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

“Catastrophizing” – why we feel sicker than we actually are

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 19 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas

It’s distressingly common in cardiac circles to run into people who don’t have heart disease, but who are very certain that they do. When I first heard some of their stories, I suspected that these people are being misdiagnosed, but the reality may instead be that there’s no heart disease here at all.

This scenario came up recently with a woman with few if any cardiac symptoms, no definitive test results, and very little reason for believing she might have a heart condition. Yet she was so utterly convinced a heart attack was imminent that she described feeling like a “ticking time bomb”. A fellow heart attack survivor, far braver than I, suggested to this woman that she might be experiencing a phenomenon called catastrophizing.   Continue reading ““Catastrophizing” – why we feel sicker than we actually are” →

Top 10 posts from Heart Sisters for 2010

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 2 Comments

2010 has been quite the year here at Heart Sisters! The little blog that began in 2009 after my heart attack simply as “cardiac rehab for my brain” has now published 257 articles, attracting over 100,000 visitors. New articles arrive here about every four days, depending on my health, and I never run out of emerging news about women’s heart disease, cardiac research, heart-smart recipes or heart-related trivia to write about!

The Toronto-based magazine More interviewed me this year for a February 2011 feature about Canadian women who have launched health-related websites, and a number of essays here have also been picked up by other much larger health sites, here, here or here, for example. Hundreds of people now follow Heart Sisters on Twitter, repost my links on their Facebook sites, or subscribe directly via email to receive updates on new postings.   Continue reading “Top 10 posts from Heart Sisters for 2010” →

The days are long, but the years are short: being present is good for your heart and your life

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

New York City writer Gretchen Rubin is author of the Happiness Project, an account of the year she spent test-driving every imaginable published study or popular theory about how to be happier.

She also created this short yet touching film, part exquisite photo tour of New York City, but part important life lesson as well. It’s the simple yet profound story of a mum taking her little girl to school on the bus.  Like me, you’ll want to forward this to every parent you know.

The life lesson here, however, is not just important for parents.

As a woman living with ongoing cardiac symptoms, I’ve had to learn and re-learn this lesson the every day, over and over. More than mere ‘stop and smell the roses’ sentiment, Rubin’s tiny slide show urges us to be present for even the smallest task of daily life – yes, even the ones we dread doing.

Please watch The Days Are Long, But The Years Are Short

(Originally published on Heart Sisters on December 22, 2009)

♥

NOTE FROM CAROLYN:   My book, A Woman’s Guide to Living With Heart Disease is available at your local library or favourite bookstore (please support your local neighbourhood shops!) You can also order it online (paperback, hardcover or e-book) at Amazon – or order it directly from Johns Hopkins University Press (and use their code HTWN to save 30% off the list price).

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“After The Diagnosis”: two books, same title, one hope

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥  @HeartSisters

A never-married Catholic priest offers marriage counselling to couples. A childless shrink spouts advice on how to raise toddlers. Oprah Winfrey talks about money problems. “You have no clue!” – I want to scream at them. As a heart attack survivor, I now tend to gravitate towards those who are able to practice what they preach based on actual personal experience – not what they have learned at arm’s length. Clinical psychologist Dr. Elvira Aletta, for example, has been diagnosed with not one but two chronic diseases. Dr. Stephen Parker is a cardiac psychologist who is also a heart attack survivor.

And recently, I’ve come across two authors of books on coping with chronic illness that, ironically, share the same main title, After The Diagnosis:

  • Kidney specialist and Harvard prof Dr. Julian Seifter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was a young medical intern.
  • Dr. JoAnn Le Maistre received her PhD in clinical psychology, delivered a baby daughter, and learned she had multiple sclerosis  – all within a few months.

What these authors have to share with heart attack survivors and others diagnosed with a chronic illness is quite profound. Here’s why: Continue reading ““After The Diagnosis”: two books, same title, one hope” →