apology – Heart Sisters

by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters

Despite textbook heart attack symptoms, I was sent home with an acid reflux misdiagnosis by a man with the letters M.D. after his name from the Emergency Department in the same hospital where I worked! My reaction at the time was to feel embarrassed and apologetic because I’d just made a big fuss over “nothing”. I felt so embarrassed, in fact, that I even sent my hospital colleagues in Emergency a sheepish little thank you note the following day, apologizing once again for wasting their very valuable time. I felt so embarrassed, in fact, that when my heart attack symptoms continued (of course they did!), I refused to return to Emergency for two horrific weeks.

I wrote about this urge to apologize in The Heart Patient’s Chronic Lament: “Excuse Me. I’m Sorry. I Don’t Mean to be a Bother” – about a heart patient who was stunned to add up how many times she had needlessly apologized to her family, friends and especially to staff throughout her hospital stay.

Why do we feel this urge to apologize?

Continue reading “Eight things you can stop apologizing for, starting today.” →

by Carolyn Thomas ♥ @HeartSisters

Two weeks before being hospitalized with a heart attack, I was sent home from the Emergency Department of that same hospital with an acid reflux misdiagnosis, despite presenting with textbook heart attack symptoms like chest pain and pain radiating down my left arm.

At that first visit, I left for home feeling embarrassed and apologetic because I’d just wasted five hours of their valuable time. I felt so embarrassed, in fact, that I even sent the staff in Emergency a sheepish little thank you note the following day, apologizing once again for making such a fuss over nothing.

Not making a fuss is a valued trait for many of us strong women, but this tendency can cause disastrous cardiac outcomes when it makes us reluctant to seek immediate medical attention when we need it most. Continue reading “The heart patient’s chronic lament: “Excuse me. I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be a bother…”” →