LIVING WITH A HEART CONDITION

When you’ve been diagnosed with a heart condition it’s natural to need time to come to terms with what has happened to you and how your everyday life may be affected.

Cardiac Rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation is a programme of exercise and information sessions to help you get back on your feet again after a heart attack, heart surgery or procedure. It helps you to:

• understand your condition
• recover from your surgery, procedure or heart attack
• make changes to your lifestyle that will help improve your heart health
• reduce the risk of further heart problems.

Who is cardiac rehab for?

Cardiac rehabilitation is available to anyone who has had:

• a heart attack
• a coronary angioplasty
• heart surgery
• those who have angina or heart failure
• thosewho have an ICD implanted.

When does one start?

Cardiac rehabilitation starts as soon as you go into hospital for heart surgery or treatment, or after you’ve had a heart attack.

A member of the cardiac rehabilitation team will normally visit you on the ward to provide you with information about your condition, the treatment you’ve had and your recovery. This will help you get back to your usual activities as soon as possible.

You should also be invited to join a cardiac rehabilitation programme starting about four to eight weeks after you leave hospital.