Although I’d been having increasingly debilitating cardiac symptoms for two weeks, when the cardiologist in the E.R. told me that I clearly had “significant heart disease”, I almost fell off the gurney. That diagnosis started a roller coaster of reactions in the days, weeks and months ahead: shock, disbelief, fear, denial, gratitude, anger, inspiration, despair, hope, anxiety, relief, self-pity, determination - well, you get my drift.
Welcome to your ‘new normal’.
Dr. Charlotte Thompson, university professor at the University of California at San Diego and a practising physician for over 50 years, has had her share of observing how patients react to a devastating diagnosis. She says:
“I am always amazed at the different ways that patients respond after a serious diagnosis.”
She gives this example of how two different women demonstrate what works – and what doesn’t: (more…)
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