Happy 15th Heart-iversary to me. . .♥

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 41 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters 

I can still vividly recall the hospital volunteer I met while in the CCU (the Intensive Care Unit for heart patients). She told me that several years earlier, she too had survived a heart attack like mine: what doctors call the “widow maker” heart attack. That’s an ironically male-centric name for a heart attack so severe that it could transform a (male) patient’s wife into a widow. But what really struck me about this volunteer was that she was walking, talking, and most surprisingly – looking completely “normal” – at a time when I doubted I’d ever feel “normal” again.

Yesterday, May 6th marked 15 years since the day I met that woman in the CCU. On that sunny spring day back in 2008, while recuperating from a misdiagnosed heart attack, I not only doubted my capacity for normalcy, but I certainly didn’t believe I would live long enough to celebrate a 15th Heart-iversary. Continue reading “Happy 15th Heart-iversary to me. . .♥” →

Medical research: mostly on (white, middle-aged) men. What could go wrong?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 7 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters

Last week, we learned here about a young Florida woman who arrived at her local Emergency Department with nausea, vomiting and “heartburn” – as described by Emergency physician Dr. Sam Ghali in the post called “I’ll Give You a Hint: the Diagnosis is NOT Heartburn or Anxiety”.  He challenged his professional colleagues on Twitter, asking how they would have diagnosed this patient based on her distinctive ECG test results. Some of their guesses at interpreting the results missed her obvious heart attack, so Dr. Ghali reminded these healthcare professionals:

“Remember this case and never ever write off people with chest pain – especially women who may present differently than men and are notoriously misdiagnosed or diagnosed late with worse outcomes. Please help spread awareness, and I promise you will make a difference in these people’s lives.”

Dr. Lea Merone from Australia was one of the healthcare professionals to weigh in on Dr. Ghali’s Twitter challenge – but with an unusual response.    .   Continue reading “Medical research: mostly on (white, middle-aged) men. What could go wrong?” →

“I’ll give you a hint: the diagnosis is NOT heartburn or anxiety”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 8 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters

This recent “What’s the diagnosis?”  ECG challenge on Twitter from Dr. Sam Ghali attracted many online guesses from his healthcare colleagues – including this from a critical care nurse practitioner who astutely wrote:

“In today’s healthcare system, she would probably be told ‘it’s all in your head’ or ‘maybe you should lose weight’.”
 Continue reading ““I’ll give you a hint: the diagnosis is NOT heartburn or anxiety”” →

Implementation science: should research actually DO SOMETHING?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 14 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥    @HeartSisters

“Don’t just publish another paper.  Let’s DO something!”  That feisty challenge to her academic colleagues comes from Dr. Cindy Blackstock, expressing her frustration in a University Affairs interview.

The McGill University professor in Montréal is internationally known for her work in child protection rights of Indigenous families. But her frustration can readily apply to medical research, too – where “doing something” seems barely on the radar.           Continue reading “Implementation science: should research actually DO SOMETHING?” →