Doctors who know the impact of pregnancy complications on our cardiac risk

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 1 Comment
by Carolyn Thomas    ♥    @HeartSisters
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Because I didn’t seem to fit the profile of a person who’d just survived a widow maker heart attack, every cardiologist and nurse I met in the CCU (the intensive care unit for heart patients) asked me the same questions:
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“Do you have a family history of heart disease? Were you a smoker? Have you been diagnosed with diabetes?”

But not one person in the CCU asked me this question:

“Have you ever experienced complications during pregnancy?”   

Continue reading “Doctors who know the impact of pregnancy complications on our cardiac risk” →

Adjusting to a diagnosis you do NOT want to adjust to

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 11 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥    @HeartSisters

Like many heart patients, I began to notice that my cardiac diagnosis seemed to alter my own best-before date.  It was almost as if I’d been one person for over 50 years before being misdiagnosed and sent home in mid-heart attack, and then one morning (after flying home to the west coast from Ottawa and two more cardiac episodes on that flight)  – I somehow became a completely different person. Once home, I returned to the Emergency Department (and a different Emerg doc) where I was finally correctly diagnosed and treated.  I had presented with the same textbook symptoms that had been misdiagnosed earlier (central chest pain, nausea, sweating and pain down my left arm) – but this time a cardiologist was immediately called in. 

Turns out I wasn’t alone: the late sociology researcher Dr. Kathy Charmaz called this health-related shift in a patient’s emotional state “the loss of self“.    

For most of us, this strange new state of adjustment is temporary. Temporary, but scary.    Continue reading “Adjusting to a diagnosis you do NOT want to adjust to” →

Dear Valued Patient: “Bye-Bye!”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 15 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥    @HeartSisters

“Dear Valued Patient. . .” 

I opened the envelope, unfolded the letter inside – and stopped breathing. I’ve known this day would come ever since my family doctor had to start working part-time a few years ago for family reasons. But still, I could barely comprehend the blur of words on the page: 

“Dear Valued Patient. . .retiring from active practice. . .my last day will be . . .”

It had finally happened to me. Just like that, I’d joined the endless line-up of almost one million people here in British Columbia who do not have a family doctor.       Continue reading “Dear Valued Patient: “Bye-Bye!”” →

I’m not past my prime – or did I miss the memo?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 7 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥   @HeartSisters

According to the Cambridge dictionary,  being in one’s prime is described as  being in the best, most successful, most productive stage, e.g. “The horse retired from racing although still in his prime.”  By comparison, being past one’s prime means that the horse has been put out to pasture.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that metaphor this past week – not so much about horses, but about being “past my prime” – especially when we talk about women, especially women living with heart disease or other life-altering diagnoses. Yet this past week, I feel like I’ve had a crash course reminding me of what I used to be able to accomplish both physically and mentally when I was “in my prime”. But where did my prime go? And did I notice it leaving?  Continue reading “I’m not past my prime – or did I miss the memo?” →