Six questions from Nancy about my blog

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 18 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   @HeartSisters

I have never had breast cancer, and I don’t write about breast cancer (except rarely). But I noticed soon after launching my Heart Sisters blog that a surprising number of women with breast cancer were reading, subscribing and responding to my blog articles on women’s heart disease. One of my favourites in this group was author and breast cancer activist Nancy Stordahl, who blogs at Nancy’s Point.  We’ve never met in person, but Nancy and I have agreed over the years that the traumatic experience of facing a catastrophic diagnosis is shared by many, no matter what that medical condition may be.

So when Nancy invited me to participate in her 2021 Summer Blogging Challenge, I was pleased to oblige one of my favourite bloggers by answering the six questions that she asked about my blog:    .    .   Continue reading “Six questions from Nancy about my blog” →

Dear Carolyn: “I couldn’t tell if my pain was ‘normal’.”

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 7 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

I happen to have a pain specialist in my family:  my darling 6-year old granddaughter Everly Rose, who studies her assorted owies very seriously. She updates me at each visit on how every scratch, scar or scab is coming along, rating the pain that each injury caused her on the playground, at summer day camp, or while playing with Homie, her cat. 

I, on the other hand, am apparently keen on NOT making a fuss, no matter what – yes, even the chest and left arm pain that continued during my own misdiagnosed heart attack.

One of my Toronto readers told me recently about the time that she too could not bring herself to describe her pain as pain.  As part of my occasional “Dear Carolyn” series of reader narratives, I’m sharing her story here. Notice how many times she avoids revealing her true pain:       .          .   Continue reading “Dear Carolyn: “I couldn’t tell if my pain was ‘normal’.”” →

Why patients don’t have admin assistants

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 17 Comments
                   Moments from the full, rich life of patient partner Lelainia Lloyd *

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

Patients can sometimes be sickly people in bed, wearing embarrassingly undignified bum-baring hospital gowns.

Patients can also be experts in the lived experience of their own diagnoses,  who contribute to medical research and education teams as partners in meaningful academic projects.

If you’re surprised by that last description, you’ll be even more surprised by all the things that many patient partners can do in life (besides laying around being sickly).       .        . Continue reading “Why patients don’t have admin assistants” →

Learn or Blame: when mistakes happen in medicine

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 15 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters

Mistakes happen in medicine, just like in every other workplace. As intensive care physician and president of The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) Dr. Samantha Batt-Rawden reminded us in a BBC Newsnight interview:

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”    If patients are looking for a doctor who has never made a mistake, they simply won‘t find one.”    

Continue reading “Learn or Blame: when mistakes happen in medicine” →