What I wish I knew back then: “Twisted thinking vs. the new heart patient”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters

The freshly-diagnosed heart patient has plenty of opportunity to start thinking thoughts that are new, bizarre and often frightening. Any life-altering medical condition can throw us off-balance emotionally, but after a cardiac diagnosis, even the tiniest twinge of new chest pain can paralyze us. Is this something? Is it nothing? Should I call 911 again? As Australian cardiac psychologist (and more importantly, a heart patient himself) Len Gould likes to say: “Before a heart attack, every twinge is just indigestion. After a heart attack, every twinge is another heart attack!”

It’s only much later when we can truly reflect on how exhausting this twisted thinking is. Before they settle in too comfortably, let’s try to untwist the most common of these responses.  .       Continue reading “What I wish I knew back then: “Twisted thinking vs. the new heart patient”” →

Cardiac arrest: when it happens in the bathroom

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 22 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters

Ponder this study the next time you are sitting on your toilet – particularly if you are already a heart patient. Most people spend a relatively short time per day in the bathroom (estimated at about 30-45 minutes total, much of that spent using the toilet) yet it appears that the bathroom is a location where sudden cardiac arrest occurs with disproportionately high frequency. According to Japanese researchers, about 8–10 per cent of all cardiac arrests occur in the bathroom.(1)         .         .     Continue reading “Cardiac arrest: when it happens in the bathroom” →

What I wish I knew back then: “Did my family history of heart disease lead to my heart attack?”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥    @HeartSisters

A young 30-something in one of my Heart-Smart Women presentation audiences asked an intriguing question while we were discussing women’s cardiac risk factors.  She was worried about her own risk for developing heart disease one day because of her family history.  Her mother, she explained, had died several years earlier from a heart attack while only in her 40s. But then this young woman added a few additional facts about her Mum.  For example, her mother had also:

  • been significantly overweight
  • rarely exercised
  • lived with poorly managed Type 2 diabetes
  • been a heavy smoker for over two decades

This young woman, however, shared none of those risk factors.  Should she still be concerned about this family history of heart disease?    Continue reading “What I wish I knew back then: “Did my family history of heart disease lead to my heart attack?”” →

What I wish I knew back then: “6 reasons women delay seeking help during a heart attack”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   @HeartSisters

It turns out that women like me are far more likely than men to delay seeking urgent treatment despite clear signs of a heart attack. This is a dangerously common decision pattern that contributes to the higher mortality rate among women like me. Researchers even have a name for it: treatment-seeking delay behaviour.

“What I Wish I Knew Back Then”  is a back-to-basics summer series of posts here on Heart Sisters revisiting some of the most frequently asked questions from new heart patients. Today, Part 3 continues with another basic that’s far more common in women:  “Why did I wait so long to seek help in mid-heart attack?”     .
 Continue reading “What I wish I knew back then: “6 reasons women delay seeking help during a heart attack”” →