REHAB: FITNESS AND RECUPERATION AFTER MAJOR SURGERY OR ILLNESS

Janine Boldra, Rehabilitation Manger for St. Elizabeth Hospital and Matthew Krueger, Physical Therapist for St. Elizabeth Hospital, talked about how life is good until something affects your health.  How can you be proactive to make your recovery go faster?  There are three things for optimum health and well being:  diet, exercise and balance of life.

We need to give our body the right fuel to stay healthy and in order to heal ourselves during a major surgery or illness.  Our body needs protein, good fat, carbohydrates and antioxidants to give us healthy strong cells.  Instead of the food pyramid, myplate illustrates the five good groups that are the building blocks for a healthy diet using a familiar image – a place setting for a meal.  When putting food on your plate, ½ should be fruits and vegetables of various colors, ¼ healthy grains and ¼ proteins.  It is suggested that you put 3 colors in your meals. 

Exercise is important before any injury or illness occurs.  When you do not exercise, it directly affects your body’s rate to heal. Inactivity can lead to atrophy, contractures, bones loss, osteoporosis and decrease of cardiac output.  There are some things we can’t control such as the effects of aging on the body which varies from individual to individual.  With aging, your body isn’t able to function as it was at the age of 17 or 18.  When a heart attack or stroke occurs, your body cannot regenerate that tissue.  You can lose 4-6% of your muscle mass every decade of your life. Muscle mass starts to decline during one’s 30’s or 40’s.  Bone density peaks around age 20.  Joint tendons and ligaments are part of the process of degenerative changes.  Exercise gives your cells a greater chance of working more efficiently at preventing and promoting the healthy changes needed to recover.  It takes time before you start to see changes in strength, endurance and flexibility.  It can take 6 months before you start to see physical changes happening.  You can reverse some of the physiologic effects of aging with a good exercise program.  You can reverse 100% of your cardiovascular loss.  It can take 8 weeks to see strength changes as far as muscle mass.  It first little bit is all neuromuscular after that you start to see muscle mass being built.  Correct posture is also very important.  Posture is the position in which minimum stress is applied to each joint and minimal muscle activity is needed to maintain position. 

Managing balance in your work, home and play is important.  Stress is not always a bad thing.  It can be used to drive or motivate people but it can be detriment to healing.  Cortisol is a chemical inside your body that is released in response to stress and can shut down your immune system so you cannot heal as well.  It can also create tissue damage.  Stress can affect your cardiovascular system (heart rate and blood pressure).  Positive thinking helps our tone and keeps tension down.  Music and relaxation techniques can help reduce stress.  Our body has only so much energy and you have to make choices on what to focus it on. 

You need to give yourself time after surgery or an illness. Your body heals at its own pace.  Why wait for a health care episode to start dieting, exercising and balancing your work, home and play?