Today I had my first visit to the Cardiac Rehabilitation Clinic.  Though I had been looking forward to going since I was still in the hospital, the reality of going *right now* had me extremely agitated.  The Buddhist, who I need to repeat has been amazingly supportive through all this, had taken the day off to go with me and to the Coumadin Clinic afterward.  I’m so glad he took me there. I’m still hinky about driving and I quite honestly may have blown it off.

Entering the Clinic, which is housed in a hospital, was kind of overwhelming at first, which is to say, completely terrifying.  For some reason, it hadn’t occurred to me that it’s essentially a gym – just a gym where all the members are wired into heart monitoring telemetry units that hang in pouches around their necks and which is staffed pretty much on a 1:1 ratio of nurses/nursing interns to patients.  And where all the other patrons appear to be rather far on the north side of 70 years old.  At least older people tend not to stare, it being impolite and them coming from a generation that cared about things like politeness.

It was also very loud.  There were 3 TVs, 1 amplified iPod, 6 simultaneous conversations, and 11 hearing aids.  The iPod was playing oldies over the speaker system. Bobby Darin kind of oldies, not Nirvana kind of “oldies.”   Fortunately, I like actual oldies well enough.  What I don’t like is involuntary noise. I love me a good concert (shout out to Red Die Number 9 – you rule), but in daily life, I’m a huge fan of quietude.  The Buddhist, understanding my introversion, must have sensed I was a flight risk.  He held my hand.  It was, in fact, comforting.

Fairly soon, I was saved when the Clinic Coordinator, Lisa, took us to her office for the interview portion of the process.  Naturally, it started with The History.  You’d think I’d have it down to a succinct little monologue by now, but every time I say it, I think it will surely be the last time.  As always, I sputtered my way through it, trying not to sound angry.  The Buddhist alerted me to the fact that when I had to give The History the second time at FAST ER, in my frustration I sounded rather hostile to the poor nurse.  I try to appear less cranky about the repetition now.  They’re just being thorough and doing their jobs.

Wow, Bobby Darin was pretty dreamy!

The registration packet from the Clinic had several questionnaires and a test!  I was stoked.  It was like homework and I’m the kind of geek that likes homework. I had to fill out a written version of The History and answer tons of questions about what kind of food we eat, how it is prepared, etc.  The test asked questions like “what’s better for you, saturated or unsaturated fat?” (unsaturated), “which type of cholesterol is the ‘good’ one” (High-density lipoprotein, or HDL) and “what happens when you have too much ‘bad’ cholesterol in your blood?” (atherosclerosis – blocking up your arteries by cholesterol plaque, which can cause a heart attack).  I was pretty sure I aced the test and was looking forward to going over it with Lisa so she’d think I was smart and like me, or at least not think I am an idiot for being unhealthy and having a giant heart attack at 43.  We didn’t go over it, though.

After a lengthy interview, there was a simple baseline physical test for me to do: walking in circles around the edge of the equipment for 6 minutes with a heart monitor on.  They also checked my pulse oxygen and my blood pressure a few times during the testing.  From that info, they will consult with some doctors and set goals for my exercise regimen.  It sounds pretty easy, but the test tuckered me out so much that I slept for 2 hours when we got home.  I guess I’ve got a long way to go.

At least I am doing what I need to do. They were so impressed by our eating habits, they said not to change a thing.  That was very nice to hear.  I’ve lost 12lb since I left the hospital, just because of the few dietary changes we’ve made.  We already ate whole foods, lots of organic vegetables, etc. so aside from the Coumadin-related changes, it wasn’t a totally dramatic lifestyle makeover. They also told me not to exercise at home for now because they want me to be hooked to an EKG and have medical professionals around when I am exerting myself.  I go there 3x a week, though, so it will be regular exercise.

I am incredibly impatient to start seeing some progress!  I see the cardiologist again in March to find out how much of the damage to my heart is permanent. I want to do everything I can to have that number be really low.  I still have a lot of plans for my life and most of them involve being able to walk 6 minutes without needing a nap.  🙂