Do you know the difference between a pacemaker and an implantable defibrillator?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 19 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

Before surviving a heart attack, I knew virtually nothing about pacemakers (they were just something that old people have to get, right?) and absolutely nothing about the cardiac device called implantable cardioverter defibrillators, or ICDs. 

In fact, the first time I laid eyes on a person with an ICD was at my 7-week Heart To Heart cardiac support group after I was discharged from hospital. 

One of the people in my group was a lovely, athletic 24-year old woman who had been diagnosed with a rare and serious heart arrhythmia called Long QT Syndrome.* Her sister had recently died suddenly due to the same condition.

Continue reading “Do you know the difference between a pacemaker and an implantable defibrillator?” →

How many times has your heart beaten so far?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 5 Comments

As I write this, my heart has beaten 2,382,051,24 times since the day I was born.

I also have taken 496,260,675 breaths since that day.

I know this because of a nifty little Beats & Breaths calculator tracker tool that I found online.   Continue reading “How many times has your heart beaten so far?” →

A doctor discovers the heart-smart joys of eating vegan

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Dr. John Henning Schumann, who blogs at the always-intriguing Glass Hospital, is a general internist and medical educator at the University of Oklahoma School of Community Medicine. This year, he made a personal New Year’s resolution to become a vegetarian. Or a ‘mostly vegetarian’, as he calls it.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, but with young children who love meat and don’t have the broadest palates, I think it’s important to feed them protein any way I can get it in them. Having passed 40, I’ve finally realized that I can no longer eat what I want with impunity. Further, as a doctor, I believe in practicing what I preach, and my legs could no longer straddle the gap between action and rhetoric.

“That, and I hit 192 pounds on the gym scale.  Continue reading “A doctor discovers the heart-smart joys of eating vegan” →

“I started vomiting, and it turned out to be a heart attack”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 1 Comment


Maxine Levy was a heart attack survivor at age 41. Now in excellent health, this bank executive from Springfield, New Jersey credits her angioplasty, medication and, most of all, her healthy lifestyle and commitment to regular exercise to living well with heart disease.

She tells women to be strong. If you feel you are having a heart attack, be your own advocate, as she illustrates in this video interview.  She also says: Continue reading ““I started vomiting, and it turned out to be a heart attack”” →