News and Tips

Seth arrived at New Heart last Monday wearing a shirt with a harsh review of heart surgery, but kind words about New Heart.  

“Heart Surgery: 1 out of 5 stars. Did not enjoy. Would not recommend.”

Seth had an aortic valve replacement back in December to address a heart murmur problem that had gone undetected since birth. A doctor detected the murmur during a routine physical; using an AI-savvy stethoscope, a murmur one doctor said is often undetected until it’s too late .

The lesson? “Don’t skip the doctor.”

As an otherwise young and healthy father, Seth was shocked. He had always been active, participating in what he calls “pay for pain events”. 

“I was an active person, I live in the east mountains, have land and dogs, and two kids so we take walks and hikes. I had done things like the Go Ruck challenge, where you put 40 pounds of bricks in backpacks and go traipse around for 12-14 hours.”

“I had done everything right, so to speak.” 

Seth was hospitalized for a week following the open heart valve replacement, in part because of a collapsed lung complication (which he also does NOT recommend) and a medically induced coma. 

“I will tell you, for trivial fun, what hurts worse: open heart surgery or collapsed lung? Collapsed lung for sure.”

He says he felt fragile post-surgery, like his organs were being held in by paper maché. It was painful to sit, to stand, to get dressed, and he was terrified of moving the wrong way. 

So how does someone thrown so off-kilter from their regular routine get back on track? 

“You just commit to getting better,” Seth says. That’s where New Heart comes in. 

Seth says working out at New Heart helped him feel safe while also making concrete progress to get back to normal.

New Heart offers patients who need them 4-lead ECGs to monitor the electrical activity of the heart during exercise, and the exercise specialists are well versed in working with patients who might also feel like they are held together by paper maché, at least for the time being. 

Joslyn, Rose, Omar, and Marcus all worked with Seth to transition him to weight bearing exercises, and then once his sternal restrictions were lifted, they helped him slowly get back to a near-normal. 

While he used to pay for pain, Seth has likely had enough of it from his surgery and recovery process, so his fitness goals are now a little closer to home.

“Hiking with my kids again would be good. Bike rides, running with the dogs, that sort of stuff. That’s more my goal now, then in a year, we’ll see maybe one of those goofy endurance challenges. But for right now, I just want to be functional and not hurt.” 

Whatever your fitness goals are, New Heart can help you achieve them. Whether you’re recovering from an intense surgery, paying for pain in endurance challenges, or both, we have a program and the exercise specialists to get you there.