The Save
My ‘interruption in life,’ as I call it, started as any other normal workday. However, things took a turn when I began experiencing horrific chest pain.
Writing the Heart: Expressive Writing Workshop Series
Writing…about traumatic experience …can produce measurable changes in physical and mental health, … can also affect people’s sleep habits, work efficiency and how they connect with others. – James W. Pennebaker, PhD What is...
Glossary
Heart Health Glossary Advance Care Planning (ACP): The process of thinking about and communicating your wishes, values, and beliefs. ACP helps facilitate the steps needed to ensure that your wishes guide your treatment and care if you become incapable and/or unable to...
Caring for a Child with Heart Failure: Maddison and Lorelei
In June 2022, I welcomed my daughter Lorelei after a normal pregnancy. We had no indications of heart failure or congenital defects when I was pregnant or when she was a newborn. It wasn’t until Lorelei was three months old that I noticed the signs…
Paediatric Heart Failure
Developed in partnership with The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). The treatment of heart failure in children often depends on the cause of the underlying problem. Sometimes there are medical, surgical or catheter-based interventions that can be undertaken to either cure or reduce the symptoms of heart failure. Your child will be taken care of with a team that includes physicians, nurses, specialized dieticians who ensure optimal nutrition, and physical and occupational therapists who will provide assessments. Your child will be prescribed medicines to treat both the symptoms of heart failure and to improve or stabilize heart function. Child life specialists and social workers are available to help children and families dealing with the stress associated with a chronic illness.
Isabel’s LVAD Experience
Isabel lived with heart failure for 11 years before having a heart transplant in 2021. Self-care and self-management continue to be essential to her health. As part of her journey, Isabel lived with an LVAD. In this video, Isabel talks about what it is like to have one, what the day-to-day, and her tips and suggestions for others who are about to get an LVAD.
Sex and Intimacy
Sexual relations and intimacy are important to your well-being and relationships. You are not alone in thinking about sex and heart failure. In fact, about 2 out of every 3 people living with heart failure experience some issue with sex and intimacy. Some of the issues you may encounter are likely as a result of reduced desire and difficulty in engaging in different sexual activities.
Hello. My name is Paula. I live every day with heart failure.
I was born with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. HOCM for short. Basically, it means my heart muscle is too thick, making it harder to pump blood. In 2008, my doctor noticed the murmur associated with my HOCM was getting louder. In 2010, I had to undergo an open-heart surgery to relieve the obstruction. Unfortunately, I had to undergo a second open-heart surgery in 2012, as the first surgery in 2010 was unsuccessful. I was medically managed until 2020 when I underwent a third open-heart surgery to replace the aortic and mitral valves.
Mental Health
Mental health refers to a person’s emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It is a vital aspect of overall health. How we think, feel, act, and make decisions all play a role in our mental health.
Relationships
Although the emotional impact of living with a chronic disease differs from one person to another, it is often quite substantial. Those who are not living with heart failure may not fully understand the challenges of living with the condition.
