Your experience appreciated - Heart, Angioplasty, Stent Surgery, how/when to Resume Training?

[femike99]

Hello,

I go back in triathlon to RST (rec.sport.triathlon usenet, 30+ years!); this is my first post in Slowtwitch. I felt here to be a good place to ask my question…when can I start and how much can I do to restart my training after surgery?

On Friday, 2/28, at age 60, I had a angioplasty and a stent installed after 4 months of treating my breathing problems as allergy induced asthma.

The week previous to diagnosis, I rode 200 very slow miles (it was too painful to run) and 50 very, very slow miles on the bike the day before! Slow = 10mph vs September 2019 doing group rides of 60 miles at 20mph with sprints over 28mph. I rode 8000 miles in 2019.

I have a history of 3 age group National Teams, 10 Ironmans and 200+ triathlons, though I haven’t raced in 14 years due to knee issues. Cardiac problems are hereditary in my family, and I thought I had kept this issue at bay due to my training.

On Thursday, my cardiac rehab tech would not touch me because my BP was still high. I got an emergency appointment with my cardiologist. He said go ride, bike, swim, lift, and that my heart was strong, but my arteries are the problem, so good, low cholesterol, blood flow is good.

So, yesterday, I rode for 8 miles and it felt great. I also went to the gym and did my 1 hour routine with 1/3 to 1/2 the weight. Some friends have told me to stop.

I’m very confused, and mentally a wreck.

Anyone with similar experience tell me what to expect from cardiac rehab? How long and how much for you guys? I’ve looked at several existing threads, but I could not find much addressing this question.

Thank so much!

Michael V (femike99)

[roserc]

I come from a bit of a different situation, but maybe my experience will help. I’m 56, and I had an angioplasty with a stent back when I was 32 years old. I thought I had a chest cold and went to the doctor to get it checked out, and luckily he listened carefully, did an EKG, and sent me for a heart cath. I had a 95% blockage of my right coronary artery. At the time I was not an endurance athlete - I played ice hockey as a goalie. Similar to you, I had an active week prior to the procedure. I had played a double overtime game the day before with a really good amount of action. A ton of anaerobic activity.

Of course I had my procedure over 20 years ago, so my experience will be different from yours from a medical technology perspective. After waiting a period of time for cells to grow around the stent and ensure it was not going to move out of place, I began cardiac rehab. I started slowly and built up over time. Physically I felt great about 12 weeks after. It was the mental aspect that took years to deal with.

I started experiencing anxiety, and I did everything I could to overcome it - meditation, cognitive therapy, prayer - and they all helped. It all came to a head when I wore a polar heart rate monitor and went back out on the ice and played goal again about 6 months after the procedure. After the first flurry of shots I watched my heart rate climb extremely quickly and freaked myself out. I left the ice and went to the cardiologist the next day. After a long discussion, he told me to take off the monitor, relax and just have fun. I was able to take his advice and over time I got to where I didn’t even think about it.

I started doing triathlons 10 years ago, and I have to say that the heart disease does not affect me much, except that I take it seriously if I feel any sort of feelings that could be cardiac related. I take a statin and aspirin every day, but other than that I have no restrictions. My issue was low HDL cholesterol, which was only 28 at the time of the procedure. The anxiety is gone for the most part, but I find that it starts to creep back in if I cut back on training. Moving around a lot really helps me mentally, and it has also helped raised my HDL cholesterol to a level around 60.

If I can give you a recommendation, it would be to give it time and understand that the mental part could take the longest to deal with. You will heal, but do what you can to find what works for you to help you overcome it sooner. Start slowly and build…and listen to the doctors. I have never gone wrong following the science…