But we have to show them that they are not invalids. Nurse manager of Hendrick's program, Stephanie Jones, agrees. I would say about 90 percent of the people who have a heart attack or heart surgery suffer from depression afterward. Rehab helps treat that. Counselors, nurses and others in rehab help new patients get over the rough spots.
Nurses act like liaisons, but the other people going through the program really help.
Jones recalled one patient who had open-heart surgery. As a result of the surgery he had a numb spot just above his heart. Nurses told the man each day that the numbness would eventually wear off. It wasn't until another patient who was further along in the program told the man that the numbness would go away that he quit complaining about it. We talked until we were blue in the face.