Month: July 2009

Innocence lost: life after a heart attack

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

138

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   @HeartSisters

Written one month after my heart attack, June 2008:
“It isn’t the moment you are struck when you need courage, but the long uphill battle back to sanity and faith and security.”    Anne Morrow Lindbergh

.The wisdom of this quote strikes me every day.  In hindsight, the time I spent hospitalized in the Coronary Care Unit after my heart attack four weeks ago seems like the easiest part of this adventure.

Back then, I was surrounded every moment by round the clock state-of-the-art technology and highly-trained professionals whose only goal was to save my life and make me well enough to go home.  Continue reading “Innocence lost: life after a heart attack” →

My favourite recipe for heart-healthy chocolate fudge brownies

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 27 Comments
 by Carolyn Thomas

food brownies heart B.00003

There are enough surprising ingredients in this recipe to make you suspect that the more of these brownies you eat, the healthier you’ll actually become.  Just kidding about that last part, dear Heart Sisters.  But who puts black beans, coffee, cayenne pepper, and the kitchen sink into a heart-smart brownie recipe? It’s a hybrid of a number of different recipes – a bit from here, a bit from there.  Even vegans will love these unique chocolate brownies. Hint: don’t spill the (black) beans when you serve these to family or friends. Let people guess in advance what the secret ingredients are. So far, we’ve never had anybody guess correctly! keep reading to find the full recipe

Young, pregnant – and a deadly heart condition

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 15 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas

Martha is one of those young women who believes she was born to have babies.  “I’ve always been a nurturing person  – and bossy to boot!” she laughs.  “And isn’t that what mothers are made of?”  So she and hubby Joseph were thrilled when, at the age of 26, she became pregnant with their first baby. 

“In the last month of my pregnancy, I began feeling bloated, tired, had trouble breathing and also had what seemed the worst flu of my life. I told my obstetrician about my symptoms, but she said that it was ‘normal’, that I was ‘over-reacting’, and to stop worrying. When a bad cough got worse and I just couldn’t sleep, I called my doctor and she told me to take some cough syrup, and to stop worrying.” read more of Martha’s amazing story

Cardiovascular ‘shadow diseases’: two ailments for the price of one

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

For some time, doctors have observed that some diseases seem to come in pairs. The known link between migraines and cardiovascular disease is one example of these shadow diseases.

Further linked ailments are being investigated, and researchers are zeroing in on why some diagnoses appear to travel in pairs. In some cases, one disease creates damage that causes the second illness. In others, troublesome genes or poor lifestyle behaviours may trigger one problem, and then the other.

Some likely cardiovascular ‘shadow diseases’ include:  Continue reading “Cardiovascular ‘shadow diseases’: two ailments for the price of one” →