Echo Cardiogram
Oct. 28th, 2005 12:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
billeylerLeft work at 3:40 to get to my 4pm appointment for the echo cardiogram. As was the case the day before yesterday, I was stunned that my appointment was called at exactly the time it was supposed to happen. I guess making an end of day appointment works!
As I was escorted into the small room with the appropriate machine for all this monitoring, I flashed back to 1999 when I had this done the last time. My only memory of that last time was laying sideways in a room alone watching a monitor with my heart muscles pumping away. That can't be what happened.
Today, a gentle late 40s guy who hobbled around in a 1/2 cast slathered parts of my chest and underarm with a pleasant-smelling goo, and attached 3 electrod-y things to my chest. He slipped a VCR tape into a complex looking monitor machine, and started rolling this webcam-y thing around over my ribs. Odd parts of pumping areas of my heart showed on the screen, along with my EKG rhythms and lots of data. He made notes, moved things around on the screen and pressed buttons for about 30 minutes, carrying on a conversation with me on and off. I had questions about why the movement on the screen didn't correspond to the movement of his sensor thing-y. I guess it was all legit, and that he wasn't simply replaying someone else's tape!
I'm thinking that the results are going to show a very healthy heart, which is a GOOD thing. I was surprised my resting heartrate is still between 59 and 67 BPM...that seems low! I have my next doc visit in two weeks to sort out what's what. During the time, I'll have to get that cholesterol/thyroid/etc bloodwork test so he's get those results, too.
Today, in a conversation with my mom in Louisiana, she confirmed that SHE has had the symptoms of a-fib for decades too, and both of my brothers have had random events, too. I remember my brother Steve was diagnosed with heart murmurs when he was 8. My brother Bruce apparently had something recently, with requires some massive doses of Enderol (sp?), but I don't know what that's about at all.
As I was escorted into the small room with the appropriate machine for all this monitoring, I flashed back to 1999 when I had this done the last time. My only memory of that last time was laying sideways in a room alone watching a monitor with my heart muscles pumping away. That can't be what happened.
Today, a gentle late 40s guy who hobbled around in a 1/2 cast slathered parts of my chest and underarm with a pleasant-smelling goo, and attached 3 electrod-y things to my chest. He slipped a VCR tape into a complex looking monitor machine, and started rolling this webcam-y thing around over my ribs. Odd parts of pumping areas of my heart showed on the screen, along with my EKG rhythms and lots of data. He made notes, moved things around on the screen and pressed buttons for about 30 minutes, carrying on a conversation with me on and off. I had questions about why the movement on the screen didn't correspond to the movement of his sensor thing-y. I guess it was all legit, and that he wasn't simply replaying someone else's tape!
I'm thinking that the results are going to show a very healthy heart, which is a GOOD thing. I was surprised my resting heartrate is still between 59 and 67 BPM...that seems low! I have my next doc visit in two weeks to sort out what's what. During the time, I'll have to get that cholesterol/thyroid/etc bloodwork test so he's get those results, too.
Today, in a conversation with my mom in Louisiana, she confirmed that SHE has had the symptoms of a-fib for decades too, and both of my brothers have had random events, too. I remember my brother Steve was diagnosed with heart murmurs when he was 8. My brother Bruce apparently had something recently, with requires some massive doses of Enderol (sp?), but I don't know what that's about at all.
