Those curious cardiac enzymes

May 15, 2012April 5, 2023 ~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 36 Comments

When I showed up in the Emergency Department with textbook heart attack symptoms – central chest pain, nausea, sweating and pain radiating down my left arm – the hospital staff snapped to work and immediately ordered a flurry of diagnostic tests. These included an EKG (ECG, or electrocardiogram), blood tests, chest x-ray and a treadmill stress test. But all test results came back “normal”. I was then told that I was in the “right demographic” for acid reflux before being sent home – less than five hours after the onset of symptoms.

I left hospital that morning feeling terribly embarrassed for having made such a fuss over just a little case of indigestion. It was only much later – after finally being correctly diagnosed, taken directly from the E.R. to O.R. and admitted to the cardiac intensive care unit for a myocardial infarction (MI, or heart attack) caused by a fully occluded Left Anterior Descending coronary artery – when I learned that my first “normal” blood tests may have been far less “normal” than I was told. Continue reading “Those curious cardiac enzymes” →

A motherless Mother’s Day

May 13, 2012January 11, 2016 ~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 13 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters

This month marks both the occasion of my mother’s birthday (she would have turned 84 on May 7th) and, of course, Mother’s Day – the first Mother’s Day in living memory that I didn’t send my Mom a card and flowers. That’s because she died this year on February 21st. Last month, she missed the birthdays of her first child (me) and her first grandchild (my own son Ben) – but since the cruel diagnosis of vascular dementia invaded her brain cells some time ago, she’d long been unable to keep track of things like her family anymore.

As Christopher Buckley wrote in his memoir, Losing Mum and Pup, when the last of your parents dies, you are an orphan:

“But you also lose the true keeper of your memories, your triumphs, your losses. Your mother is a scrapbook for all your enthusiasms. She is the one who validates and the one who shames, and when she’s gone, you are alone in a terrible way.” Continue reading “A motherless Mother’s Day” →

“What Was That?” A poem for heart attack survivors

May 11, 2012January 7, 2014 ~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 20 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas

Loyal British reader Lorraine Gradwell responded to a recent post here (Heart Disease Within “The Comfort of Denial“) by revealing that its post-heart attack emotional roller coaster message had resonated with her. Like many other women, this 58-year old Manchester mother of two felt frightened and confused after surviving what doctors call a “widow maker” heart attack last fall. And like many other women, her cardiac symptoms (crushing fatigue, light-headedness along with chest, neck, arm and shoulder symptoms) had been initially misdiagnosed as panic attacks.

Lorraine explains:

“I had my heart attacks early last October; I didn’t know what was happening and this left me frightened that I could have more. I began a creative writing course the same week and wrote this poem.” Continue reading ““What Was That?” A poem for heart attack survivors” →

Former BMJ editor: “Doctors are not interested in health”

May 7, 2012September 24, 2014 ~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 9 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas

When Britain’s Dr. Richard Smith speaks, I like to listen. He’s a former editor of the British Medical Journal (and also, coincidentally, a former med school prof who in 2001 resigned from his University of Nottingham teaching post in protest over the school’s acceptance of a £3.8 million gift from a tobacco company). Dr. Smith now offers a cheeky yet revealing overview of what’s wrong with medicine. In fact, I feel compelled to share with you his recent BMJ article, published shortly after returning from the World Cardiology Congress in Dubai. He writes: