A Change of Heart: Cranky Pants, round 2 (Bonus: Mansplaining!)

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Cranky Pants, round 2 (Bonus: Mansplaining!)

Just when I was getting settled for the night, putting on my comfy jammies, about to go downstairs with my husband to watch an episode or two of Castle... instead of relaxing on the couch with my husband and cat, I have to pull on the cranky pants once more.

I've just spent 45 minutes with a classic mansplainer telling all of us little womenfolk that we all needed to "be assertive" and "take charge of our health" and that our healthcare was "complex" and we needed to "take responsibility."

Ya think that I, a Mayo Clinic-trained WomenHeart champion and heart attack survivor, maybe need to educate myself on heart disease and heart health?

Ya think I need to maybe ask my doctor or nurse to explain my condition (which I know more about than they do) to me?

Ya think that I need to "take responsibility," and recognize that my health is "complex," and "be assertive" about my care?

Thank you for your contributions.

1 comment:

Rachel Willen@FoodFixNovember 7, 2011 at 7:14 AM
How funny! I am with you all the way. Just love when I get that treatment from on high...whether from a jerky MD or a relative who thinks he knows everything a split second or more before the rest of the world! Yet, that same person will turn around and whine like a baby the minute they get sick!! Vent away!!
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Why am I doing this?

In March of 2009 I had a heart attack. It was as much a surprise to me as it was to the doctors; I don't have any risk factors--no high blood pressure, no diabetes, no clogged arteries, no family history; plus I'm a young (in cardiac terms) female who exercises. Definitely NOT the usual suspect for a heart attack.

But tell that to my body--I had one anyway. Turns out that I experienced a rare thing called a Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection. Don't google the term unless you're prepared to be depressed by mortality rates and statistics, and the fact that doctors really have no clue about what causes some people to have them.

The bright side is that my toast landed butter side up, and I'm still here. In 2009 I put together a one-shot fanzine called A Change of Heart; you can get a PDF copy of it from efanzines.com here. This blog is an extension of that fanzine and an effort to reach more people, both in and out of of the fannish science fiction community.

If you want to read my story from the beginning, I suggest starting with this link to my wonderful husband Paul's journal:

Laura Had A Heart Attack Monday Morning.

He kept up a pretty good running commentary of what was happening while I was still in the hospital, and it starts there. The "Next" and "Previous" links move to later and earlier entries, detailing our experiences.

In October, 2010, I competed in and finished the Chapel Hill Ramblin' Rose Triathlon. These are pictures Paul took of me riding my bike and running (he couldn't get into the pool).