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Cardiac rehab
programs are
“critically important”
A therapeutic approach builds on a unique program launched in the 1960s,
when doctors prescribed getting active as the key to recovering
from a heart attack
By Jennifer Hough
In his mid-40s and working
in a physically demanding job,
Nathan Hamayda thought he was
in pretty good shape. That was
until his heart attack in 2001, a would be a bunch of old men on
silent coronary, after which he
underwent bypass surgery.
His recovery was difficult, so
he didn’t take up a cardiac rehab
program that was offered to him
at the time.
“My job was very physically
48 Peter Munk Cardiac Centre
active. I was a set dresser,
decorating movie and TV sets,
so I was always lifting, and I
felt strong. I thought it [rehab]
treadmills,” he says wryly. “And I
wasn’t having an easy time after
my operation.”
Fast forward to 2014: Mr.
Hamayda was at home one
day, when he got that feeling
again. Not pain, just a really
uncomfortable foggy feeling, and
he had difficulty breathing.
At age 60, he was having
another attack.
“I lay down, hoping the feeling
would pass,” he says.
It didn’t, and he asked his
landlord to take him to the
hospital.
After some tests, doctors
determined that one of his bypass expected.
grafts was blocked.
“They wheeled me up for
surgery. I was fully conscious
while they installed three
stents in the blocked artery,
and the symptoms immediately
disappeared.”
Mr. Hamayda was then referred
to the cardiac rehab program at
the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre
(PMCC). This time, he decided
to at least investigate what it
entailed.
“I went and got a stress test, but
I told the kinesiologist that I was
reluctant about the program. She
said she thought I could really
benefit, and get my heart rate up
in a supervised manner.”
Now, having completed the
program, Mr. Hamayda says
it was much better than he
“I started walking on the
treadmill and began adjusting the
speed, setting targets. It doesn’t
take long to notice a difference.
Over the course of a few weeks, I
noticed it took longer to get my
heart rate up.”
The difference a cardiac rehab