Best gifts to give a heart patient

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 12 Comments

gingerbread-man-3000526_1280 copyby Carolyn Thomas   ♥  Heart Sisters on Blue Sky

I came across a helpful list of gift ideas for those living with arthritis, and this made me wonder if you might need some inspiration if you happen to be shopping for a special heart patient on your gift list – at Christmastime or for any occasion.

Personally, I’m not hoping for more “stuff” this season (except maybe a a new electric heating pad from Santa), hint, hint. But I decided to turn to my always generous-of-spirit heart sisters to ask other heart disease folks:  “What’s on YOUR Christmas wish list this year?”  Here are some of their informed responses . . . Continue reading “Best gifts to give a heart patient” →

Help your heart by de-stressing for the holiday season

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 10 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters

Ah, Christmas. . .  Joy to the world, peace on earth, blahblahblah. For some, the Hallmark card fantasy of the perfect family Christmas is nigh impossible to achieve without the accompanying requisite levels of artery-damaging stress and anxiety by the time the New Year arrives.  As Michele Meyer wrote in Heart Healthy Living:

“Whether your family resembles the Waltons or the Sopranos, few family gatherings are without potential for unspoken tensions.”

And psychologist Dr. Susan Heitler reminds us in the the same article:

“Both unresolved resentment and anxious anticipation of conflict during the holidays can harm your heart by spiking anger or depression. The higher the level of emotional arousal, the more stress on your heart.”

If you’re sometimes tempted to just skip Christmas and go straight to Mother’s Day, consider some of these stress-busting tips this year from Toronto author Susan Stern (in Awakening Your Life Skills) who says that we should all start a plan in advance for de-stressing the holiday season as much as possible.   For example:  Continue reading “Help your heart by de-stressing for the holiday season” →

It’s Handwashing Awareness Week!

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 2 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas

When one of our nurses knocked on my office door to tell me that the mandatory Hand Hygiene class for all hospital staff was starting, I sighed: “Oh, for Pete’s sake! I already know how to wash my hands!”  But off I went, muttering.

The class started with the instructor teaching us how to scrub-scrub-scrub our hands, in between our fingers, up and down our thumbs, right up to and around the wrists. We learned to do this for 30 full seconds (it’s longer than you think – try singing two verses of ‘Happy Birthday’ just to make sure). Then, she shut off the room lights and took out her special Lumalite that made any leftover germs on our hands glow a bright turquoise.  I was stunned by the results.   Continue reading “It’s Handwashing Awareness Week!” →

How to cope when your spouse is the heart patient

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥  @HeartSisters

I’ve heard it said, as bizarre as it may seem, that it may be easier in some ways to be widowed than to be the spouse of a recovering heart patient.

If your spouse has survived a cardiac event, you may even feel grief that seems entirely inappropriate to you, even as you also feel intense relief because he is still alive. You may also experience what’s known as hypervigilance – that sense of dread that yet another crisis is about to happen.

There are role models, as author Rhoda Levin explains, for widows’ behaviour, and appropriate ways to express difficult emotions:

“People respect the time it takes for the widowed to adjust to the changes in their lives. But cardiac spouses have no role models, teachers or mentors.  No one, professional or friend, can tell you what changes you will face as a cardiac spouse – and yet change is now your reality. The challenge of any cardiac crisis is facing this reality, letting go of what is lost, and developing new ways to live your new life together.”

If your spouse has recently had a cardiac event, you might find one of these three books helpful:   Continue reading “How to cope when your spouse is the heart patient” →