Health Watch: RRMC class puts focus on heart health
RUTLAND, Vt. (WCAX) - The month of February is all about love, but it’s also a time to focus on heart health. At Rutland Regional Medical Center, doctors are helping folks recover after they experience a major cardiac event.
“I had been walking and something just wasn’t right,” recalled Peter Gallagher. The 80-year-old Rutland resident says a day or two later he got other warning signs on his way to the mailbox “I had to stop on the way to it.”
Gallagher listened to the warning signs. Following various procedures for blocked arteries and a heart valve replacement, Gallagher took advantage of cardiac rehabilitation. He says without the class, he never would have known about heart care.
“One of the things I like about it is -- besides the company of course -- I have an opportunity to stress my heart while it’s being monitored. So, I don’t have to guess. I can ask, ‘Well, how did I do when I felt that level of stress’? What did the pictures look like?’ So, it’s tremendous feedback,” he said.
The Rutland Regional Medical Center program is designed for people who have gone through a cardiac event such as a stroke, valve replacement, heart attack, or heart failure. Rehabilitation is about six weeks -- sometimes more -- where patients are exercising -- tracking their heartbeats over time -- and learning to reach heart-healthy goals.
The hospital’s Dr. Michael Robertello says many of his patients have practiced heart aftercare and recommends improving their quality of life. “If you have a cardiac event and it affects your heart, it will severely affect longevity. It is important to keep general medical checkups so that if there are risk factors, they can be monitored,” He said. “The treatment back then was bed rest. There was an extremely high mortality and complication rate when they did that.”
Robertello says heart health starts with a good diet, no smoking, watching your weight, staying hydrated, and regular exercise.
Exercise specialist Melissa Fay teaches the course and says she sees success stories every day. “You only have one heart. You are only going to get one heart. By exercising, you are not going to be laying down as much plaque, it helps to keep those arteries open. We have people that come in on oxygen, in a wheelchair, and leave without the oxygen walking out of here,” she said.
Click here for more information on RRMC’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Program.
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