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

How soon are heart patients safely fit to fly?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 7 Comments

plane-drawingby Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters

Five months after my heart attack, I boarded a plane from the West Coast of Canada bound for Rochester, Minnesota.  Considering that I’d suffered two horrific cardiac events on another long flight just five months earlier made this trip just a wee bit terrifying for me.

Only the reality that I was headed to the world-famous Mayo Clinic in Rochester helped propel me onboard. I told myself that if anything happened to me and my heart during this flight, the cardiologists at the Mayo Women’s Heart Clinic would know exactly what to do for me. If I survived the flight, that is . . .  

Continue reading “How soon are heart patients safely fit to fly?” →

When you fear being labelled a “difficult” patient

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 22 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

We arrive early for our doctor’s appointment. We wait patiently. We sit across from the doctor, and we nod and smile politely during our visit. We pick up the prescription for our meds and then we walk out the door to make room for the next patient waiting.

And sometimes we do this even when the discussion about our health care leaves us with unspoken concerns or unanswered questions. Most patients know what this feels like, so it’s reassuring to learn that academics are actually studying it: our fear of being labelled a “difficult patient”.
 Continue reading “When you fear being labelled a “difficult” patient” →

Fighting, battling, and beating: combat metaphors in medicine are just wrong

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 28 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

Are you “battling” heart disease”? Have you “beaten” cancer? Are you “fighting” a chronic illness? These wartime references are metaphors as described by Dr. Jack Coulehan, a physician, an award-winning poet, and editor of the 5th edition of The Medical Interview: Mastering Skills for Clinical Practice, a best-selling textbook on the doctor-patient relationship.(1)  Dr. C explains that there are several basic metaphors used in medicine that to a large extent generate the vocabulary of doctor-patient communication – but can also unintentionally objectify and dehumanize the patient.

Here are three of the most prominent metaphors you’re likely to encounter in health care:  Continue reading “Fighting, battling, and beating: combat metaphors in medicine are just wrong” →

The “emotional labour” of living with heart disease

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 9 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

♥ “My hubby is stuck with me for another 15 years as long as I keep following doctor’s orders.”

♥ “I told my family that I now had a pig valve in my heart – but I was disappointed when the doctor told me I couldn’t keep the bacon.”

♥ “I am determined to outlive my husband – because I want to clean out his garage!”

Heart patients often use humour* like this to distract themselves from the high levels of stress and fear often associated with a life-altering diagnosis like heart disease – such as distressing symptoms, upcoming surgery, diagnostic tests, or even the ongoing awareness of a significantly increased risk of future cardiac events.  So reports Nicholas Lockwood, whose research focused on how heart patients use humour to help them cope with their condition – but ended up showing some surprising results.  Continue reading “The “emotional labour” of living with heart disease” →