Category: Dear Carolyn

Posts here are part of an irregular series of reader insights – most with a surprise ending!

Dear Carolyn: “Two sisters, one ‘heart-charged’ cardiac diagnosis”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 14 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

.            .Bethany (left) and Hannah Keime (right)

As part of our occasional “Dear Carolyn” series of personal patient perspectives shared by my readers, today I’m introducing you to the 13th of our series: two young Florida women, Bethany and Hannah Keime, sisters diagnosed four days apart with a serious cardiac condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).  As described by Mayo Clinic cardiologists, HCM is defined as a heart muscle that becomes thickened, making it harder for the heart to pump blood.

Some people with HCM have few if any warning symptoms, while others may experience palpitations, shortness of breath, fainting or chest pain (especially during exercise) or changes in the heart’s electrical function. Those changes can result in dangerous irregular heart rhythms or sudden death. Because HCM is usually genetic (but not always – Mayo Clinic suggests that “not everyone with HCM has a currently detectable gene mutation”), people with one parent diagnosed with HCM have a 50% chance of having the genetic mutation. Parents, children or siblings of anybody diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy should ask their doctor about screening for this disease. Here’s how the Keime sisters individually explained their shared diagnosis: Continue reading “Dear Carolyn: “Two sisters, one ‘heart-charged’ cardiac diagnosis”” →

Dear Carolyn: “After 19 months of daily discomfort, my pacemaker was replaced”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 11 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

             .     Clayton & Linda Vardy

As part of our occasional “Dear Carolyn” series of personal patient perspectives shared by my readers, today I’m introducing you to Canadian heart patient, Linda Vardy, a retired high school math teacher. You might expect that Linda’s experience of undergoing triple bypass surgery at age 61 (after being told for almost a year that all of her cardiac test results were “inconclusive”) would be a dominant theme in her story – but that part is for a future post.

Ten years after her surgery, Linda was told that she now needed a pacemaker implanted. And that’s when things started going sideways. While I was reading her story, I couldn’t help wondering if Linda might have been treated differently had she been a male heart patient.  Read her story and let me know what you think. . .       . Continue reading “Dear Carolyn: “After 19 months of daily discomfort, my pacemaker was replaced”” →

Dear Carolyn: “I couldn’t tell if my pain was ‘normal’.”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 7 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

I happen to have a pain specialist in my family:  my darling 6-year old granddaughter Everly Rose, who studies her assorted owies very seriously. She updates me at each visit on how every scratch, scar or scab is coming along, rating the pain that each injury caused her on the playground, at summer day camp, or while playing with Homie, her cat. 

I, on the other hand, am apparently keen on NOT making a fuss, no matter what – yes, even the chest and left arm pain that continued during my own misdiagnosed heart attack.

One of my Toronto readers told me recently about the time that she too could not bring herself to describe her pain as pain.  As part of my occasional “Dear Carolyn” series of reader narratives, I’m sharing her story here. Notice how many times she avoids revealing her true pain:       .          .   Continue reading “Dear Carolyn: “I couldn’t tell if my pain was ‘normal’.”” →

Dear Carolyn: “I went into labour during my heart attack”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 2 Comments
Nicole, her husband Victor, and children Renee and William

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

Nicole Nickerson always knew that she had a significant history of heart disease in her family: her mother had a heart attack at age 30 (due to a congenital heart defect that had been missed at birth), and her father had quadruple bypass surgery at age 40 (likely due to stress and smoking). But it was only after her 25-year old sister died of a heart attack six years ago that Nicole’s heart was checked, too.

In the ninth of our occasional Heart Sisters series called Dear Carolyn, Nicole’s letter reminds us of an under-reported and shocking reality: young women with serious heart disease:        .   Continue reading “Dear Carolyn: “I went into labour during my heart attack”” →