Family history of unusually early heart attack? You may carry this gene

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 19 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas     ♥    @HeartSisters 

.            Katherine Wilemon*

“After the shock of having a heart attack at age 39, I was a new mom at home with an infant, trying to make sense of being both a new parent and a heart disease patient”.    Katherine Wilemon had known since age 15 that she had high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, but years later was diagnosed with a cholesterol disorder called familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), and then with elevated levels of another fatty particle in the blood called lipoprotein(a) – Said out loud, this is called “LP-little-(a).

One in five people worldwide have the same cardiac risk factor that Katherine had.  Dr. Henry Ginsberg at Columbia University, a leading expert on lipoprotein(a), explained in the New York Times: (“A Heart Risk Factor Even Doctors Don’t Know About”):

“People don’t know about it, physicians don’t know about it.”     . 
Continue reading “Family history of unusually early heart attack? You may carry this gene” →

I’m still alive, post-influenza. I think. . .

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 27 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas     ♥    @HeartSisters 

        Where I’ve spent the past 19 days…

I’ve missed a bunch of really good stuff during the past few weeks: walking our Everly Rose home from Grade 2, watching Baby Zack take his first steps, long phone chats with my sister up-island, or writing last Sunday’s blog post here on Heart Sisters. Also:  Getting dressed. Brushing my teeth. Washing my hair. Feeling like a human being. In fact, I’ve been at death’s door (sort of) with a brutal case of influenza – commonly known as “the flu”.  And let me assure you, the flu is NOT “just like a cold”.         .    Continue reading “I’m still alive, post-influenza. I think. . .” →

Chronic heart failure: the true heartache of living with “FAILURE”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 10 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas     ♥    @HeartSisters 

 An Australian study published this month explores two elements that seem pretty darned important to patients and their families following a diagnosis of chronic heart failure (CHF) – yet may often appear to be minimized or even dismissed by healthcare professionals.  In this study, participants were asked to report their lived experience through two key themes:  1. Heartache and 2. Living with Failure.             .
Continue reading “Chronic heart failure: the true heartache of living with “FAILURE”” →

When the person in trouble is your paramedic

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas     ♥    @HeartSisters 

The history of transporting the seriously ill is one with gruesome origins, as Christina Frangou explained in her compelling Maclean’s piece on emergency medical services (EMS) here in Canada:

“In 1832, a cholera outbreak in the town of York – now Toronto – led to the creation of the first known ambulance service in what would become Canada. The town approved a wooden “cholera cart” to tow sick patients away from crowded areas, sometimes straight to funeral homes. These carters, as they were called, did not provide medical care. They simply carried the dead and dying away from the living.”

Modern paramedics are not, of course, just ambulance drivers.      .    Continue reading “When the person in trouble is your paramedic” →