Rehab - Day 1

As expected, I spent more than half of the 75 minute appointment completing assessments and establishing goals. I was fitted for a monitor that I wear during my work out. They take my blood pressure at certain intervals as well. Gotta make sure I'm still alive. Kathy is my case worker. She is a very warm person who took her time to complete my assessment even though she probably got more information about me than she wanted to know. She showed patience and seemed to understand very quickly that I had no idea how to handle all of this. She showed me how to attach the sensors for the monitor and then how to attach the leads to the sensors. I'm sure I'll never get it right.

The rest of the staff, Pat, Adele and Alese, welcomed me to rehab as though I had some sort of VIP status. They seem to treat everyone with that level of caring and respect. They will surely make the rehab process more enjoyable and less clinical.

The workout only lasted about 20 minutes, but I welcomed anything at this point. Since I have not had a stress test, Ed, the physiologist, ran me through a few light efforts to see how my heart reacted. I walked on the treadmill at 3 mph and 10% grade for 6 minutes. No problem. I worked on the bike...first arms only, then legs only. Speed goals remained low and duration remained short. Again, this was just to see how my heart would react. Finally, I worked on the Monark machine which looks something like a postage meter. For two minutes, I simply turned the handles and kept up a certain speed.

Dr. Newton, my Cardiologist, said that the rehab group would probably try to treat me like a 60+ year old heart patient when planning my rehab. Just the opposite was true. Ed said he recognized my unique situation and said he would create a rehab plan geared towards that. Day 2 would be more challenging.