Category: Living with heart disease

posts here focus on the “new normal” you’ll discover once you get home from hospital and the reality starts to sink in

Being sick doesn’t excuse being a jerk

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 22 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

angry-mobI watched a man recently telling the story of how he’d been “fired” by his cardiologist. All he had done to deserve this, he explained, was to use the f-word during a confrontation with the office receptionist. He complained that he’d been subsequently fired after this receptionist reported his outburst to her boss. He specifically blamed the terms of a recently implemented anti-bullying policy at the medical facility. Because of this stupid receptionist and this anti-bullying policy, he was now stuck in the unenviable state of being without a cardiologist.

No. No. And NO! It was his own decision to behave badly that accomplished that result for him. Not surprisingly, physicians, nurses, and other healthcare staff are fed up with bullies like That Guy, who act as if being a patient means you get a free pass to be a jerk.

It does not mean that at all – and I don’t care how sick you are. Continue reading “Being sick doesn’t excuse being a jerk” →

How these unique classes help to improve your Cardiac IQ

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

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by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

When I’m not noodling away here on Heart Sisters articles, or writing about living with heart disease, or doing presentations on women’s heart health, or playing with the world’s sweetest, funniest and smartest grandbaby, one of the activities close to my heart involves a local non-profit agency called Island Heart To Heart.  Learn more here about this wonderful program for newly-diagnosed heart patients and their family members who live in or near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

In 2008, as a freshly-diagnosed heart attack survivor – overwhelmed and frightened – I learned so much from the assorted guest speakers at these weekly classes. Eventually, I became further involved with this unique organization – first volunteering with patients and family members on the cardiac ward, then as a member of their steering committee, and most recently as one of the facilitators who help to run these ongoing cardiac education classes throughout the year.

With her kind permission, I’m running this guest post by Thelma Fayle (a recent Heart To Heart “graduate”) which sums up beautifully three compelling stories:

  • the awful night her partner Daryl suffered a heart attack
  • what she and Daryl experienced week by week at their seven Heart To Heart classes
  • a moving tribute to the visionary young nurse who started Heart To Heart as a pilot project 29 years ago to help newly-diagnosed heart patients like her own Dad

Thank you so much for this, Thelma!

Continue reading “How these unique classes help to improve your Cardiac IQ” →

No blockages: Living with non-obstructive heart disease

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 42 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

Annette PompaAnnette Pompa of Pennsylvania lives with a cardiac diagnosis I’d never even heard of until I, too, was diagnosed with it several months after surviving a heart attack. It’s called Coronary Microvascular Disease (MVD) or Small Vessel Disease. Unlike the classic Hollywood Heart Attack I’d initially experienced – which is typically caused by a significantly blocked major coronary artery – those of us diagnosed with MVD or coronary spasm disorders have few if any detectable blockages obstructing flow in the major blood vessels feeding the heart muscle. Yet we can experience the same distressing symptoms of a heart attack. Annette is a former art teacher who was barely 41 years old when MVD “came barging into my life”, as she explains. With her permission, I’m reprinting this transcript of an American Heart Association presentation that Annette gave recently about living with a non-obstructive heart condition.

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“This is my story. I represent an often misunderstood population living with a very different type of heart disease. Sadly, there are many more like me with MVD who are simply not being recognized – and indeed even dismissed. Symptoms often persist even without any visible blockage or reason for the angina, shortness of breath and fatigue which often accompany the condition. It is crazy, right? Here I was seemingly healthy – yet ended up battling heart disease.  Continue reading “No blockages: Living with non-obstructive heart disease” →

Why patients hate the C-word

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 11 Comments
by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters

Way back in 1847, the American Medical Association panel on ethics decreed that “the patient should obey the physician.” 

There may very well be physicians today – in the era of empowered patients and patient-centred care and those darned Medical Googlers – who glance nostalgically backwards at those good old days.

Let’s consider, for example, the simple clinical interaction of prescribing medication.  If you reliably take the daily meds that your doctor has prescribed for your high blood pressure, you’ll feel fine.  But if you stop taking your medication, you’ll still feel fine.  At least, until you suffer a stroke or heart attack or any number of consequences that have been linked to untreated hypertension.

Those who do obediently take their meds are what doctors call “compliant”.  And, oh. Have I mentioned how much many patients like me hate that word? 

Continue reading “Why patients hate the C-word” →