Cardiac rehab has been going well. I am feeling stronger and able to take on more and more. I go to the hospital for my sessions three times a week. The days I don't go, I walk around the neighborhood or go to the park.

Personal Journey

Going to Cardiac Rehab

July 3, 2017

4 min read

Somaneh Bouba

Looking at my indicators, one of the measures is the daily physical activity goal set in step counts. I have been able to attain the set goal on a few occasions. The team gradually increased the goal from 4000 at the start to now: 7000 (about ~5kms or ~3.2miles).

At the beginning of the program, I could hardly get to 2000 daily. But, now, I consistently reach 7000. I even averaged +8000 steps over the past 7 days. On a few occasions, I went over 12000.

My next objective is to be consistent and to improve my daily average number to 10000 by the end of July.

With the LVAD driveline coming out of my stomach, activities such as running, jumping can be risky. The up and down motion can cause the skin to irritate, or even some internal bleeding. So, to avoid any complications, bleeding and infections, activities like running are not recommended at the moment. As one of my doctors put it – 'you could run, but you may not'. I promised not to 'screw up', so I remain on best behavior.