February is Heart MonthThe cardiac rehabilitation programme at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital helped Peter Adhemar change his lifestyle.The head of operations at Bermuda Department of Civil Aviation, now retired from active flying, said he smoked a lot of cigars for several years.“I was a regular social drinker and for about 20 years had not done much exercise,” he said.After surgeons discovered some of his coronary arteries were blocked, he had major surgery to correct the problem that was sure to kill him.“They did an angiogram and discovered I had six coronary arteries that were blocked three of them more than 90 percent,” he said.The cardiologist at Massachusetts’ Lahey Clinic explained that the problem was extensive and could not be corrected by inserting stents.“They corrected my problem by CABG [coronary artery bypass graft],” he said. “They harvested arteries from my arm, right leg and mammary area and did five bypass procedures. I woke up in ICU.“I stayed in ICU for six days because I had a collapsed lung, but I slowly got better. I was in the cardiac ward for two days and a hotel for ten.”He started doing physiotherapy less than two weeks after the major surgery.“The therapist came and worked with me in the hotel,” he said.Altogether, he spent 20 days out of Bermuda having surgery, treatment and convalescing.When he returned he saw KEMH cardiologist Carl Levick who suggested he enrol in the hospital’s cardiac rehabilitation programme.Joining dramatically changed his life as he learned what he needed to do to reduce his chances of having another heart attack, he said. The programme was a series of lectures on a variety of topics including diet, physiology, and exercise.“It also covered what to expect physically, post-surgery,” said Mr Adhemar.One of the lectures was devoted to learning how to read food labels. “I became a shopping bore. I would spend hours reading the food labels in the grocery aisles,” he said. “I know now what is bad, what is not so bad and what is good. I found that educational and fantastic.”The cardiac rehabilitation programme is offered in a small group setting over eight weeks.“I was in a group with people who represented a wide, cross-section of Bermuda’s population and a variety of heart ailments,” said Mr Adhemar.Having such a mix broadened his knowledge but because the group was small, he said he felt that lectures were more personal.“We also had one-on-one interviews which were both entertaining and enlightening. I gained a lot from those sessions,” he said.Mr Adhemar was also taught special cardiac rehabilitation exercises at KEMH’s Day Hospital. A certified cardiac exercise physiologist and a team of nurses worked with him and about six others, twice a week.“This was great fun,” said Mr Adhemar. “Those nurses were task mistresses, they worked with about six to ten people at a time and monitored our heart rates and blood pressure.“They put us through our exercises some gentle and some not so gentle, depending on our needs and capabilities. The exercises were tailored to each of our needs.”In addition to the twice-weekly workouts at the hospital, Mr Adhemar was advised to also exercise at home or at a fitness centre.“They told me what I should do myself, so I started to go to a gym three to four times a week,” he said.He enjoyed the exercise and the results and said sticking with the programme and advice he received from it, he lost 30lbs and became fit.“I graduated from the course and on reflection I can say it was a wonderful asset. I felt I have to keep myself fit and I never went back to drinking alcohol. I’ve not had a single drop since the surgery.”Useful website: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronary-artery-bypass/Pages/Introduction.aspx