Happy 5th Heart-iversary to me!

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 42 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas

Five years ago today, I was hospitalized for a myocardial infarction – heart attack – or what my doctor referred to as the “widow maker”.  (Note the gender-biased semantics here, heart sisters: docs don’t call a cardiac event caused by this fully occluded coronary artery the “widower maker”, do they?)  I am, frankly, surprised to be here writing this today. For much of those past five years, I did not actually believe I would make it to this anniversary. As they say: before heart attack, every chest pain is just indigestion. Afterwards, every chest pain is another heart attack! That’s five years of being afraid every day. Such is reality.

Happy heart-iversary to me, and to all of you who are survivors, too! ♥

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See also:  Should heart patients make a ‘Bucket List’?

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When survivors feel depressed instead of lucky

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 16 Comments

www.myheartsisters.org

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

I was recently reminded of the perverse nature of expectations (like expecting to feel happy and grateful after surviving a heart attack or other life-threatening diagnosis) when I read the following by Dr. Peter Kramer, who wrote this for The New York Times:  Continue reading “When survivors feel depressed instead of lucky” →

Emotional intelligence in health care relationships

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 8 Comments

I’m so pleased to share, with her kind permission, this guest post written by Colette Herrick, originally published on the Six Seconds website. I especially love her example of how a new puppy taught her twin grandchildren a powerful lesson in compassion.

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“While medicine continues to advance, receiving health care as a patient is fundamentally a human process.

At the center of effective care delivery is a connection between the health care provider and patient. Yet in the last 25 years, many pressures have eroded the quality of this human-to-human healing connection. The good news is that in spite of all the external and very real pressures on the patient-provider relationship, research reveals something many of us have known: health care providers can learn fairly simple skills that make a large difference.  Continue reading “Emotional intelligence in health care relationships” →

When heart patients meet the Black Swan

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 21 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

blackswan_johngouldI have a little ritual as soon as I board the ferry from my island home for the one hour and 40 minute sailing  over to the mainland: I make a stop at the magazine rack of the B.C. Ferries gift shop. It has something to do with both the beautifully tactile feel of a new magazine and its clear association in my brain with almost every ferry ride I’ve ever taken through our west coast Gulf Islands.

That, and a pack of Mentos . . .

During last week’s sailing to Vancouver, we had barely settled into our front row seats in the forward lounge with the Mentos and a copy of Psychology Today in hand before I was riveted by editor Kaja Perina‘s third page commentary. She writes about something called the Black Swan, a reference to a 17th century philosophical thought experiment.   Continue reading “When heart patients meet the Black Swan” →