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Extremely grateful to the team for their support and guidanc...

Posted By slidemy86

"Extremely grateful to the team for their support and guidance"

About: Royal Alexandra Hospital / Cardiac Rehabilitation

(as a service user),

Suffered a heart attack and cardiac arrest in October 2024. Was referred to cardiac rehabilitation at the Royal Alexandra Hospital.

Felt very shocked initially as I believed I was reasonably healthy with no obvious symptoms of heart disease. Afterwards I felt that I’d been given a second chance and was committed to do as much as possible to get fit and healthy. Felt very lucky to have the opportunity to go through cardiac rehabilitation.

I genuinely believe that cardiac rehabilitation has changed my life and may quite possibly have saved my life. Without it I would not have known what exercise to take and wouldn’t have understood that I could exercise at an appropriate level using the Borg scale. This also gave me a psychological boost as it made me more confident that my heart could get stronger and hopefully recover. Previously I had worried that I might do too much and cause more harm.

The cardiac rehabilitation team were fantastic. It was very reassuring to have their expertise on hand and they were all extremely supportive and kind. The other patients were great and we developed good camaraderie.

With the team’s support, I embarked on the Couch to 5K programme. I would never have thought that was possible but I am in my last week and although I still don’t enjoy running I can do it for 30 minutes and feel a great sense of achievement afterwards.

Cardiac rehabilitation has been a very positive experience and I am extremely grateful to the team for their support and guidance.

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Responses

Response from Kevin Torbet, Admin Assistant, Patient Experience and Public Involvement, NHSGGC 3 months ago
Kevin Torbet
Admin Assistant, Patient Experience and Public Involvement,
NHSGGC

Submitted on 19/03/2025 at 12:06
Published on Care Opinion at 12:06

picture of Kevin Torbet

Dear slidemy86

Thank you for sharing your experience of attending our cardiac rehabilitation department. We're so pleased to hear about the positive impact it has had on your recovery journey. Your story is a powerful reminder of the importance of cardiac rehabilitation and the difference it can make in improving both physical and psychological well being following a heart attack.

Cardiac rehabilitation is designed to help individuals like you regain their strength and confidence after a cardiac event. It’s great to know that the program at the Royal Alexandra Hospital provided you with the guidance, support, and education you needed, both for exercise and for understanding how to protect and improve your heart's health.

Your commitment to the program and your success with the Couch to 5K programme are truly inspiring.

It’s wonderful to see how you’ve progressed and found a sense of achievement through exercise, all while gaining confidence in your heart's recovery. It’s also fantastic that you’ve built camaraderie with other patients and received support from the dedicated cardiac rehabilitation team.

We are so glad that you feel your life has been positively impacted and that you’ve gained a renewed sense of health and well being. Your experience is a great example of how the right support and rehabilitation can help patients not only recover but thrive after a heart attack.

We wish you continued success in your journey to better health and thank you again for sharing your story.

Kind regards

Kevin

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