Author: Carolyn Thomas

Scope creep: when NO means maybe, and maybe means YES

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 24 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥   @HeartSisters  

I’ve been grappling with a wallop of personal guilt lately. I don’t feel guilty because I’ve done something wrong, but because I finally had to say “No!” to a friend I’d been helping for a long time.

During my public relations career, we called this phenomenon “scope creep”. For example, you happily agree one day to a project with clear parameters, but over time one thing after another gets piled on top of your desk, until the project is suddenly so unwieldy that you wonder how this even happened.

It happened because of scope creep. And your inability to say “No!”  to keep the whole thing on track as you went along.  And the way things change. Continue reading “Scope creep: when NO means maybe, and maybe means YES” →

When women are far too busy to seek medical help

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 15 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters 

In the wonderful world of cardiology, we know that “time is muscle”. The faster a person in mid-heart attack can get prompt and effective treatment, the greater the likelihood of saving that heart muscle, and of survival itself. As Yale University researcher Dr. Angelo Alonzo has suggested, the weak link in the chain of events leading to prompt and effective cardiac treatment is often patient delay in seeking care (which I’ve written about lots because I was so good at this myself:  here, here and here, for example).  Ironically, even having “knowledge of symptoms or risk factors” does NOT decrease this pervasively common treatment-seeking delay behaviour.   . Continue reading “When women are far too busy to seek medical help” →

Who is in charge of you?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 2 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters  

And you thought YOU had a lot of medical appointments. . .

Writing on her blog, “Sick With Optimism“, a Canadian patient regularly sees three nephrologists from three different clinics, two hematologists, two rheumatologists, a cardiologist, her GP – “as well as so many interns, inpatient doctors and fellows, I can’t even count!”

I was profoundly moved by her story about how one of her many recent doctors’ appointments evolved. . .

Continue reading “Who is in charge of you?” →

This documentary film pulls no punches!

Featured ~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 23 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

The important documentary film called “A Typical Heart“ is a triumph.

It’s about the deadly disparity in diagnosis, treatment and outcomes among male and female heart patients. It packs an incredible load of unforgettable facts and quotable quotes into just 22 short minutes.     . Continue reading “This documentary film pulls no punches!” →