LEE COUNTY, Fla. -- Lee Health is expanding patients palette, who are participating in its cardiac rehab process. The 5-week FARMacy RX Cardiac Cooking Series is geared to teach healthy eating habits for those with heart disease.
“We also want our community to be healthier, maybe prevent them from being hospitalized or having other diseases so the creation of our classes is to help our community and patients at the hospital,” said Heather Wayco, Director of Clinical Nutrition at Lee Health.
The class teaches recipes that have low sodium, lean protein, carborhydrate control, and healthy fats.
“I have never felt anything like that before, and i knew there was something wrong,” said Tom Kerekes, Estero.
Tom Kerekes suffered a heart attack February 2nd, right before him and his wife Susan were going to go on a cruise.
“I had chest pains and my teeth hurt, my ears hurt, and walking 10 feet the pain would go up through your neck,” said Kerekes.
Kerekes says he's already seen improvements since starting the cardiac rehab program.
“It’s eye opening to me on how to cook certain things and what you should be eating,” said Kerekes.
The class is lead by a registered dietician and is also offered at Lee Health Fort Myers. The cooking classes are made possible through a grant from Arthrex, so there's no charge for participants.
