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

Discover. Join. Leave. The life cycle of online patient groups

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 21 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters ♥ 1st in a 3-part series

As you know, online support groups exist for those living with just about every possible health condition. Some support communities even target very specific discussion group members like Lesbians with breast cancer or Jewish alcoholics, as well as a range of issues beyond medical conditions (e.g. parents of twins, bereavement, victims of professional misconduct).

When it comes to going online to seek information, answers or support from your peers, it does appear that there’s a lid for every pot.    Continue reading “Discover. Join. Leave. The life cycle of online patient groups” →

A cardiologist’s advice on how to use this “wonder drug”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 239 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

pillboxThe heart drug called nitroglycerin was once described like this in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation:

“Newer drugs quickly replace older remedies. This has not been the case with nitroglycerin, now in continuous medical use for more than a century.

“Although other applications for it have been found in cardiology, nitroglycerin is the mainstay for affording rapid, indeed almost immediate, pain relief for angina pectoris.

“At a time when the cost of pharmaceuticals is growing out of reach for many, nitroglycerin is still obtainable for pennies and remains one of the best buys in medicine.”     Continue reading “A cardiologist’s advice on how to use this “wonder drug”” →

Why aren’t you wearing your medical I.D?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 44 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

In online heart disease community forums out there, it’s not uncommon for this discussion question to pop up:

“Should I be wearing some type of medical I.D. since my cardiac diagnosis?” 

The answer, of course, is: YES! – unless for some insane reason you don’t want emergency responders to know about your pre-existing condition or how to contact your next of kin during a medical crisis. Continue reading “Why aren’t you wearing your medical I.D?” →

When you live with a serious illness – and a bad marriage

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 55 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

I can’t quite get over a University of Rochester study that predicted 83% of happily married women will still be alive 15 years after cardiac bypass surgery, versus only 28% of women in unhappy marriages.(1)  Researchers suggest that supportive spouses may help by encouraging healthy behaviour, like increasing exercise, healthy eating or quitting smoking – critical to longterm survival from heart disease, as well as providing a powerful reason for women to “stick around so they can stay in the relationship that they like.”  Researchers also cited earlier studies showing that people with lower hostility in their marriages have less of the kind of chronic inflammation that is linked to heart disease.

What about unhappily married women? Just being married is not in itself a guarantee that women will be supported by their spouses during recuperation from chronic illness. The prognosis, for women particularly, seems directly linked to marriage quality. What, for example, do you think the future holds for the cardiac health of the women who shared the following stories of their marriages?* Continue reading “When you live with a serious illness – and a bad marriage” →