Living

For our COPD site, I wrote an article about lung sounds. Your heart also makes sounds. Like lung sounds, they can be heard by using a stethoscope. I thought it...

In the summer of 2010, a diagnosis of coronary artery disease after the discovery of two blocked arteries started me thinking about retirement. After a career in secondary education, including...

Some people in this community also have COPD. It’s a disease that affects the lungs and may cause shortness of breath. So, what is COPD? Here’s what to know. COPD...

Titanic movie watchers will remember this title song by Celine Dion. I have always been a hopeless romantic, so the song and the movie resonated. What really moved me were...

Cold weather is upon the northern part of the world. The cold is arguably just as taxing on heart failure as hot weather is, just in a different way. Most...

It is never easy to receive the news that you have a medical condition that will change your life as you know it. No matter if that condition is a...

You might have seen a previous article I wrote about depression. However, depression’s cousin when it comes to serious medical illness is often trauma-induced PTSD. Per the CDC,“Most everyone has...

There is nothing better than the sound and smell of coffee brewing early in the morning. For me personally, knowing that I can indulge in my morning blonde roast helps...

Living with heart failure, whether you are newly diagnosed or have lived with it for a long time, can at times feel completely overwhelming. Navigating life with heart failure from...

I am 37 and was diagnosed with CHF at 35 after a severe heart attack. For context, overnight I went from working an adrenaline-filled full-time job in a position of...

Sex nearly killed me. You read that right. This all started on a January night after a night out with my family. My now wife and I had just finished...

We are knocking on the door to winter. The trees are bare, temperatures are dropping and for many of us snow is on the way if it hasn’t already made...

Editor's note: This is part 3 of a series. Be sure to check out part 1 and part 2! I survived a heart rate of 392 bpm. The fact I...

People tend to think about physical wellbeing after experiencing a heart attack or cardiac surgery. However, depression is a critical symptom. There is a heightened risk of anxiety and depression...

Learning to live with heart failure takes some getting used to. Although heart failure affects people differently, many of the most challenging symptoms are the same. To find out which...

If you’ve been diagnosed with heart failure, chances are you have heard about the New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification. This is a tool used by doctors to assign a...

Once diagnosed, your doctor may suggest or flat out tell you to weigh yourself daily. A lot of questions can go unanswered, especially if you think of them after you...

The holidays can be a challenging time for many people. When facing the coming season while living with heart failure, it may be tempting to focus on what you might...

I am on a ton of medications - medications to keep my heart beating slower and more effectively. Medications to keep my blood from clotting and to dilate my blood vessels. Medications...

The question that always plagues any survivor of a traumatic medical event or someone living with a chronic illness – when should I go to the ER?  Afraid to be...