Cardiac Rehab Gave Her a New Life

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Living Heart-Healthy from Now On

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Joyce took classes to learn everything she could about heart disease and how to prevent it, including how to order a heart-healthy meal in a restaurant. She learned new stress management techniques and met with a nutritionist who helped her create an achievable 1,200-calorie-a-day eating plan.
           
“Before, I used to eat pizza two or three times a week. Now I have it once a month, if that,” she says. Because Joyce was always hooked up to a heart-rate monitor while exercising on the treadmill, bicycle, or stair-stepper, she says she felt she could push herself during cardio workouts. At the end of the six weeks, she wasn’t quite ready to leave, and, luckily, her insurance plan approved another 18 sessions.

Now, Joyce is about to embark on phase 3. She’s chosen to continue at the hospital two days a week to have access to medical staff members. Although she won’t be hooked up to a monitor, plenty of professionals will be within arm’s reach. “I’ll push further and harder knowing there’s someone there if I need it,” she says. She’s also going to keep up her healthy lifestyle—eating fruits and vegetables, managing stress better, and working out on a treadmill and stationary bike she has at home.
           
The stent and Joyce’s new commitment to health have made a huge difference in her life, she says. She finally can keep up with her 3-year-old grandson, Cole, at the park, and loves to take long walks with her newborn granddaughter in the stroller. Best of all, that pesky “heartburn” went away.
           
“I want to be there for those babies, and I have cardiac rehab to thank for it all,” Joyce says.