Carroll Hospital Center Promotes Cardiac Health with Open House

Sixty-four-year-old John Forbes of Westminster is an active person – he’s a runner and takes good care of himself.  He decided he wanted to go off a medication he had been taking and his cardiologist said John would first have to take a test on the treadmill.

Three days later, John was at Sinai having a stent put in his heart. 

“I’m one of the lucky ones,” Forbes said. “I didn’t have to have a major event to learn about my problem. I always thought I was in good shape because I’m a runner, but that’s the thing with this, one day it just happens.”

After his surgery and recovery, his cardiologist referred John to the Cardiac Rehabilitation Program at Carroll Hospital Center. Forbes participated in a 12 week program (he just “graduated” last week) in which he learned how to live a heart healthy lifestyle.

According to nurse Terry Mapp, Cardiac Rehabilitation Center coordinator, the center offers a comprehensive program to help not only get patients physically active in a controlled, monitored setting, but also to educate people so that they can continue to make healthy choices after completing the program.

Westminster resident Buzz Huber, 76, said he has had heart problems for decades. After four heart bypasses in the 1980’s, a stent in 2002 and a mild heart attack just this past September, Huber said this program has given him the knowledge necessary to make heart smart decisions about what he eats, the need to exercise, and risk factors.

Huber finished the program – 36 classes in 12 weeks – two weeks ago. As part of the program, Huber can continue to work out at the center on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  The benefit, according to Mapp, is that he can excercise in an environment where there are medical staff on hand to answer questions and monitor him.

“My cardiologist recommended I do this, and I did, and I’m glad I did,” Huber said. “What I’ve learned is that you have to get off your butt and do something and you have to watch what you eat.”

Huber said that as a career carpenter he figured he was getting enough physical exercise from working. “But I was wrong,” he laughed, “and I found out too late.” 

Forbes said that he learned a lot in the program, but what he found valuable was being able to work out while being monitored by physicians. When the patients arrive, one of the first things they do is put on a heart monitor that is connected to a computer at the nurse’s station. Not only are there nurses on the workout floor giving advice and helping patients, but there is also a nurse at the station keeping an eye on the heart monitors.

“The advantage here is that I have a device on. Here I am monitored by professionals, I have learned how far I can go. I know what my target heart rate is and how to get it elevated to that point. I never would have even thought about this before coming here,” Forbes said.

The other aspect of the program that both Forbes and Huber said they appreciate is the social aspect. The two men, who never met prior to this program, now work out together and motivate each other.

According to Mapp, there are currently 30 patients in the Cardiac Rehab Program, all at different points since each program is uniquely created based on the patient’s need.

“I always tell patients that this program is like coming full circle. They have had an event – maybe a heart attack, stent, bypass, or transplant – and had to recover from that and this program is the end of the circle, where they get educated and start moving back into their lives,” Mapp said.

Next week, Carroll Hospital Center will celebrate Cardiac Rehabilitation Week with a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program Open House. The Open House will be held on Monday, Feb. 14, Wednesday, Feb. 16, and Friday, Feb. 18, from 8 a.m. to noon, and include free blood pressure screenings, tours of the cardiac rehabilitation unit, and an opportunity to talk with the program’s nurses who can answer questions and give an overview of the program. 

The Cardiac Rehabilitation Program requires a physician referral and is available to anyone who has suffered a cardiac event, even if you are not currently a patient of the hospital.

For more information, please call 410-871-6741.