I got an Echo

On Jan. 20, 2020, I went in and had an echo on my heart so they can pinpoint what is going on with it. You might be asking what is an Echo? Well, let me explain.

What is a Echo

We aren’t talking about those echo dots, we are talking about what is referred to as an Echocardiogram.

“An echocardiogram (echo) is a graphic outline of the heart’s movement. During an echo test, ultrasound (high-frequency sound waves) from a hand-held wand placed on your chest provides pictures of the heart’s valves and chambers and helps the sonographer evaluate the pumping action of the heart. Echo is often combined with Doppler ultrasound and color Doppler to evaluate blood flow across the heart’s valves.”

Why is one done

They do this to help look at and determine the following:

Assess the overall function of your heart
Determine the presence of many types of heart disease, such as
- Valve disease
- Myocardial disease
- Pericardial disease
- Infective endocarditis
- Cardiac masses
- Congenital heart disease
Follow the progress of valve disease over time
Evaluate the effectiveness of your medical or surgical treatments

The above was taken from here

My test

I am like a regular person here at the heart place, I think I have been at least 100 times. Well, not quite a 100, hopefully, you get my point. I went in at 5 PM on Jan. 20, 2020, and I was called back and come to find out that the person doing my Echo was a friend of ours. Our sons are good friends.

I took off my shirt, so the machine could get a good reading on my heart so they can look at what the heck is going on. It took about 1 hour. I had to lay on my side so they can look at the heart that way. Then I had to lay on my back so they can look at it from my side. Then a couple of others, I can’t remember them all. I had to hold my breath a couple of times.

The wand, that is the thing they used had some gel on it and it was kind of like an ultrasound, but I didn’t get to see a baby, thank goodness, just my heart.

Once done

I put my shirt back on, and then went on with my day and waited for the doctors’ office to call and tell me to come in and to get my final affairs in order. You know the worst events possible are going through your mind.