I am a patient treated under the cardiac rehabilitation programme at RIPAS Hospital. After a heart attack I had heart bypass surgery done at GJPMC. But I was not referred to a cardiac rehabilitation programme. Little did I know such a programme existed in Brunei. A few years after the surgery I received a call from a nurse about a cardiac rehabilitation programme at RIPAS Hospital.

From the timetable given to patients I could see the programme was conducted by a multiple number of professionals.

I was surprised to see there was a talk also by an Ustaz as well.

The talk on pharmaceuticals was a good one. It opened my mind that though medicine saved lives, they come with side effects.

I was given a second chance by Allah the Almighty through His Majesty's benevolence to enjoy the remaining time with my family. I would like to take this opportunity to thank His Majesty and the Ministry of Health for offering us such caring service. The fee for my heart surgery alone cost $60,000.

The cardiac rehabilitation programme opened up my mind to understand about the risk factors and what I should do to lower risks to prevent heart attacks.

The programme taught me to wise up to the fact that I had to protect my other arteries from getting blocked.

We had tests before and after the programme that were interesting to go take part in. In two months my results improved.

My exercise time increased, meaning my fitness had improved. My weight reduced slightly and most importantly my medicines were reduced after seeing my doctor during the routine check-up.

If one can eat more vegetables and fruits and exercise more often, one can effectively save thousands of dollars and live life to the fullest at the same time. That is the least we can do to give back to our country.

The rehabilitation programme has been running for the past eight years, although I had not heard about it. I am sure there are many patients like me who would gain immense knowledge from the programme.

However, the programme needs to be a few improvements. The place we have our sessions is too small. There is no quiet place for our discussions. Basically there is no privacy to discuss sensitive issues. This needs review.

Also it would be a good idea if RIPAS Hospital could provide a long term exercise programme for people like me who have completed the programme but need to keep fit.

Finally a thumbs up for the cardiac rehabilitation team for such a programme even though it needs improvement. Kudos for the rehabilitation programme at RIPAS Hospital.