Tag: cardiology gender gap

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

 

 

 

Research on cardiac care disparities between men and women: a waste of time?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 10 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

I’m wondering how many more cardiac studies published in medical journals we’ll need before medical professionals start believing what decades of published research have already concluded. Here’s just one example: British researchers have described those past conclusions as: “an undeniable gender-based inequality in cardiovascular health to the detriment of women.”(1) 

At this point, I can’t help myself. Whenever I come across yet another heart study that comes to that identical conclusion, I have to quote my irreverent and brilliant heart sister Laura Haywood Cory, who at age 40 survived a heart attack caused by  Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD). No matter the specific focus, Laura interprets those “ain’t it awful?” cardiac research conclusions like this:  “Sucks to be female – better luck next life!”       Continue reading “Research on cardiac care disparities between men and women: a waste of time?” →

Pre-hospital care: can paramedics influence your cardiac future?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 9 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   @HeartSisters

Helen A. (pictured here) is a longtime Heart Sisters reader from North Carolina. (My other regular readers may remember Helen’s heart patient story a few years ago in The Handlebar-Gripping Cardiac Symptom). Helen asked me recently if I’d ever written about the influence of paramedics on subsequent medical care. Here’s how she started her message:

“We called 911 because I was having heart attack symptoms, but by the time we arrived at the hospital, the paramedic had decided nothing really serious was going on, and he made me get out of the ambulance and walk into the Emergency Department.” 

Unfortunately for Helen, however, something “really serious” was in fact going on. Continue reading “Pre-hospital care: can paramedics influence your cardiac future?” →

Women’s heart attacks (still!) more likely misdiagnosed than men’s

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 35 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥   @HeartSisters   

My interest in women’s misdiagnosed heart attacks began after my own misdiagnosed heart attack. Despite textbook cardiac symptoms of central chest pain, nausea, profuse sweating and pain down my left arm, I was confidently told: “You’re in the right demographic for acid reflux!” – and sent home from the Emergency Department. 

I know that, had I been appropriately diagnosed and treated on that fateful day, I’d have little interest in this topic. But I wasn’t. So I do.     .         .    Continue reading “Women’s heart attacks (still!) more likely misdiagnosed than men’s” →