Cardiac patients benefit from exercise and monitoring

Bruce Glover had two goals after his quadruple heart bypass: get down to weighing 200 pounds and be fit enough to hunt chukar again on the steep Northern Nevada slopes.

Cardiac Rehabilitation Services, offered by Carson Tahoe Regional Healthcare, has helped him to reach those goals about four months after his surgery. The program is assisting more Carson City cardiac patients return to their active lives, but with a better diet.

Now that Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center has its own open-heart surgery program, headed by Dr. Todd Chapman, the number of patients using the rehab program has grown substantially. The program manager estimates it has added about 50 more patients a month. Carson Tahoe opened the cardiac surgery unit in January.

"We had 2,000 patients in our first year (1992) and as the community has grown, and with the addition of the cardiac program, we've had about 12,000 patient visits this year," said Scott Cochran, manager of Cardiovascular Services.

As of July 10, the hospital exercise program is only open to moderate- and high-risk patients, which requires a physician's referral. Low-risk patients were referred to area fitness centers. This cut was made to make room for more critical-care patients.

More patients can get the monitored exercise program covered by Medicare, which recently expanded its coverage for certain diagnoses. In the past, those who had angioplasty or stent placement could not be covered for cardiac rehab.

"The physicians and cardiologists in the area are just getting the news now (from Medicare) and understanding that they can refer patients to us," said Karen Raleigh, Cardiac Rehab lead technician.

The patient is monitored by certified nurses, physiologists and respiratory therapists while exercising. Not only is the patient given total care, but spouses also have a support group. Cardiac patients are taught about diet, exercise and risks to avoid. Raleigh said this can be important for an older generation that wasn't raised to be as diligent about exercise, or taught the warning signs of a heart attack.

Glover, 59, who retired as the deputy director of the Department of Motor Vehicles in 1999, thought he had a cold when he went in to see his doctor in late March. His doctor did an electrocardiogram and ordered him to the hospital. That week he was in to see Dr. Chapman.

"Dr. Chapman is king," Glover said Friday. "He's the best."

He was out of the hospital in six days after the surgery. Glover, like all cardiac patients, was visited in the hospital by a cardiac rehab staff member and informed about the program. After recovering for a month after the surgery, he started his 12-week program.

"I've lost about 53 pounds," he said. "They educate you on your diet and medicine to take. Everything.

With his weight and fitness goals within reach, Glover calls himself a lean and mean 209. His future seems full of golfing and hunting.

"I know I can. I've already been walking up those hills once a week. I have no doubt that I'll do it."

• Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.