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Litzenberg's Cardiac Rehab Program
Rehab Vital Part of Cardiac Recovery
In her nine years of coordinating Litzenberg's Cardiac Rehab program, Laurie Paup-Johnson, RN, has seen a lot of lives turn around. "A lot of my patients are scared and depressed when they come to me. After having heart problems, they are afraid to try to return to living their lives as they were before their health problems. A large part of my job is encouragement-supporting and reinforcing that they can do it."
Cardiac Rehab patients are referred by a doctor and must visit Lone Tree Medical Associates' Dr. Buhlke or Dr. Mahnke at least once. Patients go through an evaluation on their first visit to rehab. Laurie coordinates with team members Terri Menke RN, Candy Zywiec LPN, respiratory therapist and Ruth Rauscher, registered dietitian to design a rehab plan of care for each client.
Each patient spends time on the treadmill, the bike and with weights, gradually increasing their times at each station as they become stronger. Laurie likes to have at least two patients exercising at the same time, as they can encourage each other in their efforts. The rehab staff monitors each patient's blood pressure and heart rate while they are exercising.
Her youngest cardiac rehab patient was 38. She has also had an 85-year-old woman who was a great cheerleader for new patients when they started rehab. The amount of time a patient spends in cardiac rehab depends on each personal situation.
Medicare recently added to the list of procedures they will cover in cardiac rehab and these now include heart attack, coronary bypass surgery, angina, heart valve repair or replacement, angioplasty, coronary stenting and heart or heart-lung transplant.
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