Category: Diagnosing – and misdiagnosing

– posts here focus on how difficult it often is to get an accurate heart disease diagnosis in women

Seven ways to misdiagnose a heart attack

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

I’ve had a keen – some might say obsessive – interest in the subject of medical misdiagnosis ever since a man with the letters M.D. after his name sent me home from the Emergency Department in mid-heart attack. I had just been misdiagnosed with acid reflux – despite presenting with textbook cardiac symptoms.

These included crushing central chest pain, nausea, sweating, and pain radiating down my left arm. How can modern medicine still be making such potentially deadly misdiagnoses like this? Continue reading “Seven ways to misdiagnose a heart attack” →

Patient privacy, modesty, and staff burnout

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 8 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas

Resume As a heart attack survivor with an accordion file of ongoing complications, I’ve become a frequent flyer with my cardiologist, my longtime family physician, related specialists, the Pain Clinic, our local hospital, and in countless diagnostic labs. Many cardiac procedures involve stripping to the waist and putting on that  flimsy paper gown. In the case of a stress echocardiogram, for example, it means having the opening at the front instead of the back to allow 12 EKG leads to be attached to your bare torso during the test.

Not a big deal for male patients, but let me assure you – this can be a very big deal for many women.  Continue reading “Patient privacy, modesty, and staff burnout” →

Cardiac nurse learns firsthand about women’s heart disease

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

Rose is now training for a big 10k road race on May 1st. She’s sharing this experience with thousands of runners, but few of them are likely heart patients like she is. Fewer still are longtime cardiac care nurses who have the chance to learn firsthand what being a heart patient is like.

I met Rose in person when she came into our hospital’s Patient & Family Resource Centre on the cardiology unit where I volunteer on Monday afternoons. She turned out to be a good example of how even a veteran cardiac care nurse who’s barely 44 years old can suffer from life-threatening coronary artery disease.  Continue reading “Cardiac nurse learns firsthand about women’s heart disease” →

What does a girl have to do to get her heart attack noticed?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters   

Once upon a time, some famous female cardiologists gathered at a New York City heart health media event and wryly suggested it might be helpful if only women in mid-heart attack could clutch their chests, turn pale, and fall to the ground in dramatic defeat, in typical “Hollywood Heart Attack” fashion.

I wish I’d been there in person.

Kentucky cardiologist Dr. Melissa Walton-Shirley was there, though, and wrote about this event, In The Prime Of Her Life.

She described the prestigious health care professionals who gathered to participate in the event’s panel discussions as the “rock stars of cardiology”, each one specializing in the treatment of women’s heart disease.   Continue reading “What does a girl have to do to get her heart attack noticed?” →