Customer Reviews

The Cardiac Recovery Handbook: The Complete Guide to Life After Heart Attack or Heart Surgery, Second Edition

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book was purchased to aid in recovery from open heart surgery. There is little practical advice for the first weeks of recovery. The rest of it was either for patients who had a heart attack or was general information for heart health.

This book would get five stars from me if it had included something on valve replacement and repair. The author does a great job of explaining heart disease and the surgeries needed as a result of having heart disease. He covers the many drugs that are involved, the tests, the blood work and cardiac rehab. He even has a section on depression that can be associated with having a heart attack and heart surgery.

The other thing that kept me from giving this book five stars is that the author talks about the many blood pressure meds, but does not name any of them. I want to know which Beta blocker does what and why it would be prescribed over another. My husband could not tolerate Lopressor, while another Beta blocker might be better for him. And what about the increasing re-emergence of Digoxin as a drug of choice for CHF? Also - an appendix in the back incorrectly classifies some of the BP drugs as diuretics - i.e. Norvasc is a calcium channel blocker - not a diuretic.

Other than these discrepancies, this book is a good one to read for a heart patient or by someone getting ready to have a procedure related to heart disease.

Wanting to be ahead of the game in preparation for my own open heart surgery one week from now I was really looking forward to some recovery guidance and advice. This book has little of either. The entirety of it's recovery advice amounts to 15-pages out of 280. The fedex truck dropped the book of 1/2 an hour ago, in that time I've gleaned what little valuable information this book offers and am actively seeking an outlet for selling this book back so that I can purchase another in hopes it gives me something I can work with.

This book is an excellent source of information for anyone recovering from a heart attach. My husband took it to his cardiologist for his opinion and he gave it a rave review. It has helped my husband (and me) understand what he is going through and to best cope with how his body has changed since the incident. A must read for anyone with heart trouble.

If you are having surgery or have had surgery or want to understand about it or anything related to the cardiac system this is the book for you. If you just want to get on a better path this is for you. Understand what it is like and what you need to not only survive but live!

great information to help the patient and the family understand the process, recovery, and common fears and reservations.

Gave this to my friend after he had a heart attack. They said it came in handy.