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Abstract

ll talk while giving me a blood pressure reading before, after, and during our sessions, a measure they all swear by, though without explanation. My numbers are low, and I am led to believe this is fine and dandy. I am doing well, is the message, though my heart recently failed me.Yours truly engages with a properly compliant and agreeable demeanor; but wait, is that a look of aggrieved outrage?What stands out in my interaction with these women helpers is their impersonal ‘face’ and presence. It’s a manner that communicates we are professionals, you are not, and we are not interested in personal relations, but are here to serve your health and wellness needs.The stance is: “We don’t mean to treat you like a nonindividual, but to protect our professional role, we must keep you at arms’ length. “We are not here for friendship or romance, so distance is called for. And that is achieved by fake smiles and attention to soft recovery info served in a polite but distant manner so there is no confusion about what this is all about.No reason or opportunity to make passes or flirt here. Nope, that is for another time, or not at all, realistically.<h2 id="75b4">Solicitude</h2>The temper or mood of our ‘rehab room’ filled with exercise equipment and three or four victims attended to by four attendants, is one of hopeful and helpful solicitude. We are here to help, says the staff, and you are here to receive the goods that we are giving you so that you can become well and stay well.The message is: we will take your blood pressure, weigh your body at each session, and put you on machines to work with so that rehab proceeds in accord with some anticipated future of a fun filled ride until the next medical event. In a word, better health via personal effort.But as time passes, after three of these one-hour sessions, the feeling is: Is this really going to work, or are they just trying to sell us on clean living? Is there a disguised agenda?No testimonials of past graduates are availabl

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e, so we, the new class, are invited to believe without visible evidence the presumed effectiveness of this activity now known as ‘rehab.’But what is rehab? The brochure says rehab involves a “comprehensive program including exercise training, emotional support (really?) and education about maintaining a healthy heart lifestyle. “Ok, but does it work or is that too impolite to ask? After all this coaching and warm-handed guidance, I could go home, sit on the couch with a beer, and watch the soaps.Does the staff believe that we, the victims, are buying this malarky about the benefits of something called ‘self-care’? Do they expect us to rush home, start walking around the block, and go to the gym five times a week? More shall be revealed.<h2 id="9a1f">Long Lives but No Exercise</h2>My mother had heart troubles, but she never made it out the door to exercise and she lived until age 94. I just learned of a couple where the heart burdened husband, age 90, still does all the grocery shopping and never misses a chance to stay on the couch.While regular exercise is beneficial for heart health, or so they say, there are instances of individuals who lived long lives despite not adhering to strict exercise routines after a heart attack.Jean Calment, a French woman, holds the record for the longest confirmed human lifespan, 122 years. Jeanne was not particularly active and did not engage in rigorous exercise. Her longevity has been attributed to a healthy diet and a positive outlook.A positive outlook has not yet been mentioned in my rehab class. And if, eventually, it is mentioned, will we fall in line? Time will tell.<h2 id="8ce0">Old Age and Dependency</h2>Meanwhile, I will flirt with the fantasy of doing nothing at all to help my heart, but knowing what I now know, I will toe the line. This shows what old age typically brings about: increased dependence on the advice and counsel of experts and fewer opportunities for kicking up your heels and throwing caution to the winds.</article></body>

Fun and Games at the Cardiac Rehab Center: You too Can Live Longer After a Heart Attack

Despite flirting with the fantasy of doing nothing for healing heart health, I will bow to the experts

Afterward and later at the rehab circuit, your reporter will gladly impart useful information from the post heart attack frontiers.

Housed in a big city hospital, the cardiac rehab service for late-onset heart attack victims exists to instill the victims with new habits to prolong the wait until the closing chapter.

Exercise for Heart Health

The message is: Give the victims the score and then instill a commitment to exercise, especially for those who habitually shun self-care in favor of a more relaxed lifestyle.

Today is the day for a formal presentation on the heart and the importance of exercise. Misty, a sweet person of no apparent certification, provides the instruction. Rehab work is a cut below serious nursing. We are not permitted to ask medical-type questions. That is for the MDs to answer though they are not present at these sessions.

Self-Care for All

We get the lecture on self-care and the value of doing more to babysit the body. Then we climb on machines that claim to boost the heart rate and make you feel like progress is being made.

I am put on a machine of dubious merit, except it allows me to pedal as if I am on a real bicycle for twenty minutes. My cute non nurse adjusts my time and intensity and gives me a little pep talk on doing it right and minding my manners while under her supervision. Is this condescension? Not yet.

Her supervisor, also cute but not yet old, tries to engage me in some small talk while giving me a blood pressure reading before, after, and during our sessions, a measure they all swear by, though without explanation. My numbers are low, and I am led to believe this is fine and dandy. I am doing well, is the message, though my heart recently failed me.

Yours truly engages with a properly compliant and agreeable demeanor; but wait, is that a look of aggrieved outrage?

What stands out in my interaction with these women helpers is their impersonal ‘face’ and presence. It’s a manner that communicates we are professionals, you are not, and we are not interested in personal relations, but are here to serve your health and wellness needs.

The stance is: “We don’t mean to treat you like a nonindividual, but to protect our professional role, we must keep you at arms’ length. “

We are not here for friendship or romance, so distance is called for. And that is achieved by fake smiles and attention to soft recovery info served in a polite but distant manner so there is no confusion about what this is all about.

No reason or opportunity to make passes or flirt here. Nope, that is for another time, or not at all, realistically.

Solicitude

The temper or mood of our ‘rehab room’ filled with exercise equipment and three or four victims attended to by four attendants, is one of hopeful and helpful solicitude. We are here to help, says the staff, and you are here to receive the goods that we are giving you so that you can become well and stay well.

The message is: we will take your blood pressure, weigh your body at each session, and put you on machines to work with so that rehab proceeds in accord with some anticipated future of a fun filled ride until the next medical event. In a word, better health via personal effort.

But as time passes, after three of these one-hour sessions, the feeling is: Is this really going to work, or are they just trying to sell us on clean living? Is there a disguised agenda?

No testimonials of past graduates are available, so we, the new class, are invited to believe without visible evidence the presumed effectiveness of this activity now known as ‘rehab.’

But what is rehab? The brochure says rehab involves a “comprehensive program including exercise training, emotional support (really?) and education about maintaining a healthy heart lifestyle. “

Ok, but does it work or is that too impolite to ask? After all this coaching and warm-handed guidance, I could go home, sit on the couch with a beer, and watch the soaps.

Does the staff believe that we, the victims, are buying this malarky about the benefits of something called ‘self-care’? Do they expect us to rush home, start walking around the block, and go to the gym five times a week? More shall be revealed.

Long Lives but No Exercise

My mother had heart troubles, but she never made it out the door to exercise and she lived until age 94. I just learned of a couple where the heart burdened husband, age 90, still does all the grocery shopping and never misses a chance to stay on the couch.

While regular exercise is beneficial for heart health, or so they say, there are instances of individuals who lived long lives despite not adhering to strict exercise routines after a heart attack.

Jean Calment, a French woman, holds the record for the longest confirmed human lifespan, 122 years. Jeanne was not particularly active and did not engage in rigorous exercise. Her longevity has been attributed to a healthy diet and a positive outlook.

A positive outlook has not yet been mentioned in my rehab class. And if, eventually, it is mentioned, will we fall in line? Time will tell.

Old Age and Dependency

Meanwhile, I will flirt with the fantasy of doing nothing at all to help my heart, but knowing what I now know, I will toe the line. This shows what old age typically brings about: increased dependence on the advice and counsel of experts and fewer opportunities for kicking up your heels and throwing caution to the winds.