| Cardiac
Rehab grad sings its praises
St. Mary’s Hospital opened their Cardiac Rehab in July of 1996; since that date approximately 500 patients have gone through the programs.  The
Cardiac Rehab program is designed to help patients with heart disease recover
faster and return to full and productive lives. The program consists
of exercise, education, counseling, support and learning how to live a
healthier life. In addition; Cardiac Rehab also does exercise treadmills
to show if a patient has a heart problem and monitors patients with either
the King of Hearts monitor or the Holter monitor. Both monitors record
the patient’s heart activity.
“Everyone thinks you have a lot of symptoms like the feeling of an elephant sitting on your chest when you are having heart problems,” said Bill Estabrooks, a graduate of the Cardiac program. “But the only symptom I had was just feeling a little tired, plus my father passed away from a heart attack so I knew I was at some risk.” Estabrooks had a 5 vessel coronary artery by-pass due to a 90% blockage in 2010, after his surgery he participated in the Cardiac Rehab program sponsored by St. Mary’s Hospital. “The program was great; I was monitored while I was exercising to make sure I wasn’t pushing myself too hard, or not hard enough, they made sure everything was under control” commented Estabrooks. “Bill finished the 36 session Cardiac Rehab program without difficulty,” said Mary Watson, RN Cardiac Rehab Coordinator. “He was and is eager to learn about his health and to do all he can to prevent recurring heart problems. He is doing a very important part of the program by following his home exercise plan by walking as much as possible and he also carries in the firewood. Exercise after finishing the Cardiac Rehab sessions is essential to good health.” Bill and his wife, Dorothy moved to Cottonwood in December of 2003. Bill was in the logging business for many years and even spent time working in Alaska, New Zealand and Scotland. “I feel St. Mary’s is a great facility; everyone who works there is more than qualified to take care of the patients and the doctors know when to send a patient off to another facility when the need arises,” said Estabrooks. “I especially enjoyed the Cardiac Rehab crew; they kept me on my toes and cracked the whip when needed.” SMHC Cardiac Rehab will be holding an Open House on February 15, 2012 from 1:30 to 3:30, the public is invited. |
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