Two months after my open-heart surgery, through my cardiologist’s referral, I was cleared to begin a physician-sponsored cardiac rehabilitation program – a program of exercise and risk-factor education for individuals recovering from serious heart procedures and heart disease.

Some patients are healed enough to begin sooner, some later. The gym facility where I live in Santa Fe, NM, called the Center for Living Well, is spaciously housed in the basement of our one hospital. In the last thirty years, thousands of cardiac rehabilitation programs have sprung up far and wide in the U.S. alone, all featuring similar characteristics.

In my book, The Open Heart Companion: Preparation and Guidance for Open-Heart Surgery Recovery (Open Heart Publishing, 2006) I advise, “systematically increase your walking every day, to the point where you can visualize and look forward to the strength retraining and aerobic stamina offered in a good cardiac rehabilitation program. Once your… Read More…