Category: Health care

Yes, doctor. Cold can make angina symptoms worse.

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 13 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky) 

On November 25th (the morning of my mastectomy), I was lying on a hospital gurney in a wide sunlit corridor, waiting to be wheeled into Operating Room #4 for surgery.  I eavesdropped on small talk from hospital staff coming and going around me who were pausing to chat with waiting patients. I was surprised when one of the random surgeons stopped alongside my gurney to say hello. I can’t recall how that brief conversation with a surgeon I did not know somehow morphed into the topic of angina symptoms, but here’s how it went. Continue reading “Yes, doctor. Cold can make angina symptoms worse.” →

Quality of Life vs. Length of Life? Pick One.

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 9 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥    Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky) 

Even as a fairly new breast cancer patient (diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma on April 1st, 2025), I knew I’d likely choose quality of life (QoL) over length of life (LoL) after my diagnosis. Continue reading “Quality of Life vs. Length of Life? Pick One.” →

Are you “managing” your worst symptoms?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 8 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas     ♥    Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky) 

I recently quoted an editorial in The Lancet (a medical journal that’s been publishing for over 200 years). The editors were revisiting a subject that’s been niggling at me – and apparently many other patients – namely words matter in health care – especially blame-ridden language, whichThe Lancet describes as “pervasive throughout medicine.”(1)  And just this week, coincidentally, I experienced a bizarre phone conversation with a breast cancer nurse (who reminded me firsthand just how pervasive blame-the-patient attitudes can be). Continue reading “Are you “managing” your worst symptoms?” →

In praise of sisterly support

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 1 Comment


Carolyn Thomas     ♥    Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky) 

 

When I was a little girl, my Auntie Jean gave my mother (her older sister) a decorative wall plaque engraved with a lovely poem called “To My Sister”.  Over the years, my own sister Catherine and I memorized that poem on the wall plaque. That’s us in the picture above (she’s the one torturing the head of her little dolly). Over time, the two of us learned to rattle off the entire poem together upon request – a fun party trick, according to our parents. And when we were older, we even recreated the original plaque using macaroni letters – because a beautiful poem about sisters deserves that extra-special artistic flare, doesn’t it? We did, however, take some liberties with spelling out our macaroni letters – because we thought the poet’s words should rhyme better.    Continue reading “In praise of sisterly support” →