This cardiac rehab "graduate" put the pedal to the mettle
When Mike Hadvab started cardiac rehabilitation back in 2009, staff at The Hospital of Central Connecticut's All Heart program suggested he set a goal for himself as part of his recovery.
Mike already had a goal in mind - and it was a lofty one. "I had always wanted to bike from my house to Provincetown, Mass. So that became my goal."
Even for an avid cyclist accustomed to many hours in the saddle, the 207 miles from Cromwell to the tip of Cape Cod was a long ride. For someone who'd just been through what Mike had, it was especially ambitious.
On May 27, 2009, Mike suffered a heart attack while at work at the New Britain Parks and Recreation Department. He didn't know it was at first. It started with a sore left arm that got progressively worse. By the time the chest pain started, Mike knew something wasn't right. He told his co-worker Chrissy, who knew CPR, and she called 911.
Mike was rushed to The Hospital of Central Connecticut (HCC) where he had emergency angioplasty and stenting to open a blocked coronary artery. For the healthy, active 54-year-old, the heart attack was a surprise. "I'm in the hospital thinking, 'What just happened?'" he recalls.
Two weeks later, Mike was in All Heart, where exercise physiologists set up a program for him and closely monitored him on the treadmill and stationary bike. "The people there are wonderful," he says. "It was a good experience."
Mike soon got his doctor's permission to start biking outside and gradually increased his mileage. In fall 2010, just over a year after his heart attack, he attained his Provincetown ride goal.
Mike told HCC's cardiac rehabilitation staff about the ride during a visit to All Heart in February. "I like to come back on Valentine's Day just to say hello," he says. "I figure, what better day to visit?"
It's not the first time Mike has overcome a major health issue - in 2004 he received radiation therapy at HCC that helped cure vocal cord cancer.
Mike insists his ride to the Cape isn't anything extraordinary. He's already on to his next challenge: Cromwell to Canada. In cycling and in life, he's motivated by a favorite quote from writer Arthur C. Clarke: "The only way to define the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible."
Photo courtesy Mike Hadvab
