In medicine, the opposite of kindness is not cruelty. It’s dismissal.

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 11 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ❤️   Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky)

When I recall moments of kindness I’ve encountered in my hospital experiences, two stand out. Both moments happened on May 6th, 2008 when I was finally admitted for what doctors call a “widow maker” heart attack. That was when the Emergency physician called in a cardiologist (something the Emerg doc two weeks earlier hadn’t done despite my alarming textbook  symptoms of central chest pain, nausea, sweating and pain down my left arm). On that awful earlier morning, a  man with the letters M.D. after his name told me clearly: “You’re in the right demographic for acid reflux!”  before sending me away.
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Just because I can lift it, doesn’t mean it’s not heavy

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ❤️   Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky)

During a recent visit, Ben and Paula (my son and daughter-in-law) asked what kind of family birthday celebration I would like this weekend. My answer is always a non-answer, really. “All I want for my birthday is time spent with my kids and grandkids!”   We agreed on a backyard barbecue in Ben and Paula’s beautiful garden – and it was a perfect springtime distraction from what’s been happening for the past month around here.
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The “not wonderful” new diagnosis I didn’t see coming

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 45 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ❤️   Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky)

If you’re me, and you live with a medical condition as serious as heart disease (which is women’s #1 killer worldwide, by the way), you may start believing that this is it. This will be the cause of death listed in your obituary some day. This is the diagnosis that kick-started  your tests, medical procedures, follow-up appointments, more tests, scary symptoms, prescription cardiac meds you’ll take for the rest of your life, and writing these Sunday morning Heart Sisters articles.

But as the saying goes, “Life is what happens when we’re busy making other plans.”  And last month, LIFE happened to me. . .
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Words that hurt: which ones should be deleted from medicine – and why?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ❤️   Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky)

I love this list. When Johns Hopkins University asked healthcare professionals to weigh in with their own lists of hurtful words that should no longer be used in patient care or medical charting, the responses were brilliant and thoughtful. Dr. Colleen Christmas, who teaches at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, has this to say on why words matter so much to the patients hearing them.

“”Our medical language is filled with negativity and dehumanization.”

Here are some of my favourite examples of widely-used words that healthcare professionals themselves wish would go away – along with the thoughtful reasons these words can hurt patients (with thanks to the JHU Lifelong Learning in Clinical Excellence program):      .
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