Category: Heart Sisters

– posts here focus on general topics about women and heart disease

New ‘Heart Healthy Weight Plan’ wants 12 weeks of your life to gain new habits

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 1 Comment

healthy food apple

September always seems more like the New Year to me than January does.  Back to school, summer holidays over, signing up for new fall courses.  So just in time for the New Year, here’s a program to consider this month: it’s called the Healthy Weight Plan from Canada’s Heart and Stroke Foundation.  It offers 12 free weekly online sessions to guide you in making some heart-smart lifestyle changes to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

This innovative new program includes:

A tale of two women: how we react to a heart attack diagnosis

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 1 Comment

by Carolyn Thomas

Although I’d been having increasingly debilitating cardiac symptoms for two weeks, when the cardiologist in the E.R. told me that I clearly had “significant heart disease”, I almost fell off the gurney. That diagnosis started a roller coaster of reactions in the days, weeks and months ahead: shock, disbelief, fear, denial, gratitude, anger, inspiration, despair, hope, anxiety, relief, self-pity, determination  – well, you get my drift.

Welcome to your ‘new normal’.

Dr. Charlotte Thompson, university professor at the University of California at San Diego and a practising physician for over 50 years, has had her share of observing how patients react to a devastating diagnosis. She says:

“I am always amazed at the different ways that patients respond after a serious diagnosis.”

She gives this example of  how two different women demonstrate what works – and what doesn’t: Continue reading “A tale of two women: how we react to a heart attack diagnosis” →

A kindergarten kid’s guide to heart disease

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 2 Comments

Ah, summertime.  And the livin’ is easy, according to Porgy and Bess – and to all school teachers.  I know you’re out there, you teachers, lolling in dappled-shade hammocks and enjoying those margaritas for the next month or so.  But here’s an early reminder for you teachers to consider when you go back to the classroom:  Heart Smart Kids.™   It’s a unique and important program to help both teachers and parents educate children as young as five about the importance of good heart health.

It’s never too early for kidlets to start learning about our #1 health threat – especially since we know that up to 80% of heart disease is preventable, and that heart disease is 20-30 years in the making.  The Heart and Stroke Foundation of BC and Yukon has developed this fun way to inspire heart-healthy habits in our children and families. All program information is current and has been approved by Heart and Stroke Foundation experts for children in grades K-6.

And for free kid-friendly, heart-smart recipes and fun activity tips every month, you can subscribe to Parent He@lthline, a free e-newsletter for your entire family. Continue reading “A kindergarten kid’s guide to heart disease” →

Meet 2009 ‘Women’s Health Heroes’

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ Leave a comment

health_heroes_logo BANNER

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥   @HeartSisters

Last month, I was thrilled to learn that the legendary women’s health collective ‘Our Bodies, Ourselves‘ in Boston had named me one of their 2009 ‘Women’s Health Heroes’ – one of 20 inductees honoured from seven countries, each of us involved in some form of community activism to promote women’s health.

My own efforts (helping to raise women’s awareness of heart disease – our #1 killer – through public presentations and through Heart Sisters, the website you’re now visiting) seem to pale in comparison to the stellar accomplishments of the other 19 Women’s Health Heroes for 2009.

Let’s meet them here:  click to continue reading