Stress/Echo

[Lorraine]

I went for my Stress/Echo today and couldn't finish it. I was doing great, so they said, until after I hit about 8 1/2 minutes when they raised it to where I had to jog. I couldn't do it. It. I got scared, my blood pressure went up when I started jogging (unfortunately I wasn't on it long enough to get my heartrate at the 85% mark or better) and I got dizzy, so I told them to stop. Now I feel like a failure. I did it fine two years ago. I do remember though, that the nurse was standing right behind me kind of holding onto my back until I reached my target heart rate.. Maybe I felt more secure. This time all I could think of is I was going to fall backwards off that darn treadmill while chogging and I freaked! So they told me that my cardio would look at the results and maybe they would have to give me a different type of test where they put a inject a dye, to stimulate the heart as if you are under stress? Has anyone had that done? I didn't ask about the risk factor as I was so I didn't finish.. I'm not scheduled to go back to the cardio until December, unless he wants me to have the stress test done the other way I guess. They said they would have a complete breakdown of the results in a couple of days and I could call for a report then. Now I'm down! Just curious about the other ways to do a stress test if anyone has had it done. It's not that my heart couldn't take going so fast (I didn't have chest pains or anything like that) I just am not very comfortable trying to jog on a treadmill. I do fine walking really fast, but once I have to raise my feet off to jog or gallup, I freak. Only good thing is: My INR was 3.5. I was happy for that.

 

[Nancy]

Joe has had the stress tests with medications. He can do the treadmill at home very well, but does not get up to jogging or doing the uphill thing. Plus he has a problem with his feet caused from a bout of serum sickness several years ago. The joints don't move well at all.

I don't believe he could safely do a jogging treadmill stress test due to his pulmonary hypertension.

One test with medications was fine and he had no aftereffects. The last one threw him for a loop, and they didn't finish it. Just couldn't get up to the target heartrate. It's a pretty high heartrate that they want you to achieve. He felt poorly for a couple of days.

I do think they were different medications and different tests. One was a thallium stress test (no echo involved), the last one was a dobutamine stress echo.

 

[tobagotwo]

You should not feel like a failure. At all. You're not a car, and this isn't a road test.

If the test creates more danger than it has potential to avoid, it certainly seems like it should be rethought. You have to wonder why they put you through it so thoughtlessly with your history, considering it appears your cardio didn't even attend.

Find out what they really expect to learn from it. You should be able to expect an answer that's not a vague reference to "seeing how you're doing," and actually gives you a good idea what they expect to glean from the results.

Obviously, it is important to listen to your doctor. Then again, there are lots of doctors...

Best wishes,

 

[Guest]

So they told me that my cardio would look at the results and maybe they would have to give me a different type of test where they put a inject a dye, to stimulate the heart as if you are under stress? Has anyone had that done?

I haven't, but Gram did on several occassions back when she and Gramps still lived here. I remember she once told me that she wasn't sure which she liked better ... the dye stress test or the treadmill stress test. She said it was pretty much a toss up, except that with the dye test, you didn't have to worry about falling off the treadmill. BUT...she also added that she felt a bit more in control with the treadmill test ... less so with the dye test.

I'm sure you are feeling like a failure...you shouldn't. Yep, I know...easier said than done, but it will all work out. Good luck with the results....


Cort, "Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip", 31swm/pig valve/pacemaker
'72,6,9/'81,7.hobbies.chdQB = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/
MC Guide = http://www.chevyasylum.com/mcspotter/main.html
What's it like to buy your favorite car brand new? Wish I knew...

 

[Lorraine]

Nancy: Thanks for the info. I was concerned about medication they give you for it. Can't say it makes me feel any better knowing Joe had okay after effects one time, and bad the next time. I'm not on anything for pulmonary hypertension or anything like that. I'm just not comfortable trying to jog on a treadmill. I'm fine walking real fast on one but when they speeded it up and I had to jog I was so afraid I was going to fall, my anxiety took over. Lets face it, not everyone is comfortable running on a treadmill. For those that are fine with it, all the power to them. To run a test though, that a minority of the people may not be able to do, is a bit frustrating. I suppose it's hard to understand for the hundreds that can jog or run on a treadmill why there are those of us that can't, when there isn't a reason like bad feet or hypertension. Maybe I did get hypertension though the minute I knew I had to jog! EEKS!

Bob: Thank You! You are right! I shouldn't feel like a failure. It's not like this was a test I had to study for and failed. Though I did try to get as much sleep as possible last night. I wanted to be well rested. I'm usually not an anxious person either. I knew the reason they wanted to run the test. They wanted make sure everything was working right and that I didn't have any blockages. I didn't two years ago, but I know its good to be tested every so often. An again it's not a danger for most people. I just freaked at having to jog when they speeded it up on the third or fourth level.. No as you can tell, I'm not a jogger. I love to walk and as I said, I can walk really fast too, but jog! Too afraidon a tradmill. I have jog on pavement thoguh, but then thats not moving under me. I'm in control!

I will wait until next week and find out what they were able to tell from the test. I'll have to give it some serious thought about letting them give me medication to run the test. Maybe I could just start practicing on a treadmill by walking slow, then faster and faster, have a spotter and try jogging. Like I said, two years ago the nurse did hold on to the small of my back which gave me confidence that I wasn't going to slip off. I was too stressed to even think to ask the nurse to do it this time.

Thanks again for your inputs.

 

[Lorraine]

Cort: Your Grandmother was smart. Yep when the nurse mentioned the dye test that they could do next time, that freaked me too because when you're heart is racing because they induced it, you wouldn't be able to control it. With the treadmill you just ask them to stop and after you stop freaking out, all returns to normal. Well it did for me anyway.

I'll try to stop looking at it like I failed. They did get some good pictures of my valves and they said they seemed to be functioning great! Guess I just don't like the fear of falling! Yikes!

 

[Nancy]

Lorraine-

Joe was OK with the thallium. It was the dobutamine that gave him problems.

 

[Guest]

Cort: Your Grandmother was smart.

*nods*

Yes, yes she was . I sure miss having her around to give me advice.....

I'll try to stop looking at it like I failed. They did get some good pictures of my valves and they said they seemed to be functioning great!

*grins*

That's the spirit....look at the positives. Heh...I guess that has finally started to sink in for me...lol. Irony rocks .

Guess I just don't like the fear of falling!

Don't we all.....

 

[Bill Hall]

Lorraine - I wouldn't worry about the stress test, it sounds like from your description that you are doing fine. I get my turn on Tuesday, April 5. Now, I have to beat 8 1/2 minutes, right.
Bill

 

[Sherry]

Hey, Girlfriend. I'm sorry to hear about this stress test and hope that it isn't indicative of something serious. I do remember climbing the side of a mountain, or at least a very serious hill, with you this past October in Golden so I think you're in pretty good shape. Keep us informed.

 

[Lorraine]

Nancy: I think I had a Thallium test in the beginning and that did go okay even though I was in congestive heart failure at the time. So I may think about that. My other option would be to practice on the treadmill jogging so I won't become freaked out again. It was too weird.

Cort: Yes, I understand you missing your grandmother. Sounds like she had a lot of good sense and you can have some fond memories having been so close to her. I'll always end up looking at the positive side of things. As you can tell by my post, I was very upset and mad at myself from not finishing the test, and it wasn't because of chest pains or anything like that. It was just plain old fear of the darn threadmill. This too I will overcome. I know I could have finished the test if I hadn't put up that mental block in my head about falling off!

Bill: I'm sure you'll beat 8 1/2 minutes unless your afraid off jogging on tradmills! I don't think so though. I believe that every person is different though, in the amount of time it takes to reach the heat rate they want you to reach for the test. I went about 11 minutes two years ago (and jogging mind you) before my heart rate really was up there. Of course like i said, I had a nurse then who was kinda balancing her hand, around the small of my back, so I felt , more secure.

Sherry: Yeah, what can I say. I know I did just fine when we were climbing the mountain. Of course, the ground wasn't giving out underneath me, the way I feel a treadmill does!

I'll talk to the cardio next week and see how much they were able to deduce from the test. In my heart if I have to take it again, I may wait until after exams are over and then go do the test again, on the treadmill without medication.

Thanks everyone for your support and helping me to feel better about something I didn't even feel like I had any control over at that moment. I just freaked. I'm bound and determined to do it all the way next time. I'll just make sure the nurse in standing behind me with her hand giving me mental support.

 

[tobagotwo]

Lorraine, I'll poke my nose in one more time on this (because that's what I always do - poke my nose in one time too many...).

Stress tests do not seem to be particularly accurate for finding arterial blockages. A recent example would be President Clinton's treadmill stress test - and we know he had the best cardiologists available. I guess almost everyone knows of someone who passed an exercise stress test and went on to have a heart attack shortly after. (Not you - if you were clear two years ago, you probably still are, especially since you are so active.)

If the valve function was not the reason for the test, and they're really looking for blockages, an MRA would seem a more accurate test, and not so much of a trial for you.

As far as the walking and jogging - it's great that you're doing that. But as you point out, it isn't always a matter of fitness. There's a great deal of difference between jogging in a natural setting versus on a strange treadmill with wires trailing off of you and people watching.

Keep on burning up the roads, Lorraine.

Best wishes,

 

[Guest]

Cort: Yes, I understand you missing your grandmother. Sounds like she had a lot of good sense and you can have some fond memories having been so close to her.

*nods* Yes, on all accounts . Sometimes, I can still hear her laughing...or see her shaking her head at things....

I'll always end up looking at the positive side of things. As you can tell by my post, I was very upset and mad at myself from not finishing the test, and it wasn't because of chest pains or anything like that. It was just plain old fear of the darn threadmill. This too I will overcome. I know I could have finished the test if I hadn't put up that mental block in my head about falling off!

I know what you mean. Sometimes, looking back at things, we finally "see" what could've been, had we just done (or not done) something in the process. Frustrating as helk, isn't it? And, yeah, I could tell you weren't too happy with yourself. I knew that feeling would pass sooner or later...I was hoping, of course, for sooner . Hmmm...now that you are feeling better, maybe we should get together in Algonquin for a game of pool? I know beating me at that game would make you feel even better....he he he.

 

[Lorraine]

Bob: No problem with sticking your nose in again. The more thoughts and opinions the better! What is an MRA? I may have had one but I need you to jog(no pun intended) my memory. I've only had two stress/echos post surgery. From what my cardio said when I saw him on the 8th, I believe he said we'd do the stress/echo to check my valve function as well as seeing how my arteries are doing. I'm sure they are fine though, too. I am very active in walking and sometimes jogging to catch trains! I have my own ideas on what would be a good stress test, but of course we know this is a family thread, and my thought of what they would have to do(plus being under a microscope , practically), would take the romance out of it anyway! Please Ross. Don't delete me!

Cort: It's good to keep the memories. I hav reminders all the time of my mother, father and first husband who were all gone, by the time I turned 31. It's always just little things that will make me smile and at least I was able to share part of my life with them.

I am feeling better about the whole thing. It just threw mw for a loop, that I reacted that way.

Now about that pool game. I'm booked up this weekend. Lets try to do that before the end of April when IIll be swamped with co-ordinating exams which run from April 28th to May 13th. Then maybe I could get some practice in before Batavia May 14th. Don't worry. I don't play as well as Gina! I'm sure you'll beat me , hands down. I'm quite a bit rusty, though when my Dad was alive we did use to go over to the house every weekend and play!

 

[Guest]

Cort: It's good to keep the memories. I hav reminders all the time of my mother, father and first husband who were all gone, by the time I turned 31. It's always just little things that will make me smile and at least I was able to share part of my life with them.

Amen! And, those smiles because of the little things are worth millions!

Now about that pool game. I'm booked up this weekend. Lets try to do that before the end of April when IIll be swamped with co-ordinating exams which run from April 28th to May 13th. Then maybe I could get some practice in before Batavia May 14th. Don't worry. I don't play as well as Gina! I'm sure you'll beat me , hands down. I'm quite a bit rusty, though when my Dad was alive we did use to go over to the house every weekend and play!

He he he! See, I've never had the luck of knowing someone with a pool table that I could just go to every weekend.... Ah, well....

Yes, this weekend is not good for me, either. Any particular weekend work best for you between now and April 28?

Course, if anyone else wants to join us.....

*grins*

 

[hensylee]

Lorraine - not to worry. They'll figure out the right way to get it done.

When I did my stress test, they had me on a bike and I tried to stop. A nurse on either side of me said 'don't stop - you're nearly there - 30 more secs' so with their pushing, I got it done, just barely, but if they hadn't been standing there 'making' me, i would have quit on the spot. Almost passed out anyway.

They do lots of thallium tests and I am sure they will be right on top of things to keep you safe.

Heck, maybe you won't even have to do it at all if this test gives them enough information.

 

[tobagotwo]

AN MRA (magnetic resonance angiogram) is an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) that is done specifically for the heart and/or main arteries. It works (roughly) by harmlessly repolarizing the magnetic fields in your body tissue, then painting a picture of them by measuring the energy released when they repolarize to their original state.

They inject a dye that illuminates the arteries and gives excellent detail of blockages or enlargements. It is painless, other than the injection (it was the same as the needle stick for a quick blood draw). Takes about twenty minutes to a half hour, about five to ten of which are actually in the machine being imaged.

It is not routinely used in place of echoes for valves, because it has not been as good with showing "moving parts," although a new, faster model is out now which may change that. However, it does an excellent job of depicting the interior of the main arteries through the ribs, which a stress test, or a stress echo doesn't do very well.

Best wishes,

 

[gadgetman]

As a survivor of 6 to 8 Thallium Stress Tests I can say I really never had a problem with the treadmill because I use one at home. I also jogged while in the military (a lot of good it did me now ). My huge problem with the tests was I have never, never experienced chest pains. My Cardio, along with several Nurses were always standing alongside monitoring my progress. After what seemed like forever my Cardio asked if I was experiencing any pain. I said no just getting a little tired. He laughed and said I was causing his EKG machine to have spasms and we had better stop. Never knew what they revealed to him because I was in that "don't ask--head in the sand" period of my life. Didn't want to know........

Can't have an MRI now thanks to that little "addition" in my left shoulder. The picture of me getting stuck to the machine does not cause me to laugh.

May God Bless,

Danny

 

[Lorraine]

Cort: I'll have to send you an email. I have to look at whats coming up. I know Carols BD is on the 8th, and I think we were going to celebrate it on the 9th. I have to get in touch with her. I imagine Friday nights would be packed, so I was thinking of Saturday or Sunday afternoon on one of those weekends. Maybe Gina will join us, not that she needs the practice!

Ann: I'm not freaked out riding a bike, but I don't think they have that option where I live, otherwise I'd go for it. I figure Wednesday I'll give the cardios office a call and find out the scoop. Thanks for the reassurance about how well they'd monitor me if they give me thallium test.

Bob; So a MRA is the angiogram where they go through the groin, or is it different? I've had an agiogram twice. To me that was no big deal. Just got kinda flushed!

I also had another test where they had injected a dye and taken pictures and it kinda looked like I was in a smaller version of a MRI machine. This must be what you are talking about. That was done before I had surgery and new valves!

Danny: Wow! So you're a real veteran of thallium tests. So you just kept going huh? Well if you had no pain, I can understand why. Must have gotten your heart rate up there though. I guess many people have the "don't ask" phase. My stepmother has to have an agiogram tomorrow because they believe both of her main arteries to her legs are blocked. So they plan to go through her arm. If thye are blocked, they will have to do agioplasty to put stents in. I'm asking her many questions and she has no idea what I'm asking her. She said she's just getting done, what the doctor said she needed to do. I on the other hand, bombarded my doctors with questions left and right from the get go!

I guess just the thought of not being in control of the situation scares me too, such as a thallium test. That's why I was beating myself up last Friday, because I should have just kept going and jogged when I had to jog, and got it over with, instead of freaking out about the treadmill and falling off! Thanks for your words of encouragement.

 

[gadgetman]

Danny: Wow! So you're a real veteran of thallium tests. So you just kept going huh? Well if you had no pain, I can understand why. Must have gotten your heart rate up there though. I guess many people have the "don't ask" phase. My stepmother has to have an agiogram tomorrow because they believe both of her main arteries to her legs are blocked. So they plan to go through her arm. If thye are blocked, they will have to do agioplasty to put stents in. I'm asking her many questions and she has no idea what I'm asking her. She said she's just getting done, what the doctor said she needed to do. I on the other hand, bombarded my doctors with questions left and right from the get go!

I guess just the thought of not being in control of the situation scares me too, such as a thallium test. That's why I was beating myself up last Friday, because I should have just kept going and jogged when I had to jog, and got it over with, instead of freaking out about the treadmill and falling off! Thanks for your words of encouragement.

My wife would get so mad at me for NOT asking questions so she finally started going with me on every visit. I'd come home from a Doctor appointment and she'd ask "what did he say". Didn't like hearing "I don't know--didn't understand). My tests consisted of walking on the treadmill and just before stopping having the "nuclear" stuff put in a vein through an IV. Then they would lay me on this "two by four " table (don't they make any tables wider????) and roll this machine contraption over me. I would have to lay there (and try not to fall off) with my hands above my head while this contraption moved from left to right (or right to left??). It usually took about 20 minutes. I did remember one thing the Cardio said, the ideal picture should look almost like a doughnut (food association ) and the less of a circle showed the lack of blood circulation. Then I think I remember I had to go back the next day and take a "resting picture" again.

Good luck to your stepmom and her upcoming "event". Guess us "go with the flow" folks don't understand enough to get scared . Just hang in there (literally) and get those feet to going. Just like a horse, you've got to get back up on it. Good Luck.

May God Bless,

Danny