My First Talk to Cardiac Rehab for 2017

This week I gave my first talk for the year to our local cardiac rehab unit. July will be ten years since my heart attack and triple bypass and have been privileged since 2008 to have been invited as part of the education program to talk to people who are now doing the rehab program as they start their journey after a heart event. 

I divided my talk today into three areas: I started off talking a bit about my heart event, the fact I did not have any of the classic warning signs or symptoms which I later found out was not uncommon for diabetics (amongst other groups in the community) - and mentioned that I am very passionate about spreading information about this whenever I get the opportunity.

The second part of my talk focused on my dealing with anxiety, depression, denial and the emotional headgames I went through in the months after my heart attack and during my recovery period. I talked about the positive role that cardiac rehab played in my recovery and also mentioned how at a certain point I reached out to one of the social workers from the program when I found things were a bit too much for me.

In the second part of my talk I also mentioned the importance of finding a hobby, an interest and talked a bit about how I rediscovered photography whilst helping my wife looking after injured wildlife (she was involved in Wildcare at the time) - where we live we have lots of wild birds visit us daily so I had many natural subjects of which to take photos. And I talked about how I have progressed my interest in photography to taking photos of live shows and tribute bands here on the Gold Coast.

In the third part of my talk I concentrated on how and what I did to change my lifestyle - stopped smoking, started exercising regularly, learnt how to deal with stress and improve my diet. I mentioned that it was my opinion that before anyone can begin their new journey after a heart event and make changes they needed to first assess where they were when they had their heart event and ascertain what parts of their lifestyle they needed to change or adjust.

All in all was a very good session with 28 people in attendance including the group co-ordinator, the unit's psychologist and a couple of university students doing a placement.

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In 2008, a year after my heart attack I was invited to give a “one-off” talk at the cardiac rehab unit on the Gold Coast. This happened not long after I had given a number of interviews for TV and our local newspaper in which I was asked about my heart event and my experience dealing with 29 cardioversions/resuscitations and having three stents for a 100% blockage to the right coronary artery and then five days later, a triple bypass for blockages on the left side of the heart.

"29 Lives" - TV Interview with Channel Nine - October 15, 2008
Click on photo to see interview on You Tube