Star Jones – Cardiac Rehab Gave Me My Life Back
A successful attorney, author and TV personality, Star Jones is also a heart disease survivor and the passionate American Heart Association’s National Volunteer. Here she shares how credits cardiac rehabilitation with helping in her successful recovery after aortic valve repair surgery in 2010.
Tell us: What success – or barriers – have you faced in your cardiac rehabilitation experiences? Share your stories in the comments section below.
There’s no question that preventive open-heart surgery saved my life. But there is a no question that cardiac rehabilitation gave me my life back. And at 48 years old, I had a lot more life to live.
My operation wasn’t emergency surgery, so I could plan it out. One of my big plans for recovery was to get into intensive cardiac rehabilitation as soon as possible.
At home following surgery, I began an initial rehabilitation program. A therapist came to my house and helped me learn to walk again and feel confident.
Cardiac rehabilitation started four weeks after my surgery, and I did it intensely for three months. On the first day, they assure you that no matter what happens you will be safe because they use a heart monitor to make sure you aren’t overdoing it.
At first, they had me walk on a treadmill five minutes, very slowly. Then I took a long break. Then it was the treadmill again, or riding a bike for five minutes.
In order to graduate from the program, you have to be able to do a "sub-max workout" which is a workout of nine minutes on five different machines with a one-minute break between each in less than an hour. Less than four months after full-on open heart surgery I could do it, and walk the 20 city blocks back to my home. It was really awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome!
Cardiac rehab also included education about heart healthy foods and counseling on reducing stress.
Use of cardiac rehabilitation programs remains dismally low, especially for women and minorities. We know that it works. It can help reduce death after a heart attack and reduce the likelihood that you’ll be readmitted to a hospital. However, few than one-third of eligible patients participate. Many doctors don’t prescribe it.
But I say, “Ask.”
If you are uncomfortable bringing it up with your doctor, say something like, “I have been reading about cardiac rehabilitation. Let’s talk about that.”
Unfortunately, not every patient has access to a cardiac rehab program they can afford. I’m really proud as an AHA volunteer that the American Heart Association is working for passage of laws and policies to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable high quality cardiac rehabilitation. It will save the system money in the long run, and more importantly, it will save lives.
Cardiac rehabilitation helped me thrive after surgery. You need to take your life back, and go from being a heart disease patient to a heart disease survivor.
Star
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Click here to take action now and urge lawmakers to make cardiac rehab more accessible, especially for the women in your life.
Tell us: What success – or barriers – have you faced in your cardiac rehabilitation experiences? Share your stories in the comments section below.
There’s no question that preventive open-heart surgery saved my life. But there is a no question that cardiac rehabilitation gave me my life back. And at 48 years old, I had a lot more life to live.My operation wasn’t emergency surgery, so I could plan it out. One of my big plans for recovery was to get into intensive cardiac rehabilitation as soon as possible.
At home following surgery, I began an initial rehabilitation program. A therapist came to my house and helped me learn to walk again and feel confident.
Cardiac rehabilitation started four weeks after my surgery, and I did it intensely for three months. On the first day, they assure you that no matter what happens you will be safe because they use a heart monitor to make sure you aren’t overdoing it.
At first, they had me walk on a treadmill five minutes, very slowly. Then I took a long break. Then it was the treadmill again, or riding a bike for five minutes.
In order to graduate from the program, you have to be able to do a "sub-max workout" which is a workout of nine minutes on five different machines with a one-minute break between each in less than an hour. Less than four months after full-on open heart surgery I could do it, and walk the 20 city blocks back to my home. It was really awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome!
Cardiac rehab also included education about heart healthy foods and counseling on reducing stress.
Use of cardiac rehabilitation programs remains dismally low, especially for women and minorities. We know that it works. It can help reduce death after a heart attack and reduce the likelihood that you’ll be readmitted to a hospital. However, few than one-third of eligible patients participate. Many doctors don’t prescribe it.
But I say, “Ask.”
If you are uncomfortable bringing it up with your doctor, say something like, “I have been reading about cardiac rehabilitation. Let’s talk about that.”
Unfortunately, not every patient has access to a cardiac rehab program they can afford. I’m really proud as an AHA volunteer that the American Heart Association is working for passage of laws and policies to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable high quality cardiac rehabilitation. It will save the system money in the long run, and more importantly, it will save lives.
Cardiac rehabilitation helped me thrive after surgery. You need to take your life back, and go from being a heart disease patient to a heart disease survivor.
Star
*********************************************************************************
Click here to take action now and urge lawmakers to make cardiac rehab more accessible, especially for the women in your life.
