If you are discharged from hospital, you may have received specific advice on your recovery in the first few days at home. Some important things to remember are;
- Remember you are recovering from your cardiac event and need to take time out to relax.
- Listen to your body and if you are tired have a rest. Take a rest/nap during the day if you feel you need to. Try to keep your nap(s) short, up to 60 minutes to avoid disrupting your night time sleep.
- It is normal to feel emotional once you've come home following a Cardiac event. You may feel anxious, apprehensive or angry. This will improve with time.
- Initially do not have too many visitors as this may tire you out.
- Try and undertake activity daily and when you are ready go for a short walk, ideally starting where it is flat. (If you live in a hilly area, try to get someone to drive you to a flatter place). Aim to do a 5-10 min walk building up to 20-30 minutes daily over the next few weeks as you feel able. Speak with Cardiac Rehabilitation if you need further advice / guidance.
- If you are usually inactive, you could try doing light activity for 5 minutes each hour throughout the day.
- Remember it is important to build up your activity in stages.
- Avoid heavy lifting pulling and pushing in the early stages of your recovery. If you do something and it doesn’t feel right, then it is too soon, postpone it and try again in a few days.
We work closely with some of our local hospitals, you may be sent home with a folder which will include a Cardiac Rehab booklet, or this can be sent to you digitally at initial contact where the service is offered to you.