Triple By-Pass

60 year old man

I was a seemingly fit 56-year avid road and track cycling junkie, till I started to experience breathing and chest discomfort when doing high energy effort such as a sprint or hill climb. I initially thought that it was exercise induce asthma, the symptoms of which went away once I had finished the sprint or climb.
I finally went to my GP. I had a resting ECG which was fine and then was scheduled for an Exercise Tolerance Test (ETT). I had only been on the treadmill for just under 5 minutes when the technician stopped the exercise due to concerning readings that he was seeing. During the test I never experienced any of the symptoms that I had when riding my bike. I was somewhat perplexed by the result but will always remember the technicians “good luck with this” as I left the clinic pending my appointment with a cardiologist to review the results. It turned out that the discomfort that I was experiencing was angina and an angiogram a few months later confirmed that I had cardiovascular disease with blockages to 3 coronary arteries of 80-90%.
For “quality of life” the clinicians decided not to use stents but instead I was scheduled for triple bypass surgery which I had on September 30, 2020 at the age of 57. Although the surgery itself went well and I had very little complications, it was an extremely traumatic experience, both physically and emotionally. There was the discomfort from the surgery and the fear of doing damage to the wound sites. I was now taking quite a few medications and not fully understanding the side effects on my body and potential adverse risks with other medications. I was trying to deal with being diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and what that now meant for my future.

I was initially okay with the information provided by the hospital for the first 6-week recovery period. But once discharged from the service then what?  The rehabilitation program that the DHB had for heart surgery patients had at that time been discontinued… I was simply told to just “go walking”. With no further rehabilitation offered through the health system, I reached out to my GP and cardiologist multiple times to plan my next steps, all with very limited success.
A big issue for me was having the confidence to regain my fitness, in particular getting back on my bike and enjoying cycling again. Not knowing the limitations I now had to be aware of, whether due to the surgery or the medications that I was now on, and not constantly worrying about doing damage to my heart. And the longer time went on, the greater the fears became the more I have “guarded” myself from any physical activity…even going for walks largely stopped.

At the end of 2022 through my own research I became aware of an Exercise Physiologist role and what they do to help rehabilitate patients recover from chronic disease and improve cardiovascular function and quality of life. After a quick “Google” search I was shocked to find there was an Exercise Physiologist in my home town less that 10 minutes from where I live – Carrie Aspin of PhysioFit. Carrie is certified to provide cardiovascular rehab phase 3 and 4… the very rehab phases that the I was not provided via the DHB.
I met with Carrie and completed an initial assessment to ascertain where I was at physically and where I wanted to be. Carrie understands coronary artery bypass surgery and its effects on the body. She also understands the effects of the medication I now take. The muscle weakness I have as being from the statins, and not, as I fearfully thought, from my heart. She has developed a program, including strength and fitness exercise. At all stages she constantly monitors my vital signs including heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels. I cannot stress how important and assuring this constant monitoring is. It’s scary exercising the heart after such invasive surgery and with the cardiovascular disease diagnosis. And the fear of exercise has also had a huge negative impact on my mental state. To have her constant reassurance, at each stage of the exercise program is invaluable. I couldn’t start to exercise again, without it. It is still early stages for me but for the first time in over 2 years I’m feeling safe enough to get to “know” my body again.

Thank you Carrie for your care, understanding and professionalism.