2014 posts

Heart Sisters Posts From The Past

JANUARY 2014

When doctors can’t say: “I don’t know”

“Everybody has plans ‘til they get punched in the mouth.”

My blog post in the British Medical Journal!

Doc chat: in the cath lab with a “radial evangelist”

When thyroid problems masquerade as heart disease

FEBRUARY 2014 – HEART MONTH!

Why we ignore serious symptoms

Is your doctor paying attention?

Confessions of a non-compliant patient

Can it be two years since my mother’s death?

Jennifer’s story: her heart attack at age 36 “smacked her with her own mortality”

Eileen’s story: “When my surgeon opened up my heart, my arteries disintegrated”

MARCH 2014

Stress test vs flipping a coin: which is more accurate?

Dr. John Mandrola: “AFib is your body talking to you”

“I’m the least depressed person on earth, except when I’m depressed”

Cardiac gender bias: we need less TALK and more WALK

When your “significant EKG changes” are missed

APRIL 2014

“The under-appreciated joy of making a meatloaf”

Cardiac care for the whole patient – not just the heart

How a heart attack can trigger PTSD

What (not) to say when you’re visiting the sick

MAY 2014

Is your doctor talking to your other doctors?

A motherless Mother’s Day

The five questions your doctor is probably not asking you

When drugs that help turn into drugs that harm

Misdiagnosis: is it what doctors think, or HOW they think?

JUNE 2014

How having a wife shortens time to heart attack care

Convalescence: the forgotten phase of illness recovery

Why you should hug your cardiologist today

Hypervigilance: waiting for that second heart attack

Are you a victim or a survivor?

JULY 2014

Who will take care of you at home if you’re seriously ill?

Patient engagement as described by 31 non-patients

“Us” vs “them”: the under-served patient speaks up

We know we should do ____, but instead we do ____

What women need to know about pregnancy complications and heart disease

AUGUST 2014

The day I made peace with an errant organ

Why patient stories actually matter

When we don’t look as sick as we feel

Heart scans: the triumph of profit over science

The hospital discharge race: is sooner always better?

SEPTEMBER 2014

The freakish nature of cardiac pain (first of a 3-part series on pain)

It’s Invisible Illness Awareness Week!

Brain freeze, heart disease and pain self-management (second of a 3-part series on pain)

Chest pain while running uphill (third of a 3-part series on pain)

How intense grief increases your cardiac risk

OCTOBER 2014

Feisty advice to patients: “Get down off your cross!”

“You’ve done the right thing by coming here today”

First we had peer review – and now patient review!

Little social support: a big gap for younger heart patients

How gender bias threatens women’s health

The symptomatic tipping point during heart attack

NOVEMBER 2014

Heart attacks: “Men explode, but women erode”

Flexible restraint: it’s what’s missing from all fad diets

Words matter when we describe our heart attack symptoms

Let’s all play Chronic Illness Bingo!

Downplaying symptoms: just pretend it’s NOT a heart attack

DECEMBER 2014

Failure to refer: why are doctors ignoring cardiac rehab?

Women and statins: evidence-based medicine or wishful thinking?

Size matters – but not in coronary artery blockages

A year in review: Top 10 Heart Sisters posts in 2014

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NOTE FROM CAROLYN:   My book A Woman’s Guide to Living with Heart Disease (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2017) is based on my 800+ Heart Sisters blog articles. You can ask for this book at your local library or favourite bookshop, or order it online (paperback, hardcover or e-book) at Amazon. If you order it directly from Johns Hopkins University Press (use their code HTWN), you can save 30% off the list price.

 

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