<p>At the beginning of the week, DH had a “mild” heart attack which led to angioplasty on Tuesday. He’s home now. He had one artery blocked that is still blocked but his body had created new vessels to a second artery – when that closed and a piece of plaque broke off, he was in trouble. Now he has a stent on the second artery; the first artery could not be repaired with angioplasty. The doctor doesn’t think he needs surgery because of the natural bypass from the first to second artery. We really like this doctor a lot but we know it might be wise to have someone else see the pictures. Here’s my question to those who have been down this road. We know all the diet changes and so forth that need to happen, it looks like he’ll attend a cardiac rehab program nearby and he’s on all the new meds. What have others found to be helpful? Should we rush for a second opinion or sit tight for a few weeks? How successful were you or your spouse in losing weight, making dietary changes, adjusting to everything, etc.? Did you go to a cardiac rehab program and did it help? DH was very lucky as these things go especially given a very bad family history. Right now the learning curve seems very steep and I found, when one of my kids developed a chronic illness, that it can be very helpful to hear from others who are further down the same road and I thought I might get good input here.</p>
<p>mimk:</p>
<p>I don’t have any advice, but I just want to say I’m sorry to hear about this bit of bad news. There are doctors on CC; I hope they’ll see this thread and have recommendations.
But for what it’s worth, I would go for a second opinion, for peace of mind if for nothing else. In my case, it made a real difference as to which option to pursue.</p>
<p>Sending warm thoughts your way. I know there are several CC’ers who’ve had personal experience…I’m sure they will be helpful for you.</p>
<p>mimk6 – my husband had much more major issues than this so I don’t know how relevant my response will be, as he suffered cardiac arrest last August (at age 49) while we were on vacation with our teens out of state – defibrillator used, stent inserted, unconscious and on life support for 2 weeks, etc. By the time was able to fly home a month had gone by and the cardiac rehab program really helped him regain his strength; but then again, he had just “graduated” from using a walker, so its a far cry from where your husband hopefully is. He felt kind of strange being with a group of 75+ year old “regulars” at cardiac rehab, though.</p>
<p>He had a fairly healthy diet beforehand and his cholesterol levels were always good, but as his doctor says, it apparently wasn’t low enough for him. So I have been diligent in making sure he eats healthy. It’s really not been that hard, and the rest of our family has been eating healthier as well. Whole grains only (including whole wheat pasta), low fat meats, no processed meats (like salami or bacon), only olive or canola oil, Smart Balance Light (instead of butter), lots of oatmeal, fish, fresh fruits and vegetables. We think this helps a lot!</p>
<p>Hugs to you. You should consider yourself lucky that you get another chance.</p>
<p>As far a losing weight goes, small changes are better and stuck to much better than big changes. </p>
<p>For exercise, start out small – just add 10 minutes’ worth every few days, and increase the intensity only when he feels like he wants to – that is, when the status quo gets too easy. Go slowly. Don’t let him feel he has to climb a mountain in the first week. That’s the best way to become depressed, lose motiviation, and stop completely. </p>
<p>Slow and steady wins the race.</p>
<p>The biggest benefit of a cardiac rehab program over a self-monitored exercise program is that there are people monitoring the intensity, heart rate, etc. It’s scary to think you might be doing too much too soon, and this takes away that fear.</p>
<p>Slightly different circumstance but might be helpful as far as the rehab question. My husband had a blood clot break off and pass through his lungs and heart causing damage to both. He was on oxygen full time for a while afterward but only at night now. He did go to a rehab thingy afterward though I am thinking it was more lung related rather than heart. Doing the rehab exercises in monitored conditions with someone there keeping an eye on his oxygen levels etc. helped push him to do more than he might otherwise have, while taking away the fear of doing more than was safe. I think it was very helpful to him at the time and he followed the recommendations afterward for a while which really helped with his breathing. It is very different from what a healthier person might do - I think his upper walking speed on a treadmill was @1.7 mph - but was geared toward him having retaining some mobility, though not as much as he had initially hoped, with the damage done (the lung doc was delighted with his progress - we were just a bit clueless about the amount of damage done and how much improvement to expect). </p>
<p>So I would say a definite yes to the rehab if only for him to learn what he can safely do to improve his health without being afraid of endangering it. It was very beneficial both physically and psychologically for my husband and, in all honesty, for me. I would go with him because the nearest rehab place is @ 1 1/4 hour drive from here. It served as a big reality check for me.</p>
<p>Good luck to you both.</p>
<p>Thanks for the warm thoughts. BlackeyedSusan, I’m so sorry you went through all of that and glad your husband is recovering. Both my husband and I lost our fathers to sudden, massive heart attacks when they were the age my husband is now – early fifties – so I know that we were incredibly fortunate. He can make a full recovery as he did not lose too much heart function. He is not a smoker but has every other risk factor and this incident now puts him at an even higher risk. I mention this because I’m having trouble assessing how “over” this really is. People seem to think that since he’s home and doesn’t need surgery that he’s on the mend. I vacillate between feeling like “Wow, we were so lucky and this was the best-case scenario” to feeling some depression over the fact that he will never really be in the clear, if I’m understanding things correctly. I guess as with anything else, we have to adjust to a “new normal” where a certain amount of trepidation exists. He signed up for rehab today and begins next week. I hope it will create an accountability factor for him, if nothing else, and get him back into the routine of exercising. Plus there are nutrition classes, etc.</p>
<p>Cardiac rehab is great. My husband had a stent put in (after abnormal test results, not a heart attack), went to the rehab program afterward, and really liked it. There’s an organized, supervised exercise program – like a very high-class gym, but designed with lots of extra safety precautions for cardiac patients. There are also classes of various sorts. And your insurance probably covers most of the costs of the whole thing. Also, the people who run such programs are very knowledgeable; your husband may be able to advance quite a ways on the learning curve just by asking them questions.</p>