab sessions are now far more than just exercise, they also provide sessions on medications, diet, first aid, wound care, how to read grocery labels (nutrician information) , and best of all, (as far as I am concerned) you actually get to meet other people gioing through the same thing as you, and you can chat, and meet people who have the same questions as you, and when you start to exercise, you have experts guiding you, helping you determine how hard (or how soft to go), and how to ramp it up and when to really ext6end yourself....in my humble opinion, its absolutely essentail...no question about it, and if insurance doesn't cover it, you might be able to pay cash and just do a few sessions, but rest assured, it will be worth every cent, and some people spend far more on just gym membership, or whatever...if you are serious about helping your body and cardiovascular system heal....go to cardiac rehab...thats my personal opinion,a nd that is what I say to anyone who asks me. My insurance covered every session, BUT...I had to complete teh full course or else I had to pay...it was ok to miss a few here and there, but I had to make them up, else I had to pay for the lot...not a bad incentive to complete the full course. A lot of the questions people ask on this forum were asked by different people in the cardiac rehab classes, but the difference being that experts could answer the questions, and my classes were in the hospital where I had the operation, so I felt that if something went wrong I could go straight to the emergency department within moments, and I could even drop in and see my cardiologist and my surgeon...i used to drop off some good bottles of red wine for them and say hi occasionally. Do the cardiac rehab...everything to gain, possibly only a few dollars to lose

 

[enkaynj]

If you have the opportunity to do rehab, you should. It allows you to push the edge and know your limits under medical supervision. I would do it just for that.

 

[Pat J]

I just started cardiac rehab 3 times a week for 12 weeks and when I was told my co pay was $12 per visit the nurse asked if that would be a problem as funding can be made available.

I feel like I have a team of nurses, PTs and even a cardiologist appt. My BP/heart rate were really high and they made a point to get with my cardiologist and get my meds changed.

Looks like a gym with the same equipment.

 

[epstns]

Pat - It may look like a gym, but I haven't seen a gym that has all the monitoring equipment to ensure that your heart behaves while you're there. The gyms also don't have the same caliber of trainer -- rehab tech's are specially trained to help heart patients to regain their lives.

Not trying to incite a riot with my comments above. My 12 week rehab program was one of the best things I could have done after valve surgery. I went to rehab 3 days a week, and the other 2 days I did the same routine at my gym. The rehab program showed me how much I could and should push myself to regain stamina and strength.

I'm now just over 2 years out, and after recovery from some other non-heart-related repairs, I plan to get back to things more than ever. Life is good.

 

[AshPitt21710]

Thank you all for your input. I really haven't had much time to be on. I have just been working out with a trainer at my local gym and now that it's FINALLY nice out, I've been trying to workout more outside. I can now run about a mile in about 10 minutes without feeling like I am going to die!! Which I was so excited when I finished it for the first time in a full on run! My cardiologist is completely happy with how I am doing, my trainer and I document everything I do so when I go see him he knows how things are going. Thank you all again for your input, I totally appreciate it.

 

[Rachel]

Sounds like you're doing GREAT!!!! So much better than I did at the stage you're at now.

Keep it up!!!