Cardiac Rehab - How important is it
I'm 40M and had CABG 4x in Feb. I'm essentially back to normal now. My exercise routine/stamina/recovery will still need to be built up. (No more extra long sessions or back to backs for now) I completed my exercise stress test yesterday and was able to get to 85% HR without any complications and they cleared me for exercise rehab. However, because of the backlog, my program will not start until December.
I've already seen positive changes compared with myself pre-operation, where I do not have any angina symptoms. I'm able to play pickleball at a higher level than before (I would be clutching my chest at around 100-110 BPM before), Chest seems stable enough that I feel confident in performing even higher than I was before. Physically, I'm just at the point of gradually increasing both intensity and frequency of physical activities. I try to walking 10k steps a day, and no real psychological issues (except for that fact that I to return to work instead of staying at home)
How important is rehab and will I see significant benefits seeing as its over 7 months away? I've already adjusted my diet to lower the amount of salts/fats/sugars in addition to my medication.
Update:
I live in Toronto, Canada. It looks like there are just that many people waiting infront of me and I'm probably not a priority. I went back to see the cardiologist there to discuss my exercise stress test. He did say ideally, patients start rehab ~3 months after surgery so my start date is very far off in comparison. (Part of that is my fault, I could start as early as October, but I usually go on vacation Oct/Nov for a few weeks)
I did get scheduled for another exercise stress test in August and we will decide from there. But until then, he just recommended interval training and more aerobic exercises. But I was given more informational/education material that would be complementary to recovery