Each year, more than 100,000 Americans receive help recovering from heart attacks or heart surgery through cardiac rehabilitation. February 13-19, 2011, is National Cardiac Rehabilitation Week. The theme of the week is “Cardiac Rehabilitation: Take Your Recovery to Heart” to highlight the role of prevention in the treatment of heart disease.

Often times there is no warning, other times you are able to prepare, in either situation, cardiac issues are not something to be taken lightly. Genetics, or lifestyle can put you and your heart at risk for a long list of cardiovascular problems, but cardiac rehabilitation services provide guidance, education and exercise in a controlled, monitored setting to help ensure that patients like Ludwig Putz of Gaylord, reach a full recovery.

Cardiac rehabilitation, according to the American Heart Association is a professionally supervised program to help people recover from heart attacks, heart surgery and percutaneous coronary intervention procedures such as stenting and angioplasty. These programs provide education and counseling services to help heart patients increase physical fitness, address cardiac symptoms, improve health and reduce the risk of future heart problems, including heart attack.

At Otsego Memorial Hospital (OMH) in Gaylord, cardiac rehab includes specialized one-on-one exercise therapy following a cardiac episode, and an educational component to address all aspects of rehabilitation. These services are offered to patients in a tiered structure, from being required after a procedure, to a pay-as-you go system for those patients who have completed the required phase; creating a flexible schedule that works for the patient. The OMH Cardiac Rehab program is built on education and activity. All aspects of a patient’s health are taken into account by Advanced Cardiac Life Support certified registered nurses and exercise specialists. Diet, exercise, and mental health are all monitored and discussed to help return a patient to his or her daily routine.

“Any cardiac event is traumatic to the patient’s body,” stated Denise Schmidlin, Director of OMH Cardiac Rehab. “Cardiac events can affect mood, appetite, and interrupt sleep. We help the patient – and family – adapt and adjust to these changes, and hope at the end of rehab, to see an improvement in all three areas.”

While exercise may be a large part of what patients spend time doing while inside the cardiac rehab department, other aspects, such as diet and nutrition, and mental health are important as well. Many patients after going through heart surgery, or suffering a heart attack, may have to completely revamp their diet; a daunting task when gone at alone. The staff at OMH Cardiac Rehab makes sure that their patients leave the door well equipped with information to help them make the right dietary choices.

 “Cardiac rehabilitation is a continuum of care,” said Schmidlin. “We work closely with our patients’ physicians, and are often the people who catch problems, symptoms, or changes that need to be addressed by their doctor.”

OMH Cardiac Rehab is open from 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. - Monday, Wednesday & Friday, and from 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. - Tuesday, Thursday. Denise Schmidlin, Director of Cardiac Rehab, can be reached by calling, (989) 731-7866. For more information about the OMH Cardiac Rehabilitation program, or other services offered under the umbrella of the OMH Rehabilitation Services department, please visit the Otsego Memorial Hospital website at myOMH.org, or call the OMH Information Hotline at (989) 731-OMH1.