Tag: Breast cancer

Finally, some good news:

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 37 Comments
~ Carolyn Thomas

 by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky)

The late Yale University professor Dr. Susan Nolen-Hoeksema once described how freshly-diagnosed patients try to make sense of a medical crisis that makes no sense – in these two typical ways:

  1. overthinking (focusing on current or future scenarios) and
  2. ruminating (focusing on past scenarios).

 I’ve been rotating through each scenario non-stop ever since being diagnosed with the breast cancer called invasive ductal carcinoma on April 1, 2025. My treatment plan (and its brutal side effects) included chemotherapy, immunotherapy and last month’s  mastectomy.  

It wasn’t until this past week that my cancer doctors showed me my 3-page post-op pathology report, a blur of medical-ese jargon – except for these words: 

“No residual invasive or in situ carcinoma is seen. Sentinel lymph nodes all negative for carcinoma.”

 I’m not officially done at the Cancer Clinic quite yet, but I feel like I can finally take a breath now. 

It was my misdiagnosed “widow-maker” heart attack back in 2008 that kick-started this Heart Sisters site, and I’ve been speaking and writing about the ongoing cardiology gender gap between male and female heart patients ever since – until April 1st of this year when I suddenly had this scary new diagnosis to worry about. 

So many kind people have offered encouragement, hugs  and practical help over the past eight months, including my wonderful family, friends, neighbours – and Heart Sisters readers I’ve never even met. I’m so grateful for every kindness. 

Happy Christmas to all. . . ♥

1. Nolen-Hoeksema, Susan. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2005 (Vol. 77, No. 4, pp 801-814).

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NOTE FROM CAROLYN:   I wrote much more about becoming a patient – no matter the diagnosis – in my book, “A Woman’s Guide to Living with Heart Disease”. You can ask for it at your local library or favourite bookshop, or order it online (paperback, hardcover or e-book) at Amazon –  or order it directly from my publisher, Johns Hopkins University Press (use their code HTWN to save 30% off the list price).

Image: Mohamed Hassan, Pixabay

 

 

 

The “not wonderful” new diagnosis I didn’t see coming

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 45 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ❤️   Heart Sisters (on Blue Sky)

If you’re me, and you live with a medical condition as serious as heart disease (which is women’s #1 killer worldwide, by the way), you may start believing that this is it. This will be the cause of death listed in your obituary some day. This is the diagnosis that kick-started  your tests, medical procedures, follow-up appointments, more tests, scary symptoms, prescription cardiac meds you’ll take for the rest of your life, and writing these Sunday morning Heart Sisters articles.

But as the saying goes, “Life is what happens when we’re busy making other plans.”  And last month, LIFE happened to me. . .
Continue reading “The “not wonderful” new diagnosis I didn’t see coming” →

Just living life. No awesomeness required.

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 5 Comments

I’m always chuffed (as my Brit friends would say) to run into an patient essay that’s so good, I wish I’d written it – one that captures the essence of what I’ve been thinking all along but somehow haven’t quite gathered those thoughts as succinctly. Although Barbara Westfall wrote this for her blog Pilgrim125 as a woman living with Stage IV breast cancer, she tells a familiar story that spoke to me as a heart patient, too.

She writes about those magical moments when we just try to live life as if we didn’t have a life-altering medical condition, thank you very much, no matter what our diagnosis. With her kind permission, I’m sharing it with you. Thank you, Barbara!

Continue reading “Just living life. No awesomeness required.” →