Cardiac & Pulmonary Rehabilitation

Cardiac rehab doesn’t change your past, but it can help you improve your heart’s future. Cardiac rehab is a medically supervised program designed to improve your cardiovascular health if you have experienced heart attack, heart failure, angioplasty or heart surgery.

Key Parts of Cardiac Rehab

A cardiac rehabilitation program typically progresses through four main phases:

• Phase I – In hospital patient period
• Phase II – Post-discharge, pre-exercise period
• Phase III – Exercise & education program
• Phase IV – Maintenance

The Madison County Health & Rehab cardiopulmonary rehab team works with patients through the second and third phases.

Getting Started

You don’t need to face heart disease alone. Cardiac rehab is a team effort! You’ll partner with our Cardiopulmonary Rehab team – plus family and friends – to take charge of the choices, lifestyle and habits that affect your heart.

Here’s how to get going and make the most of of your cardiac rehab experience:

• Ask your doctor if you are eligible
• If you are eligible, please register for our cardiac rehab program by calling (515) 462-5207
• In consultation with your medical team, set goals for your heart health
• Work together to create a cardiac rehab plan
• Take an active role in your care to achieve your goals
• Keep taking your medicines correctly
• Call 911 if you experience new or worsening symptoms

Our Cardiopulmonary Rehab Team

Pulmonary rehab is a supervised medical program that helps people who have lung diseases live and breathe better. You may need pulmonary rehab if you have a lung disease such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). During the program, you will learn exercises and breathing techniques.

Who Needs Pulmonary Rehab?

Your doctor may recommend pulmonary rehab to help you breathe easier and improve your quality of life for certain lung conditions, such as COPD, asthma, pulmonary hypertension and cystic fibrosis. It can also improve daily life for people who have scoliosis or other health problems that affect how well the lungs work.

Your doctor may also recommend pulmonary rehab before and after surgery for a lung transplant or lung cancer.

What Happens During Pulmonary Rehab?

To help design your pulmonary rehab plan, our team will administer one of the following tests:

• Exercise stress test to measure your oxygen level, blood pressure, and heart rate while you exercise 
• Breathing tests to check how well your lungs are working
• Six-minute walk test to measure how far you can walk in six minutes

Your pulmonary rehab plan may include the following training and education:

• Breathing techniques
• Education
• Psychological counseling
• Exercise training
• Nutritional counseling

How Long is the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program?

Usually, pulmonary rehab is a series of 2 or 3 weekly sessions, lasting several weeks or months. At the end of your program, you will be given tests to check your lung function again to see if your breathing has improved. Some of these tests, such as exercises tests, will be the same ones you had at the start of your program.

Additional
Pulmonary Rehab Team