by Lovely A. Carillo
Is there life after a heart attack? Apparently, yes, there is life after a heart attack and you only have to look at Dr. Dominador Cabrera, former president of Davao Doctors Hospital, to prove it.
Dr. Cabrera had a bypass surgery at the DDH Heart Institute almost three years ago but is now back, not only to work but also to his old ways of providing a dose of laughter to his patients and hospital employees. What is more startling is the fact that he went back to work barely three months after his surgery.
But unlike Dr. Cabrera, who formulated his own exercise regimen and decided the things he is capable of doing right after a heart surgery, patients can now avail themselves of a more scientific way of determining their recuperation strategy through the DDH Cardiac Rehabilitation Center in Mindanao which was launched last January 27.
“The rehab center accelerates the recovery of patients who suffer from recent heart attacks and those who have had open-heart surgery,” DDH Cardiac Diagnostic Clinical head Dr. Raul Coching said.
Coching said the Center provides a medically supervised program that enable patients to resume their normal functions after a heart attack or surgery. It includes customized exercise therapy depending on the patient’s medical history, emotional support, education and lifestyle-changing guide.
The Cardiac Rehab Center is the first in Mindanao and boasts of personnel who have been trained at St. Luke’s and Cardinal Santos hospitals.
“Prior to the Center we only instructed heart patients as to their physical rehabilitation after an attack or surgery,” Heart Center director Dr. Efren Batalla said. “With this,” he added, “we now have a more scientific program that will help patients on their way to recovery.”
The Rehab Center is, however, not only useful to those who have had a heart attack or have undergone surgery, but also to those who do not have a heart problem but would like to have a healthier way of life. Those who have heart problems can even decrease their chances of getting a heart attack by enrolling in the Cardiac Rehab Program.
“There is evidence that those who go under rehab have a faster recovery rate and they have more confidence in doing things,” Batalla said.
The Center is equipped with exercise equipment that will test the cardiovascular endurance of heart patients such as the treadmill, a stationary bike and a rowing machine. “So, why not just go to a local gym where these machines are readily available?” one might ask. For one, all these machines are hooked to a cardiac monitor and the patients are monitored by qualified medical personnel while doing the tests.
The Cardiac Rehab Program is actually divided into four phases with the first phase geared towards those who have had an attack or a bypass. “We can only determine what phase of the program the patient will be enrolled in after a thorough diagnosis and a stress test to determine how much activity or workout the patient can endure,” Coching said.
Cost of Rehab
Phase 1 of the Cardio Rehab Program costs P10,000 for a total of eight sessions, which can be spread out into several days, depending on the patient’s physical condition. At this stage, the patient will know what happened to his heart and the healing process involved. He will also get assistance with simple physical activities like walking. “The goal is to get the patient on his feet and in the end to be able to do self care and reduce the complications of surgery,” he said.
Phase 2 of the Program will provide psychosocial support to the patients who will also undergo counselling as to the physical activities he can actually do after attack or surgery. The phase involves patient assessment, risk factor modification and nutritional counselling.
Each phase will have a specific cost which gets more affordable as the patient gets to Phase 3 and 4 which already involves periodic reviews maintenance and assessment of the patient’s physical condition.
“If Rehab is able to prevent the need for the hospitalization of a heart patient due to heart failure, or prevent sudden death then it is indeed cost effective,” Coching said. It is really a comprehensive program that will help patients recover faster, learn how to manage stress and reduce the risk of future heart problems even if the patients go back to their normal functions.
Sex after a heart attack
The program is so holistic that it will also provide counselling to the patients as to their social life, spiritual life and even their sex life.
“The common advice given before was the “woman on top” type of sex since it lessens the stress on the male partner suffering from a heart problem,” DDH medical director Dr. Celia Castillo said.
Those who have undergone a heart attack or surgery may think it is the end of their sex life, but with cardio rehab, they will be able to find out if they can still have sex, and to what extent can they engage in this activity.
Cardiac rehab measures the METS or the unit of energy that can be expended or used by a patient. Castillo said studies show that sex with a usual partner requires the expenditure of 3 to 4 METS while sex with another partner requires as much as 7 to 8 METS.
Patients who have undergone an attack or surgery do not only face physical recovery problems but emotional ones as well. These patients usually suffer from depression and anxiety since they worry about not being able to live their lives fully again. Even this area is addressed by the cardio rehab program to provide patients the confidence they need to live their lives again.
