Category: Health care

My lowly beginnings as an empowered patient

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 13 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

I still remember the day when it all began. I was very sick (don’t remember exactly what the sickness was, because I was only about five years old at the time). But I was sick enough for my mother to call our family physician, Dr. Zaritsky, who came right over to the house to see me.  (Yes, that is how old I am. I actually do remember when family docs made house calls).

Dr. Zaritsky declared that I needed an injection to treat whatever was ailing me, but – horrors! – the injection was to be done by pulling down my pajama bottoms and jabbing me right in the bare bum.

I was outraged!   Continue reading “My lowly beginnings as an empowered patient” →

Why doctors shouldn’t call it the “waiting” room

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 23 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

At least once a year, my family heads out to the world-famous Butchart Gardens, about a half hour drive from our home here in Victoria. We spend a magical Saturday evening enjoying the summer gardens, a picnic supper on the lawn, live entertainment and especially the eye-popping summer fireworks extravaganza at dusk.  We are joined by approximately a zillion other visitors from around the globe, and the minute those last fireworks have fizzled, the zillions stand up and shuffle en masse to the vast parking lot to exit.

A little secret that our family has learned over the years, however, has saved us a lot of late night aggravation trying to get out of that tour bus-clogged  traffic jam – and it also confirms social scientists’ theory that Occupied Waiting Time feels far shorter than Unoccupied Waiting Time – a profound lesson for those of us who spend way too much time cooling our heels in doctors’ waiting rooms.  Continue reading “Why doctors shouldn’t call it the “waiting” room” →

ICD warning: defective defibrillator leads recalled

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 23 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

It’s nail-biting time for hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide who have had a Riata defibrillator implanted next to their hearts (79,000 in the U.S., 5,300 in Canada, 4,000 in Australia – just for starters). The recent news about the Riata recall might feel like being told you now have a ticking time bomb inside your chest. Trouble is, you just don’t know if that time bomb will start firing when it shouldn’t, or fail to fire in time to resuscitate your heart when it should.

And worse, neither does your doctor.

In December 2011, following reports of premature erosion of the insulation around the electrical conductor lead wires in these devices, the FDA ordered an urgent Class 1 recall (the most serious type of recall) of all Riata and Riata ST Silicone Endocardial Defibrillation Leads manufactured by St. Jude Medical Inc.  Here is the FDA recommendation to all patients with these Riata devices implanted in their bodies:*    Continue reading “ICD warning: defective defibrillator leads recalled” →

Avoiding avoidable cardiac care

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

I’ve written here previously about the difference between people who are health-seekers as opposed to those who tend to be disease-seekers.  I  would lump myself into the former category;  what I’m looking for is quality medical care that’s appropriate and available when I need it. But as a heart attack survivor, I also want to avoid health care that is not 100% absolutely necessary, whether that’s a drug or a clinical procedure or a diagnostic test.

Drugs, procedures and tests that are not necessary make up what doctors call “avoidable care”. It’s a growing issue that the medical profession has been aware of for decades. But many physicians appear oddly unreceptive to hearing or talking about avoidable care, apparently even among their doctor buddies.    Continue reading “Avoiding avoidable cardiac care” →