Echocardiogram

Kelly* · 01-05-2008, 10:34 PM

Does anyone know what goes on in the actual test? I have to get one soon because i have something wrong with my heart most likely do to purging and stress my doctor said. I'm so afraid now, because i think i'm going to have to take my shirt off and all of the scars are there. I had to have an EKG today, and it wasnt with my shirt off, but the guy still was able to see the scars. It was so embarrasing i wanted to cry.

any ideas at all?

Starz* · 01-05-2008, 11:51 PM

A 12-lead ECG, although i think they sometimes do it with less that 12, but they stick wires across your chest in 12 places and monitor your heart beat to see how it is functioning throughout the different stages that take place during each beat. It can sho up abnormalities and they can then see what area of the heart is causing it and likely causes.
i think thats right!!

-Chelsey- · 02-05-2008, 12:10 AM

Heya sweety, I had one a few months bag, yes they do put them on your chest, but do not worry, i know it can feel uncomfortable, but they know it is not their place to judge you, or even to mention it.
It is all over with very quickly.
take care xxx

Kelly* · 02-05-2008, 01:19 AM

thanks. I hope its quick. I just hate people seeing them. :\

Eir · 02-05-2008, 03:42 AM

do you mean echo cardio gram or electro cardio gram?
an electrocardiogram - its eight on your chest, all but one on the left side. the other four leads go on you wrist/hands and feet. thats if they are doing a 12 lead one. usually the most time consuming part is putting the leads on, then you lie still while the machine does its job if its a normal one. cant remember how many leads they used for the stress test (ecg while you are running on a treadmill or exercising). they usually don't take long from memory. you should be in a private area (you have a right to privacy so you can insist on no one else in the room/curtained area if they want to demonstrate to students. plus you can pull the gown/your shirt over the leads so long as you don't dislodge them, so your not showing your scars all the way thru the test), so the only person who will see your scars is the person putting the leads on and the doctor if a nurse is doing it. they may sandpaper or shave then alcohol swab the places they will put the leads, but generally only if they aren't getting a clear reading.
an ecg checks the electrical impulses that drive the heart muscle, which shows how well its contracting, as well as heartbeat rhythm and a few other things that i can't remember.
an echocardiogram - basically an ultrasound of your heart, showing size/shape/volume/damage/bloodflow. it uses sound waves. it will take 15 to 30 mins, and you will be bare-chested, unless its a transoesphageal echocardiogram, where they put a endoscope with ultrasound down your oesophagus. but i think that one is unlikely with your purging. again it will be in private.
i hope that reassures you or at least helps a bit
take care

Animad · 02-05-2008, 08:57 AM

An Echocardiogram is an ultrasound. Here in the UK you have a gown on that is open at the front and you are naked underneath it. You have your back to the person doing the scan and they place the probe on three different places, 2 on your chest, one on your abdomen just below your breast bone. I won't lie, when I had mine done at the begininning of the year they did see the left side of my body and my left breast, the right side remained covered the whole time. The whole thing lasts around 20minutes and some of that is you getting dressed/undressed. It isn't the nicest experience but it doesn't hurt.

Basically what it is is anultrasound of your heart like what they use for pregnant the women. Though, this one is more sophisticated in that it shows up the way in which blood flows around your heart.

I was VERY nervous before mine but it wasn't as bad as I thought and like I say, you always have your back towards them and most of the time don't see any of your body, the only time that they do is when they place a couple of EKG (ECG in the UK!) electrodes on your chest and the odd point where they are first changing the position of the probe on your chest. They wouldn't mention anything about your scars, they'll have seen them before.

It is probably possible to request a woman to do it if that would make it easier for you

Kelly* · 02-05-2008, 08:40 PM

thank you guys. It makes me feel a little better about it all. I'm still nervous, but that will never go away until i actually get it. A guy did my EKG and he saw but didnt say anything. But still i'm so scared..oh well

Animad · 02-05-2008, 09:18 PM

The most they'll probably say is do you want any help. Quite a lot of people in hospitals have seen my scars over the last year. About half have said nothing and the other half have asked if I want help. The only person that probed a bit more was my surgeon who I had just almost cried to letting him know bout my scars coz I thought it was better to tell him rather than him finding out just before he operated on me. All he did was asked me if I wanted help and wanted to know how old they were and stuff. When he saw me the next day after he'd seen them during the op he talked me round to seeing the Crisis Team (which are a gp of psych's/CPNs that come to see u in hospital/ at home in the UK when you're having a hard time with stuff) and has since referred me to a psych but this was all on my say so, he didn't force me. Someone you meet for the first and only time is very unlikely to be as persuading as he was so it's best not to worry.

If you want some reassurance or whatever about the Echo you can always PM me, its only a couple of months since I had mine and was very nervous about them seeing my body so I kinda know what you're going through.