The importance of cardiac rehab

Rehabilitation is a crucial part of recovering from a heart attack, as one "fit and healthy" patient discovered.

Bruce Carter was riding his bike up to 450 kilometres a week alongside his 18-year-old son Maccie, an elite junior cyclist. 

Towards the end of 2017, then aged 57, Mr Carter thought he had some "health issues" but two doctors told him he was fit and healthy, and likely had indigestion.

"I was given some medication for gastric reflux, and that didn't help," he said.

"I was getting worse and worse and worse, without really understanding what the problem was."

At the end of November that year, Mr Carter's wife Sarah was woken by his noises, an hour after they had gone to sleep.

"He was groaning like he was having a bad dream, so I just lay there and waited, as I thought he would stop groaning," she said.

"I shook him to wake him up and he didn't feel right, he felt heavy."

While Mrs Carter was on the phone to Triple Zero for emergency advice, her husband's heart stopped beating.

"The call-taker was amazing," Sarah said. 

"Maccie helped get Bruce onto the floor and I started giving him CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation)."

Mr Carter was revived and taken to hospital, and it was a traumatic time for the family.

"I didn't break down until I got back home from the hospital and wondered, 'What does this mean for our lives'?" Mrs Carter said.

A week later, Mr Carter was discharged from hospital to begin his recovery, but he initially decided against cardiac rehabilitation.

"I remember going there thinking this is not me," he said.

"I'm young. I'm fit. Cardiac rehab is something that other people do, not people like me."

Within six weeks, Mr Carter was admitted to Melbourne's Epworth Richmond hospital to have an abnormal heart rhythm corrected. Five months later while on an overseas trip, he thought his ongoing discomfort was indigestion, not heart trouble.

After returning to Australia, he was admitted to Epworth Richmond again, and had more stents inserted into his coronary arteries, including one artery with a 90 percent blockage.

Mr Carter then decided to undertake Epworth HealthCare's heart and cardiac rehabilitation program. 

The program brings together a range of health professionals including a cardiac rehabilitation physician, cardiac nurses, physiotherapists, exercise physiologists, occupational therapists, dietitians and psychologists.

Mr Carter said he was glad he changed his mind about the program, and he has since been able to take up hydrofoil kitesurfing.

"I think physically because I was struggling so badly with a major narrowing of a coronary artery I was depleted, and mentally I wasn't in a good way," he said. 

"I was frustrated and depressed and felt vulnerable.

"But the program was such an important thing to do, it was such a positive experience. Sharing it with others helps and it was great to hear stories from other people in the room."

Mrs Carter said the rehabilitation had taught them both a lot.

"His diet was already pretty good, but it helped to understand how the heart works, what can affect it, the impact of stress and the connection between head and heart," she said.  

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