Author: Carolyn Thomas

Auricular amputations of confectionary rabbits

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 12 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥  @HeartSisters  

Imagine a bright Easter Sunday, back in the mid-1950s. The sun is shining, church bells are ringing, cherry trees abloom, and I and my sister Cathy are decked out in our brand new matching pink Easter outfits. We have been invited out to lunch at the home of our friends, the Moskal family, after Easter Sunday Mass.

We enjoy a delicious lunch of baked ham, deviled eggs, potato salad and – our favourite! – traditional Easter paska, after which the children are dismissed from the table to play while our parents finish their coffee. And that’s when things suddenly go sideways. . .    .       . Continue reading “Auricular amputations of confectionary rabbits” →

It’s a BOY!

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 40 Comments

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by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   @HeartSisters

Wonderful news for our whole family this weekend – my only son now has a son of his own! A beautiful healthy baby boy, Zachary David Dunn, was born at 6:46 p.m. on March 27, 2021, weighing 8 pounds 8 ounces – a second grandchild for me (his Baba), a fourth for Grandma MaryAnn, a sweet baby cousin for my granddaughter Everly Rose, and the long-awaited precious first baby for ecstatically happy parents Paula and Ben, who are exhausted but thrilled!  Mum and babe both doing well. I can’t visit them in person or hold my little grandson because of COVID-19 precautions, but I can have a “window visit” from the hospital parking lot today!        .       .
 Continue reading “It’s a BOY!” →

Women’s heart attacks (still!) more likely misdiagnosed than men’s

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 35 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters   

My interest in women’s misdiagnosed heart attacks began after my own misdiagnosed heart attack. Despite textbook cardiac symptoms of central chest pain, nausea, profuse sweating and pain down my left arm, I was confidently told: “You’re in the right demographic for acid reflux!” – and sent home from the Emergency Department. 

I know that, had I been appropriately diagnosed and treated on that fateful day, I’d have little interest in this topic. But I wasn’t. So I do.     .         .    Continue reading “Women’s heart attacks (still!) more likely misdiagnosed than men’s” →

My year of living COVIDly

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 10 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters   

In Italy, where my sister Bev and her husband Marco live, the government ordered a nationwide lockdown on Monday, March 9th last year. The country’s COVID-19 count there had exploded  from under 10 cases to over 9,000 within weeks. On the same day, we here in Canada recorded our first confirmed death. Three days later, hockey-mad Canadians were stunned when the NHL cancelled the rest of its season.

Suddenly, this was really happening.        .     .   Continue reading “My year of living COVIDly” →