A Very Special Group…

Welcome to a special group. We are now known as Cardiac Survivors.  So that means that we have survived a cardiac event and now need to recover and find new ways to celebrate being still in this world. We now need to also learn to live with a new condition that may, or may not, impact how we live life.

So, you may be asking yourself “now what do I do and what exactly is recovery?” These are very good questions, and I will provide some insight into what I did after experiencing my Widow Maker Heart Attack.

Your first experience after surviving this major medical event is to understand that while in the hospital you are being monitored. You are there to make sure that you achieve a certain level of recovery to be discharged. Once discharged and you are home you begin to wonder “what just happened?”  And I believe that this is a normal response. What I found interesting was that my body was beginning its physical recovery, even though this initial recovery will be different for you.

What was not mentioned at the hospital before I was discharged was that “Your body will recover faster than your mind.” Yes, I began to feel better each day that I was home, but I felt like my mind was trying to catch up. And after talking with other cardiac patients, I learned that mental impact was a common feeling.

And what is recovery for a Cardiac Survivor?

Cardiac recovery requires multiple efforts for cardiac patients to strengthen not only their heart but to also dedicate time to strengthen your physical body strength and endurance. And from my experience, I will also add that this is the time to address the mental impact of cardiac recovery. I say this because I have learned that many cardiac patients do not embrace that they are still in this world and need to reconsider what changes to make to live more fully in the extended play given to them.

You might ask what I did for my recovery, and I am very happy to share my recovery efforts. After coming to terms with my new status, I developed a recovery plan that covered four phases over a twelve-month timeline. Here are my phases:

Phase I – Three months committed to my cardiac rehab as directed by my cardiologist. This effort allowed me to develop a level of confidence that propelled me forward into the next phase.

Phase II – I joined a gym that understood my new condition and could work with me to create a physical strength baseline that I was comfortable with. From this baseline I would establish realistic goals that I would work to achieve over the next three months. At this time, I also engaged with a mental therapist so I could begin to strengthen my mind so that I could overcome the worry of the “what ifs” creeping back into my recovery thoughts.

Phase III – I set new strength goals for each one I did achieve in the Phase II efforts. I did not allow myself to think that not achieving any goal in my Phase II efforts was a failure, I just rewrote the criteria for viewing my achievements to that level. I then proceeded to continue to advance. In recovery there are no failures, everything achieved is a success story. Remember not to give up. I tell myself that life didn’t give up on me so I shouldn't give up on life. I should live it to a new level of fullness.

Phase IV – I continued to work on getting stronger, with more endurance and mental strength. This is the phase where I began to look at diet. Yes, in the other phases I was basically following the doctor’s orders but it was getting very boring. In this phase I began to play around with food options. I also looked deeply into the origins of the Mediterranean Diet, and not just the food part. This is when I learned about “Conviviality”; the art of living while eating healthy.

Now an update on where I am. I am approaching my second-year anniversary of experiencing my major cardiac event. I am back to my body size when I was in my early forties. I am twice as strong now as I was before my event. I have lost at least eighty to eighty-five percent of my man-belly. And I am still working on my diet. Honestly, I have not been as successful with my diet as I was hoping to be. I have taken up mountain bike riding. And I am back to golfing with improving scores.

So here is my inspirational message to you. You have survived. Now is the time to find your baseline so you too can begin your recovery. It will be hard at first. But you can do it. Set your goals so each day contains your success stories. And share these stories with others. You are now a member of a very special group. You are now known as a Cardiac Survivor.

Cheers!

– Don P.

Cardiac Survivor and VCSQI Patient Advocate

Follow along with Don's recovery journey at: https://inspiredheartnewbeginnings.com