My medical vocabulary has increased dramatically since starting this journey, which is hopefully making up for my decreasing vocabulary due to old age and brain fog 😂. I had my echocardiogram on September 4th, and follow-up with my cardiologist who did an electrocardiogram today.
Both of these events take place at the medical center in downtown Houston, which is not my favorite drive. Today’s traffic came to a screeching halt when an accident blocked all but one lane of traffic (the on-merge ramp). 😱 😱 Tim was driving me down there, as he often does, but this was the worse we have seen it. Fortunately we left a bit early, so I arrived exactly one minute before my appointment.
In case you are wondering, an echocardiogram (also known as an “echo”) is not the same as an electrocardiogram, better known as an EKG or ECG. For an EKG, they stick electrodes on your chest and print a read-out. It takes longer for them to bring the system into the room than it does to actually conduct the test. I had that done today, and I was a bit annoyed because this meant my appointment would be longer than expected. MUCH longer than expected because I had to wait for each person to come in the room. Since I just had the echocardiogram I thought that would suffice, but NOOOooooo. 🙄🙄
An echocardiogram is much more intense than an EKG, including access of the veins (they always do contrast for mine), sticking on the electrodes, and doing the test. It’s like an ultrasound of the heart and valves with lots of pictures, sounds, and color. It’s pretty interesting if you have never done one. The first time I saw my heart I was in awe…wow! That’s my heart! It’s losing it’s novelty since I go in so often, but it’s still pretty interesting to watch the little flaps go up and down on the screen while the heart is pumping the blood.
Until now I have been directed to do the echos every three months. Now, I can do it every six months. Yay! And, I can do it the same day I go to see the cardiologist. This means I just decreased my trips downtown from 8 to 2. More time to ride the Harley!
Incidentally, my oncologist said there isn’t a requirement to do the echo when you are on Herceptin. In fact, some oncologists don’t do them at all. Why? Because they don’t want to know! That’s right…if they don’t know it is hurting your heart, they don’t have to stop treatment. My oncologist requires it because he said he wants to know! It is easier to correct a problem with a pause in treatment than it is to reverse advanced heart failure when it’s too late. I love my doctor. He cares about treating the cancer, but he is also concerned about the whole body. My heart is grateful.
The only number from the echo he really watches is the Ejection Fraction. Mine typically hovers in the high 50s, which is the normal range. One time it was 40-something when I was seeing my local cardiologist who estimates the EF, so that is why he wants me to go downtown from hereon. The echo they do downtown with the contrast provides an exact number rather than an estimate. I found the brief video linked above to be interesting, as I am watching my EF as well.
Á la prochaine…until next time.