2/26/10- Funky heartbeats and excercise with the elderly

Hi All,

I went to rehab!! But a few days ago I went to the doc again, so I'll start with that.

I went to the doc on Tuesday to have a check up and to figure out why I'm having those fast heartbeat runs. They interrogated Sparky again, and saw more of those fast beats but they wanted to get an idea of what is going on longer term, so they have me on the King of Hearts again. That is the portable EKG I will wear for 30 days. It's no big deal, and it will be good to try and catch lots of these beats to see what exactly is going on. So you'll be seeing me wired up for another month or so.

Over the last few days, I've been feeling quite good, so I decided to go to cardiac rehab. I put it off last week because I felt lousy, but Wednesday I was ready to go! I'm doing rehab at Virginia Mason (the hospital where I orginally went to the ER to be be diagnosed). The rehab place is pretty small but there are never more than 3 or 4 people there, so it's not crowded. Dave is the therapist and Cathy is the nurse. My first day, Dave hooked me up to the heart monitors (which, paired with the King of Hearts, means I has 6 leads on at one time). He then took my blood pressure (first time out of about 8) and we got started. I did stretches, 10 minutes on the treadmill (walking at a snails pace), and 7 minutes on the bike. Then I stretched again and that was it! Not a marathon exactly, but I was tired at the end!

On the first day, my heartrate was really pretty high. I started off at about 110 (normal resting heartrate is about 70, my normal is about 95) and then during the excercise I was getting around 138. That's pretty darn high. And you know what? When I got off the treadmill and was resting before the bike, I was talking to Dave and Cathy and we were laughing, and my heart rate went to 146! No wonder talking and laughing for too long wears me out! But the second day of rehab was much better, and I my heartrate didn't go above 126. : ) Big improvement!

Everyone there has been really kind and welcoming. I am definately the youngest person there by at least 30 years, but it's still a lot of fun. My new friend Steve (last name Martin, ha!) and I were watching the Olympics and he was talking about curling. I told him Nick loves it, but I think it's totally boring...ice mopping. He just howled..."Ice Mopping! That's hilarious! Hahaha! Honey, you're a hoot!". Easy crowd. ; )

Linda is lady in her early 60s who had emergency open heart surgery after they found a serious heart problem with her while she was under anestisia (sp?) for knee surgery. She's recovering pretty well, and likes to chat. She's been very nice except when I was on the bike. I noticed her looking at me for awhile while she was resting. I thought she was just admiring my excellent biking form, but it turns out she was waiting for the bike and was getting some annoyed with me. After I finished my 7 minutes, she says snarkily to Dave "Is she DONE?". I ran off to the treadmill with my tail between my legs. I'll get bolder later, but I want to stand back for now and see the pecking order. I definately don't want Linda putting a hit out on me or anything...

In other news, Gay and Pete are here, and we're having a great time catching up. Nick and Pete went to Snoqualmie Falls yesterday and it was lovely. It was a great day in Seattle yesterday...probably high 50s and plenty of sun poking through the clouds. Spring, is that you? Are you almost here? I like the thought of that!

Well, that's all I've got for now!
Love,
Jana


Jenny Lavik So glad to hear you went to Cardiac rehab! Also really glad to hear you are feeling better than last week! Have a great weekend with Gay and Pete! Love and Miss you!

Sandy Farrill Tell Gay & Pete hi. We miss spending time with them. Dad Glad to hear about the second day ecercise results. Snarkily, a great word.

Sandy Farrill So much for getting Dad his own facebook! He is still using mine. I'm glad you are feeling better. Your rehab class sounds fun. Give Gay and Pete a hug for us. We bought that house in OK and are going to look at it and some others this weekend.

Michelle Gonzalez McMullen It's good to be greatful for the little things!

Maggie Parry Salvino Take good care, Jana. Maybe you can meet a guy for me in your rehab class...LOL!!! ;)

Rosa Roberge Love your update :) Ice mopping. Too funny. When Jacob saw curling he said "I need that broom!" (he loves mops and brooms). Curling is indeed a very curious sport. Looking forward to hearing more. The ongoing saga with Linda - could be quite the drama. LOL.

Tammy Chriss *smiling and laughing* i love your outlook and the way you perceive things around you...you always make me smile and laugh {{tight hugs}} Come on Girl...hang in there and get the gold star on your forehead while Linda gets the silver star on hers...rooting for you

Lisa Mushel nice to see your smiling face - Linda will soon be one of your best friends!

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