Tag: living with heart disease

Welcome to your new country

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 39 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas    ♥   Heart Sisters on Blue Sky

My family doctor once compared my uneasy adjustment since surviving a misdiagnosed heart attack to being like a stressful move to a foreign country.

I used to be pretty comfortable in my old country, pre-heart attack.

In my old country, I was a healthy, active, outgoing former distance runner. I had a wonderful family and a whack of close friends, a meaningful career I really loved, a crazy-cute cat, longtime community volunteer roles, a condo renovated top to bottom in a charming leafy neighbourhood of the most beautiful city in Canada – and a busy, happy, regular life.

Then on May 6, 2008, after being misdiagnosed and sent home from the Emergency Department despite textbook cardiac symptoms, I was finally admitted to the same hospital with a diagnosis of myocardial infarction – what doctors still call the “widowmaker” heart attack.

And that was the day I moved far, far away to a different country.  Continue reading “Welcome to your new country” →

Hope for the aching heart

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 3 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas   ♥  @HeartSisters

This article, written by Dr. Lisa Holland, appeared in the Columbia Notebook, Spring/Summer, 2007

“Jen, who lives with her husband and two children, recently underwent an unexpected double bypass surgery. At 50, her course of healing should have been uncomplicated. But six days after surgery, she developed a fear of being alone and would stay up extremely late because she was afraid to fall asleep.

“Over a period of several months, her once-savored walks with Toby, the family dog, dwindled down to once a week until finally she stopped walking him at all. When Doug, her husband, told her that he was worried about her, she cried.

“Through her tears she replied:

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me, all I know is that I’m scared I’ll have another heart attack.”  Continue reading “Hope for the aching heart” →

The topic that doctors don’t want to talk about with female heart patients

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 5 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

There’s a touchy topic that many doctors apparently don’t want to bring up with their heart patients  – particularly with their female patients.

A study reported in Washington, DC at the annual Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association found that fewer than 20% of women had a talk about sex with their physicians during the first year following their heart attacks – half the rate reported by male heart attack survivors.

This is significant, because sexual activity declines in the year following a heart attack for patients who do not receive specific advice on this topic from their doctors, the study showed. And fewer than half of all patients questioned in this study reported receiving any guidance on sexual activity – with women even less likely than men to get such information. Continue reading “The topic that doctors don’t want to talk about with female heart patients” →

Handling the homecoming blues: the third stage of heart attack recovery

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 8 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Today we look at the third stage of The Four Stages of Heart Illness from Dr. Wayne Sotile’s excellent book called Thriving With Heart Disease, a must-read for all heart attack survivors and those who love them. Dr. Sotile, a cardiac psychologist, describes the heart patient’s journey through a series of “separate, identifiable stages”.  He believes that your recovery will have fewer surprises if you are familiar with these four stages and know what to expect.*

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Stage 3:  Handling the homecoming blues: You’re suddenly on your own, reality sets in, and the whole team must adapt to its new normal.

You’re now home from the hospital, and you’re expected to surf a bewildering wave of emotions, anxieties and procedures. No longer are nurses and doctors checking, monitoring and calming you.  Now you have to decide what you can and cannot do, and you may feel under-qualified for the job.

What used to be simple is suddenly unbearably complex.  Making the bed, a doctor’s appointment or even a tuna sandwich can overwhelm you and bring you to tears. You feel childish and emotional and terribly alone – no matter how many people surround you at home.   Continue reading “Handling the homecoming blues: the third stage of heart attack recovery” →