Getting help during a heart attack: ‘delayers’ vs ‘survivors’

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 5 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥   @HeartSisters

If you thought you were having a heart attack, would part of you worry about being embarrassed if it turned out your symptoms weren’t that serious after all? Would you dread the attention of an ambulance coming to your home?  If so, you might be considered a “delayer”.

On the other hand, would you likely call 911 immediately because you believe that embarrassment passes quickly and without long-term damage, while a heart attack does not? If so, you’d be considered a “survivor”.

Check this chart to see which category you belong in – and then take whatever steps are required to move yourself immediately from delaying to surviving.   Continue reading “Getting help during a heart attack: ‘delayers’ vs ‘survivors’” →

Seven ways to misdiagnose a heart attack

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 6 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

I’ve had a keen – some might say obsessive – interest in the subject of medical misdiagnosis ever since a man with the letters M.D. after his name sent me home from the Emergency Department in mid-heart attack. I had just been misdiagnosed with acid reflux – despite presenting with textbook cardiac symptoms.

These included crushing central chest pain, nausea, sweating, and pain radiating down my left arm. How can modern medicine still be making such potentially deadly misdiagnoses like this? Continue reading “Seven ways to misdiagnose a heart attack” →

Should heart patients make a ‘Bucket List’?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 16 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

Tomorrow is my cardiac anniversary. It’s been three years since the day I was hospitalized for a heart attack caused by a fully occluded left anterior descending coronary artery. Ongoing cardiac complications mean I’ve often wondered since then if I’d actually live to celebrate this milestone.

Since surviving a heart attack, I’ve been asked on occasion by friends and family (and even people who barely know me) about my “Bucket List” – that Hollywood invention of wonderful things we really must do before we kick the bucket. Continue reading “Should heart patients make a ‘Bucket List’?” →

‘Heart Attack & Soul’: the perfect gift for the heart attack survivor

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 5 Comments

“A heart attack is a deeply wounding event.” So starts Dr. Stephen Parker‘s new book called Heart Attack & Soul: In the Labyrinth of Healing.

The Alaskan cardiac psychologisthas a unique perspective: he is also a heart attack survivor himself. His words will ring true for both heart patients and their families. It’s the story – both in images and words – about the journey of healing after his own 2005 heart attack. He describes how, “in desperation from depression”, he began drawing and painting as he wrestled with how to express how the heart attack had affected him.

Although, amazingly, he had no previous experience making art, his impressive drawings morphed into a blog in which he spent 40 days reviewing the paintings and writing a daily observation. The blog paintings and comments became a well-praised public art exhibit, and that has now at last become a book.  Continue reading “‘Heart Attack & Soul’: the perfect gift for the heart attack survivor” →