Exercising After My Heart Attack and Natural "Collateral" Bypasses

After my heart attack in 2007 I had to make many lifestyle changes. They included:

• giving up smoking - was doing 40-50 a day at the time and had been smoking for 33 years.
• changing my diet
• learning how to cope with stress
• starting to exercise daily

Thank goodness I didn't (don't) drink much!

The smoking thing wasn't that difficult to deal with, oddly enough, in fact I gave up the night of my heart attack. 

Changing my diet took some work but I was able to make the required adjustments once I understood the impact on my health my bad eating habits were having.

Dealing with stress was and still is my biggest challenge but rediscovering photography and getting involved with helping my wife look after injured wildlife became natural ways for me to destress/avoid stress.  Can not emphasize enough the importance of finding a hobby, an interest when it comes to helping deal with recovering after a heart attack.

Probably the biggest change in my life was making the commitment to daily exercise and it is something I am still doing 9+ years after my heart attack - these days I still try to walk 20-30 mins a day.

photo courtesy of  Heart Foundation of Australia

I am lucky in that I can motivate myself to do something but for those unable to do so there are, in many communities, walking groups or similar activities that people can join in. Heart Foundation in Australia has many walking groups around the country and their locations can be checked out on their website: http://walking.heartfoundation.org.au/

I must admit though, I have had lapses in all of the above from time to time, except for smoking, have never touched one since. And from time to time will have some "fast food" and/or depending on the weather or on how I am feeling will skip my walking for a day or two.

These days, after my angiogram in May when a new 99% blockage was found in my RCA and could not be stented because it was too calcified and tortuous, I can appreciate the importance of my daily exercise since 2007. As my cardiologist explained after the angiogram. my body created a natural "collateral" bypass around this new blockage - new vessels generated themselves to take the blood around the stenosis.

The wealth of "collaterals" creating natural bypasses

around the blockage in a coronary artery (arrow).

What I later found out was the role of exercise in the creation of these "collateral" bypasses and you can bet, I will be continuing my daily exercise given my circumstances.

I also found out that an increase in angina episodes is not necessarily uncommon in people with collateral bypasses which has certainly been the case with me over the past 6+ months.

"In order to stimulate collateral artery flow, try walking for 10 to 15 minutes. This will form the basis of the start of your cardiovascular exercise, and that will help to get blood flowing through your blood vessels. In the event of any type of blockage, walking can help stimulate the growth of new blood vessels that will help collateral artery flow." - http://www.livestrong.com/article/281893-exercises-for-collateral-artery-flow/

In recent weeks, this topic of "natural collateral" bypasses has come up in discussion in some Facebook heart groups I am a member of and as I have found out, many people, like me a few months ago, are not aware of these so for those out there interested in this phenomenon it might be worth reading up on this topic and oh, getting back to daily exercise if you have let it go since your heart event!

Here are some links worth considering on this issue:
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/133/15/1438.full
http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/do-it-yourself-cardiac-bypass-surgery
http://heartattacknew.com/faq/how-dangerous-are-my-blocked-coronary-arteries/the-riddles-solution/
http://www.livestrong.com/article/281893-exercises-for-collateral-artery-flow/

You can google "collateral bypass" for more sites to visit.

Exercise became part of my daily routine after my heart attack in July, 2007. When my wife took this video in 2010 we had a wild corella we had named Honky visiting us daily. Enjoy.

Dani & Honky Exercising - Mar 10, 2010

Remember, if you don't look after your health, don't expect someone else to do it for you!

www.heartattackstore.com

Dealing with Depression, Anxiety and Panic Attacks after a Heart Attack

The recovery process after a heart attack varies from person to person. How people deal with the "ups and downs" during this period is not the same for everyone.

For me, I found rediscovering an old hobby, photography, went a long way to helping me deal with depression, anxiety and panic attacks. I talk about this when I give talks at our local cardiac rehab group which is what I did just a couple of days ago at my first presentation for 2016.

Depression and anxiety after a heart attack is not uncommon and but talking about it is something people are usually reluctant to do. My raising these issues from the standpoint of someone who has been through the process usually is the stepping-stone for some present to open up and talk about what is bothering them as they start their road to recovery after their heart event.

I usually start the discussion off along the lines that it was rediscovering photography that helped me deal with many months of depression and anxiety after my heart attack and bypass surgery in 2007. I explain that at the time of my heart attack my wife was involved in looking after injured wildlife and that now, having free time on my hands, I soon started helping my wife. I go on to explain that where we live we have lots of wildlife that visit us daily and that picking up a camera and starting to take photos soon became a daily activity.

A few years ago I created a Facebook page where I could feature some of my photos where I continue to feature photos of various wildlife that visit us where we live in the Gold Coast hinterland in Queensland, Australia - https://www.facebook.com/Wildlifeinnerang/

In my talks I suggest to people that their recovery period is an opportunity for them to rediscover or pick up a hobby that maybe they have not thought about for years be it knitting, gardening, cooking, tennis, golf, swimming, etc.

Having introduced the topic at last Thursday’s talk, two people present told how cooking has become an important part of their lives and another person talked about getting involved in designing.

In my talk on Thursday I added that in addition to my photography which I am still passionately involved in, a second activity I undertake on a daily basis is walking (exercise). Not only does it help me with my diabetes (and my heart) whenever I feel “down” or an episode of depression coming, I explained to the group that simply going for a walk usually helps me deal with the issue.