The Grinch’s Guide to Women’s Heart Attacks (with apologies to Dr. Seuss)

~ Carolyn Thomas

by Carolyn Thomas     ♥    Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky)

(with apologies to Dr. Seuss)

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Chest pain!? This can make women worry a lot,

Yet when women seek help, some are told they should not:

“Your tests all look fine!” (No one quite knows the reason).

“You’re probably just feeling stressed by the season!”

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It could be that these tests weren’t researched on them.

(And, really – aren’t women just small little men?)

It could be that Grinch docs think women are lying

Or making up symptoms, without even trying.

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When we do share our cardiac symptoms with docs,

Some Grinches can’t quite think outside of the box.

Often our symptoms seem so vague or small

And some women don’t use the word “pain” at all.

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We might say it’s pressure, or fullness, or ache

And crushing fatigue can feel so hard to take.

Shortness of breath, a sore arm – we’re a wreck!

Symptoms now show up from navel to neck.

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We think we might vomit, it’s getting worse now!

This does not feel right, we need help – but please, how?

“Acid reflux!” My Grinch doc declares, loud and grim.

My Grinch nurse warns, “Stop asking questions of him!“

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Embarrassed and shamed, I just want to go home.

Made a fuss over nothing, now feel quite alone.

Emergency Grinch, as I leave: “NOT your heart!!”

So no way I’ll return when those symptoms restart.

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But desperately ill, damned GERD pain is much greater!

So back to the ER I go, two weeks later.

And this time, when Emergency staff look at me,

I can tell they’re now taking me seriously.

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No Grinches today, the staff are all great!

Cardiologist paged, the cath lab awaits.

They now tell me I have “significant” heart woes

In a fully blocked artery, stainless steel stent goes.

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Just two weeks before, I’d been misdiagnosed.

I’d somehow survived fate more deadly than most!

Emergency Grinch may delay diagnosis,

But watch for that other Grinch voice – barely noticed.

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Our own voice is whispering, “It’s nothing! Relax!”

“Stop making a fuss!  Just go back to your tasks!”

We put others first (it’s how women are raised)

Even a heart attack leaves us unfazed!

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Yet you know your body when something feels wrong!

Speak up and be brave, and do not wait too long.

Treat YOURSELF as you would your own daughter or mother,

Then learn about heart health, and share it with others.

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Some things never change, I think you might say.

But the real Dr. Seuss used to put it this way:

“Unless someone like you cares when others folks don’t

Nothing is going to get better – it won’t!”

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Some Grinches aren’t green, and they wear stethoscopes

But some – just our voices inside, crushing hope.

Don’t be a Grinch voice, whatever you do!

Trust what women say – and that starts within YOU!

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© 2023 Carolyn Thomas www.myheartsisters.org

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Wishing a happy, heart-healthy, Grinch-free holiday season to my wonderful readers. . .

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Find out as much as you can about:

  ♥  women’s most common cardiac symptoms

♥   unique cardiac risk factors

♥  myths and facts about women’s heart disease

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NOTE FROM CAROLYN:  In my book, A Woman’s Guide to Living with Heart Disease (Johns Hopkins University Press), I wrote much more about how to help yourself get an accurate cardiac diagnosis. (Shameless self-promotion: excellent holiday gift idea for any woman in your life with heart problems!)  You can ask for this book at your local library or favourite bookshop (please support your independent neighbourhood booksellers) or order it online (paperback, hardcover or e-book) at Amazon, or order it directly from Johns Hopkins University Press –  use their code HTWN to save 30% off the cover price.

♥

Published by Carolyn Thomas

21 thoughts on “The Grinch’s Guide to Women’s Heart Attacks (with apologies to Dr. Seuss)”

  1. Hi, Carolyn,

    Thanks for sharing such a creative post on heart attacks. While the entire poem was enjoyable to read, what stuck out the most to me was your was your advice to listen to yourself.

    It’s so easy to doubt ourselves. Instead, we must learn to advocate for our needs in all situations. It can sometimes feel scary to speak up for ourselves, but do it anyway.

    You don’t have to feel brave to do so.

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    1. Hello Jackie – you are 100% correct, of course: we MUST learn to advocate for our needs in ALL situations!

      I always ask my “Heart-Smart Women” audiences “What do you think I would have done had it been my daughter Larissa experiencing those textbook cardiac symptoms instead of ME!?” The unanimous response is that all women would be screaming blue murder to get immediate help for our daughters, or Mums, or sisters, or anybody we care about!

      I learned much later that this “treatment-seeking delay behaviour” is not only very common in women during a health crisis like a heart attack, but this pattern of denial and minimizing has been widely studied by researchers, too.

      Your wise advice reminds me of a woman I met at Mayo Clinic who, like me, had been misdiagnosed and sent home from the hospital. But unlike me, she kept coming back for four nights in a row. She kept repeating to the Emerg staf: “I don’t care what you say, I can tell that SOMETHING IS WRONG with me!”

      The 3rd time she returned, she was told by the Emerg physician to consider taking anti-anxiety meds.
      The 4th time was for double bypass surgery!

      We live in a society where women have largely been socialized to not make a fuss. We know, for example, that women apologize to hospital staff for being a bother far more than our male counterparts do. This has to stop!

      As you say, it can be scary. But it’s better to be scared than dead.

      Take care. . .❤️

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  3. Hi Carolyn,
    I am an Australian from Perth, the most isolated city in the world, and have been an avid reader of your wonderful blogs, comments and very interesting relevant articles. I feel as though I have been vindicated as I too have felt the humiliation of being dismissed. Now I feel I am not alone.

    I was diagnosed in February this year as having moderate to severe Coronary Artery Disease. After complaining of chest pain, a subsequent angiogram revealed 90% blockage of the RCA and Myocardial Bridge over the LAD.

    It appears not much is known about this condition here (my GP hadn’t even heard of it). Consequently I have done a heap of research and am now quite knowledgeable (For the next visit to the cardiologist). Are there any of the Heart Sisters out there who have this condition or know of it?

    Thank you Carolyn and all the Heart Sisters for all the support given. It has been a life changer for me.

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Robyn in ” Oz”.

    PS. I also read Jill C’s comments with interest as I too am a retired RN with many years of experience.

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    1. Hello Robyn – thank you for your kind words and your interesting case description. I’m not a physician so of course cannot comment specifically on your situation, but I can tell you generally that I’ve read that over 90% of Myocardial Bridge (MB) findings involve the Left Anterior Descending coronary artery. This is a congenital heart defect that you were born with (in which one or more of your coronary arteries go THROUGH the heart muscle instead of LYING ON ITS SURFACE like other coronary arteries do). An interesting heart study from Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles found that older diagnostic tests estimated about 13% of all heart patients involved an MB, but the newer and more accurate cardiac CT scans upped that diagnosis to about 40% – so this condition may be more common than we used to believe.

      I’m not surprised that your GP wasn’t familiar with your diagnosis – not every hospital (depending on how big that hospital is) has access to state-of-the-art cardiac CT equipment so it’s often just the luck of the draw who gets appropriately diagnosed – or not.

      I’m always so glad when nurses (retired or not!) leave comments here. And I too always look forward to Jill’s comments!
      Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you in Oz as well. . . ❤️

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  4. Merry Christmas to you Carolyn! Absolutely loved the Grinch poem, though it’s very true.

    Thanks for all of your hard work.
    Ginny Bolger RN

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  5. What a nice picture of you.

    The word “Grinch” — I had to look up in a dictionary. I do not care any more of Grinch doctors.

    I have lived 40 years with my triple bypasses and had often paramedics and doctors not believing me, when I told them I was having a heart attack. “You cannot sit there at the table, you do not look like having pain in your heart etc.”
    I believe that I know myself when I have to call paramedics or to go to my family doctor – who is the only one who believes me, even if he does not see any changes in my EKG or in my troponin level.

    I wish you and all readers Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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    1. Hello Mirjami – I love hearing from you – you have been sharing your wise comments here longer than any of my other readers, and have somehow survived what many do not – with generous thanks to your very active life, I’m sure! I agree that by the time we seek emergency help, we know that what we’re feeling is serious (even when, as you say, paramedics or doctors may not believe us). I’m so glad your family doctor does!

      That photo was taken at a lovely Christmas party – my friend Bev took pictures of everybody that day “framed” in the gorgeous big Christmas frame she made!

      Merry Christmas and Happy (and HEALTHY) New Year to you, too. ❤️

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  8. Thanks, Carolyn…a poet too, who knew!?

    Really enjoy your posts. Wishing you all the joy and blessings of the season.

    Carol C.

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  10. Hi Carolyn!

    Thank you for being here for us with your wisdom, insight, and wit (laughter is, truly, wonderful medicine!)

    I have learned much from you and my fellow readers, but mostly I no longer feel isolated with a condition that is downplayed by so many, in and out of the medical field (“you look fine”…”no big deal, my so-and-so had the same thing”…”everything looks perfect”). It’s empowering to be in a group of women who understand and support each other.

    I wish you and yours (and all my fellow travelers) a most joyous holiday season!
    Fran

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    1. Hi Fran – thanks so much for your kind words. I feel the same way: I just love the community of women “who understand and support each other”. We “get” it, when it’s often so challenging for those who don’t “get” it to respond – no matter how well-meaning.

      I’m wishing you a joyous holiday season, too! ❤️

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