Don’t touch those magazines in the waiting room

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 13 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Several years ago while sitting in a management team meeting, I was suddenly stricken with symptoms of a particularly hideous strain of an outbreak of  norovirus that had been spreading through the hospital where I worked. Because those infected with a norovirus illness shed billions of the dreaded virus particles in their stool and vomit, the hospital protocol during this outbreak was to immediately call in a specially-trained housekeeping team wearing what looked like Hazmat suits to scrub down the staff washroom I’d just used.  Even the calendar and paper posters pinned up on the washroom’s little bulletin board were removed and destroyed.

Until then, I thought I was the only one who felt creeped out by touching paper in any public waiting room. These rooms – particularly in hospitals and doctors’ offices – are jam-packed with sick people, people!  At the best of times, I don’t like sitting in a patient waiting room, never mind voluntarily picking up any reading material while I’m there. Even people who are not coughing, hacking, snorting, sneezing or wiping dripping mucous from their inflamed noses with unwashed bare fingers can still be transmitting bacteria and viruses onto every page of those waiting room magazines.  Continue reading “Don’t touch those magazines in the waiting room” →

Women, controversial statin guidelines, and common sense

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 28 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

101109expIf you’re a heart patient, I’m betting that you’re already taking one of the cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins. That’s because these drugs – with brand names like Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor or any of their generic forms – are routinely prescribed to those diagnosed with cardiovascular disease. Many studies (largely funded by the drug companies that make statins) suggest that, for heart attack survivors, these drugs may help to significantly lower our risk of having another cardiac event. It’s what doctors call “secondary prevention”.

Some studies further suggest that statins are also useful for those who’ve never had heart disease, but who do have high LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol – what’s called “primary prevention”. But recently, statins hit the front page of The New York Times with a big fat *splat* when new clinical practice guidelines for treating/preventing heart disease were released by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology (both heart organizations that are coincidentally largely funded by drug companies, too). The guidelines essentially said: from now on, forget about your LDL numbers. It’s all about your risk factors now. 

The likely result of this change, as I observed here and here, is the recommendation that, as long as you have a detectable pulse, you need to take statins. 

Continue reading “Women, controversial statin guidelines, and common sense” →

“I’m getting old – but I’m not old yet”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 12 Comments

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by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Lately, I’ve been trying to teach myself to play this infectious David Myles tune on the famous little green kiwi ukelele in between my weekly Thursday lessons.  The song was the 2009 Great American Song Contest First Place Winner in the Contemporary Acoustic/Folk Category.

Then in 2012, this Halifax singer was named Songwriter of the Year at Canada’s East Coast Music Awards show. I’m such a big fan! While I’m noodling away here on this little  musical project, listen to the original “When It Comes My Turn”, enjoy David’s lyrics (below), check out his new album In The NightTime, (while you’re on his site, watch the official video of his unofficial anti-bullying theme song “Inner Ninja” (with fellow Nova Scotian, Classified) and best of all, sing along OUT LOUD! 

It’s so good for the heart.  ♥ Continue reading ““I’m getting old – but I’m not old yet”” →

“I went from the driver’s seat of my life to the trunk”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 25 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

On the day that her doctor confirmed her diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Jamia Crockett recalls feeling “very removed” from her patient experience. Her response, in fact, is one  that many patients living with any form of chronic, debilitating and progressive illness will find familiar – no matter what that ultimate diagnosis may be.

When the doctor told Jamia: “You’ve got MS”, she felt so removed that her first reaction to hearing these two letters was: “No, I don’t have an MS, I have an MHA!” (referring to her graduate degree in health administration). 

Continue reading ““I went from the driver’s seat of my life to the trunk”” →